Simply..thank you....

13/3/2019

..for being so generous in sharing your ideas here and making this blog a conversation instead of a monologue!

With your help I have come up with an idea for my tiny book. Several of you mentioned how the photographs from my New Zealand adventure made you feel. (Happy mostly! Me too!).

As I look over and organise and edit my photographs of the trip I will pause and consider what feelings arise from each one and put the word(s) on a page in the tiny book.

A couple of photographs in particular interest me, and puzzle me a bit because I can't quite put my finger on the feeling that arose when I was there and that I remember as I look at the photographs..

On the way back from Abel Tasman we stopped at this vineyard for a drink. Something about this interior attracted me - I could have spent hours there. It was very simply furnished and decorated - nothing showy, but done to a nice standard and with care. I loved how cool it was and the way the sunlight came in. I loved the grand piano and the one large painting. I loved how very clean it was. It looked and felt totally right. I would not have changed a thing. it felt cherished. And I still find it hard to say how that made me feel. Content. Completely at ease, at home. It was as if I too was cherished just being in that space.

Have you ever been in a space that has made you feel like this? Sometimes an old fashioned library gave me this feeling, or the simple country church in Lincolnshire which we chanced upon once. I got it last night in the candlelight (see yesterday's post).

A feeling that all is well with the world.

What if we tuned out the outer (media) world more often and created this feeling for ourselves in our homes?

9 Comments

Julia

13/3/2019 04:21:27 pm

Well, to me, at least, freda...all three of these have a “sacred” quality. I can understand your feeling of peace in that space. What stood out for me, even before reading your words, were the rectangles of sunshine. I love how them mimic the rectangles of the heat vents, and the beams in the ceiling..there is a “chapel-like” symmetry for sure. And even if we are not personally religious, there is the sense of peace and sanctuary that we equate with a chapel..i’m definitely heading towards “sanctuary” in our home...at least that is the goal!

Sheena

14/3/2019 12:28:53 am

It is a very beautiful space and sunlight coming into a room is always very appealing. Looking at it for a minute or two I wondered what your feelings might have been if there were people at the tables and the piano was being pkayed. Maybe not the same sensation of peace but possibly it would still make you feel cherished? A cafe in the centre of Prague did it for me. I think it was the Czech equivalent of Costas but the sun streamed into the dim room between the gorgeous, green shutters. Deep content!

Sue

14/3/2019 01:17:53 am

I feel excited as I look at the photo of the cafe.
It holds the suggestion of good, simple food with clean flavours.
There is the promise of a beautiful day outside.
The uncluttered lines and lack of strong colours or patterns means one can make one's time there personal rather than being influenced by noise from the surroundings.
A lack of piped music would be a bonus for me.
I'm off to dream who I’d like to met up with there or whether I’d like to sit on my own and soak up the atmosphere!

Rosemary

14/3/2019 02:28:05 am

Sunshine in an empty room. A look of silence. The colour palette. Parallel lines of the chair backs and tables, and then again in the legs. A strong impression of cleanliness and order. Someone's finer feelings expressed in a grand piano.
For me, emptiness, silence, sunshine are all triggers to the imagination.

Lotta

14/3/2019 02:53:13 am

What you describe reminds me of Sue Bender's feelings as she entered the Amish house where she was staying in 'Plain and Simple'. A simple space so cared for that it feels alive but in a very peaceful way, like a calm presence waiting to accept you. A mix of homely and sacred. In fact now that I think about it Sue Bender's other book title describes it perfectly: 'Everyday Sacred'. I would like my home to feel like that but haven't quite achieved it yet!

Mary

14/3/2019 04:17:06 am

I can easily imagine you loving that space.

Eremo delle Carceri is the 13thC mountainside hermitage just outside Assisi that St Francis would retreat to and that I was privileged to visit some years ago. I remember finding a small bench tucked away in the woods and the profound mantel of peace that fell over me as I sat there alone in the silence. Brought me to tears-joyful ones.

cath

14/3/2019 11:54:45 am

All striving, all longing, all unanswered questions, all things unfinished, all unrest fallen away for this moment in time.

Being gratitude. For being alive.

Seeing and hearing Yo Yo Ma can evoke this for me.

Lucille

14/3/2019 12:49:24 pm

I find that feeling more often conjured up by a picture of a place because it is perfectly silent. No one is discussing their personal business out loud on a phone, no music is being foisted on me, no inane chatter. . . how grumpy I sound! But pictures such as yours allow a moment of respite. A moment that can be held without distraction or decay.

Freda

14/3/2019 02:56:25 pm

Thank you all for your wonderful contributions. What writers you all are!

Simply..thank you....

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