Words Meme - Part One - Home Decoration
Reply to this meme by yelling Words! I will then give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.
The Magnificent Jehane gave me:
Parenting boys.
Cross-generation slash.
BDSM. Home decoration.
David Archuleta.
So, in no particular order... Word Number One:
Home Decoration...
Now this is a subject I have thought a lot about. I mean, really a lot. Like some people think about the Old Country. Or their God(dess). Or Cookleta.(ha ha!)
Why the fascination you may ask? In my case, I think it comes from how making my own home was very bound up in my healing journey from a long abusive marriage (and associated madness).
I was married and a mother at 21, and the first time I was ever the adult in charge of my own home... was not until I was 38. It was a big big BIG change. I went from being an outwardly together business owner in a 4600 square foot family home which had become a prison, to a (very charming) half-basement studio apartment of 360 square feet, and my income dropped to a teeny-tiny disability pension.
I cannot tell you how much I loved that apartment. It was my nest, my safety, my peace, my solitude.
For a year I almost never left the nest, just resting and slowly healing alone. I placed every object with total care and intention. Each item had to there for a reason. Each book that I so lovingly built my own bookshelves for was a beloved friend. Each piece of art spoke people I loved and memories I wanted to keep. And nothing that brought back hurtful memories was allowed.
I invented, found, restored, organized, created and made things of beauty that pleased me. Having almost no money to spend freed my creative soul. Everywhere I turned was beautiful to me.
Safety, I discovered, is Beauty.
I am looking at one project right now as it does a stately dance above my head. Above me hangs a really large (4'l x 2'd x 3'w), delicate kinetic sculpture made with 30 leaded crystal pendants from abandoned chandelier carcasses, fishing line, bamboo garden stakes, clear plastic starbuck's drinking straws, and little girl's translucent pony-tail bobble beads from the dollar store.
I spent maybe 5 dollars, and perhaps 10 hours on it, and it makes me happy each time I lie down and watch the lazy spinning motion and the rainbows dancing on the walls.
Priceless.
Now I am in a (slightly) bigger 540 sq/ft space and have teenaged boys with me, which is more challenging, but my home is still a place of safety, serenity and beauty. It is still organized and decorated with equal love and care. It just take a hell of a lot more straightening-up and nagging to keep it that way.
The cost of each item is immaterial to me, only the usefulness and beauty matter. (Although, as a hard and fast rule, I generally refuse to pay more then 12 dollars for ANYTHING... clothing, furniture, art, books, etc... (With a few unavoidable and unfortunate exceptions.))
Design Within Constraint.
Words to decorate and live by.
The Magnificent Jehane gave me:
Parenting boys.
Cross-generation slash.
BDSM. Home decoration.
David Archuleta.
So, in no particular order... Word Number One:
Home Decoration...
Now this is a subject I have thought a lot about. I mean, really a lot. Like some people think about the Old Country. Or their God(dess). Or Cookleta.(ha ha!)
Why the fascination you may ask? In my case, I think it comes from how making my own home was very bound up in my healing journey from a long abusive marriage (and associated madness).
I was married and a mother at 21, and the first time I was ever the adult in charge of my own home... was not until I was 38. It was a big big BIG change. I went from being an outwardly together business owner in a 4600 square foot family home which had become a prison, to a (very charming) half-basement studio apartment of 360 square feet, and my income dropped to a teeny-tiny disability pension.
I cannot tell you how much I loved that apartment. It was my nest, my safety, my peace, my solitude.
For a year I almost never left the nest, just resting and slowly healing alone. I placed every object with total care and intention. Each item had to there for a reason. Each book that I so lovingly built my own bookshelves for was a beloved friend. Each piece of art spoke people I loved and memories I wanted to keep. And nothing that brought back hurtful memories was allowed.
I invented, found, restored, organized, created and made things of beauty that pleased me. Having almost no money to spend freed my creative soul. Everywhere I turned was beautiful to me.
Safety, I discovered, is Beauty.
I am looking at one project right now as it does a stately dance above my head. Above me hangs a really large (4'l x 2'd x 3'w), delicate kinetic sculpture made with 30 leaded crystal pendants from abandoned chandelier carcasses, fishing line, bamboo garden stakes, clear plastic starbuck's drinking straws, and little girl's translucent pony-tail bobble beads from the dollar store.
I spent maybe 5 dollars, and perhaps 10 hours on it, and it makes me happy each time I lie down and watch the lazy spinning motion and the rainbows dancing on the walls.
Priceless.
Now I am in a (slightly) bigger 540 sq/ft space and have teenaged boys with me, which is more challenging, but my home is still a place of safety, serenity and beauty. It is still organized and decorated with equal love and care. It just take a hell of a lot more straightening-up and nagging to keep it that way.
The cost of each item is immaterial to me, only the usefulness and beauty matter. (Although, as a hard and fast rule, I generally refuse to pay more then 12 dollars for ANYTHING... clothing, furniture, art, books, etc... (With a few unavoidable and unfortunate exceptions.))
Design Within Constraint.
Words to decorate and live by.