So, likely as not your Christmas decorations are down by now… and you have been back at work enough of the New Year to feel both relief at the ‘routine’ of life returning and alarm that you are so exhausted by it already.
The process of taking down the decorations can be an emotionally charged one… It can make your home go from feeling like this:
Photo by Mariamichelle, www.pixabay.com
… to this:
Photo by Kaz, www.pixabay.com
An existential crisis of more or less intensity looms as we grapple with the piles of ‘stuff’ that have accumulated during the festive season, and go into a sorting frenzy. The underlining anxiety, of course, is the question of what kind of ‘home’ we will be left with minus tinsel, nick knacks and festive ‘theme’.
Of course, for the festively disinclined, this is less of an issue… except of course, that even behind assertions of minimalistic preference can lurk a basic discomfort shared by our aforementioned existentialists…
What story does our home tell? Do the walls, colours, furniture and photos tell of its inhabitant(s)? Or does our home somehow neutralise our stories, rendering our histories incommunicable to those who pass through its halls?
To be fair, I write this from a position of bias. No one could accuse me of minimalism. But I like ‘stuff’. When it’s thought through and truly wanted, ‘stuff’ becomes a prop in the story-telling project of my life. Postcards from abroad, artefacts hinting at my West African beginnings, art, music, books… all identity props from my past.
But what about the present? Is my current corner of my world, the chapter I’m presently writing; is this represented? One of my most prized picture-frames houses a photo taken by a local artist, of my local park, which was gifted to me by a local friend. It’s these little things, minor demonstrations of connection to the ‘now’ of my story, that makes my house less a museum, and more of a home.
So, what stories, both old and new, is your home telling? And what props do you use in the telling?
If you’d like to work with me to explore your story, supporting you as you draw together its fragments and employ your own identity props, get in touch here. I’d love to hear from you!
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