2. What are you connected to?

How to know what to bring and what to leave behind.

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Lets start at the beginning – You Are Not An Island.

I by no means am a de-cluttering expert; the idea is preposterous to be honest, my closest people would potentially laugh until they cried.  However, I am quite good (and growing ever better) at thinking, questioning, editing and balancing myself between my past, present and future.

I would very much like too touch on the ‘stuff‘ and ‘things‘: that you have acquired, boxed up, carried about with you and unpacked over and over again. Mainly because they are a particularly fun, idiosyncratic and wonderful way to connect with people beyond the facades we often erect.  While I am quite certain that there are very real tangible reasons, themes and trends that weave and connect such an array of objects and treasures to you and your life so far. I do think that before we delve into the delicious detail it would be more advantageous to step back and take in the whole vista .

                                                                                                       (Side Note: I was already distracted, hopefully I am not boring you or myself! But if you are distracted as well – be my guest – delve into your treasures for a few hours and then when you are ready; pop back up out of that wonderful, sentimental place and join me for the rest of this piece.)

My point? Marinate the muscle before the sinew.

Muscle? You….. identity, thoughts, ideas, values, relationships, hopes, fears, dreams, passions, past, present etc

Sinew? Stuff+Things….. delightfully arranged selected morsels; delicately sewn into intricate patterns that communicate, form, support and reaffirm the muscle.

Relevance: There are threads that connect you to – everyone, everything and everyplace – you have ever encountered; some connections have been girded as their significance increased, others purposefully cut away or simply waned from lack of use.  I want to prompt you to consider that they exist; and then engage in that maze long enough to trace, identify and reassess each (or some) of them.

What has this got to do with design and architecture?

The process of making is unique to every person, the more I can encourage you to know who you are and what you are connected to – the more you understand yourself – the more stability you put under yourself. That stability will make the practical easier, for instance: when feeling the pressure and complexity in how to balance scope, time and budget over the course of the project – you will have clarity and purpose in your thinking and priorities – because you know your roots and trajectory.

Additionally this idiosyncratic wonderland becomes a very valuable resource to the creative people you have added to your team – it gives them meat to work with. That can translate to inspiration, which will end in spaces, textiles, art, sculpture, furniture, landscaping….. and all the rest….. that will sing quietly (or loudly) too you, capturing the ephemeral moments you treasure (or lost) and re-knotting the ties to you.

A study model – abstracted from a story of a life that imploded, in one moment all perceptions of past, present and future have altered. The once sure and steady facade that faced the world erodes to reveal the now seen connections to all that was and is now known.

1. Who are You?

Building a Home

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What on earth have I gotten myself in for?

Stop! Breathe! Don’t panic.

Take a moment to be excited at the amazing possibilities! The fortunate juncture you find yourself at to create such a marvelous thing! Acknowledge the work, toil and dedication it took you to get here – let go, let yourself dream, what do you want this thing – to be and become?

A home? A place? An investment for the future? An expression of yourself? Your point of view? A knitting together of partners, families,  human and/or fur babies? Pause and consider all the significant dwelling places you have known, write them down, recall what was significant about each, what senses were heightened when you were/are in them? What is easiest to remember? Location, light, colour, smell, touch of textile or building materials? What would your transfer forward into your own place now if there were no limits?

If you no longer have access to them – what is occurring in your everyday moments now – when you run smack! BAM! Right back into the memory of these significant places? The shape of a driveway, the scale of a front door?

If this is all starting to seem to fluffy, silly or a waste of time – just hang in there! Let me help you see how it can translate into practical ways of thinking that will assist in making the decisions ahead of you.

For me, I grew up in a rural place so trees are significant and so is open space; later I moved to the city and carved out private nooks in what was to me, a very exposed way of living. Those roots and transitions have influenced how I like to form and approach space – i.e small interconnected spaces leading into, alongside or within much larger, expansive spaces.  

As well as offering an approach, these memories and origins also interrupt my everyday through colour, texture and form. If I feel a certain grain of timber or texture in concrete, see a familiar curve or specific shade of leprechaun green – I remember our lounge room walls – and how after some time we realised the satisfying way they performed and fulfilled the role of ‘back scratcher’ – too humans and pets alike.

Weird? Perhaps.

But to me, I learnt that walls can be made of all sorts of things, it opened my mind to what is possible; it also taught me I am a very tactile person, I like to touch, feel and know what the physical world around me is made of. The overall outcome is curiosity, a valuing of dynamic relationships and a treasured desire to dwell, craft and belong to my places.

How exquisite! Get excited!! Let that energy drive you forward; because you will certainly soar to the highest of places and drop to seemingly endless low valleys. Don’t be overwhelmed, keep hold to the origins because they will sustain, energise and inspire you!

 

Author/Maker of above Image- Regretfully unknown