Our current home was built in 1937 and was in pretty bad shape when we bought it- perfect for us! So much potential for us to fix it and make it work for our family. I am still using materials that I saved from some of our demo. It is true, that they just don’t make things like they used to. The wood that we had take down in the garage/furnace room couldn’t stay, but the grain was so beautiful that I knew I had to make something new with pieces I saved. I have done a few in the past 5 years since we bought this house. This is the most recent.
Earlier this year I read a book called Restoring the Kinship Worldview. Here is a passage I wrote down that I really liked:
“Ceremonies emerge from the landscape. When we listen to the living world around us, ceremonies will find us if we are still and listen. What does the land call forth? During sunrises or sunsets, what song or prayer of gratitude rings in your heart? When the bird sing do you stop and listen and give thanks?”
There was something about this piece that reminded me of this passage. I used to say that my creations were my own songs of gratitude and thanks. I have been feeling disconnected, discombobulated, not aligned with anything in general because of the state of the world….kind of like flotsam and jetsam. Unmoored. But I do think that in the moments of creation, for me, is where my anchor is. Is that then my ceremony then? Hmmm.