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Saturday, May 21, 2011

Corners

A favorite corner...  Cozy books to pick up
and read to the children, a favorite picture
and a vintage tea cup filled with paper
flowers.
Original Image of the Gariepy House by
Lark Whicker
Recently, a couple of good friends stopped by for a visit.  These are the kind of friends you are really happy to see, not the "duck down and stay perfectly still until they give up and leave" friends.  These two ladies are always positive and upbeat, and they leave you feeling so much better about your life and your home.  They bring a breeze of fresh air with them rather than sucking the life out of you.

As we sat and talked, they shared that they always felt that our home had a "mood" and a "feeling", one that they wanted in their own homes.  As a longtime resident of this home, I can tell you that I sometimes fail to recognize any mood or feeling other than "frazzled" or "completely overwhelmed".  They went on to point out things that they'd admired about our house and, to be honest, they were things we'd always taken for granted.  The particular placement of a mirror, the pattern on the curtains, the books.  That's one of the nice things about friends like this - they don't notice the chipped paint, the cabinet that needs to be sorted out or the inevitable dust bunnies under the sofa - they see the big picture and can appreciate and recognize the effort and thought that was put into the overall look of your home.  One of our friends kept pointing out corners that she particularly liked, and it gave me a thought.  What if, from time to time, we focused only on those little areas in our homes that we love.  Maybe it's a closet, a bookcase, a pillow, a picture or an entire corner.  Despite the day to day mayhem that our house faces, there's always at least one corner that remains untouched.  Usually, it's the one in the living room next to the piano or, even more likely, our seventeen year-old daughter's entire room.  Regardless of where it is, taking a moment to appreciate it and the lovely things that fill it up helps us to appreciate all that we have, and to remember that despite the clutter of backpacks, shoes and school papers, there is something lovely lurking beneath.

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