Into the Unknown

This first post feels like putting a message in a bottle and casting it out to sea. It is an exciting feeling, starting something new, something modest and hopeful. I start this blog at what feels like a crossroads in my life. It is a place of many questions and no answers. A waiting room. It is a meantime kind of place, a place where my sense of agency has been crumpled and squashed. 


So this blog is about what I can do, everyday, to make life meaningful and happy--not just for myself, but for the people I share my life with. My husband, my friends and family, my dog. And the people that I meet when I'm walking down the street. The folks who live nearby and even those far away. It is about getting things done. Little things, like sewing a missing button back on a blouse, making rice pudding or sending a handmade card to a friend. 


In my professional life, I work mostly in intangibles. I chase down ideas, follow up on facts, and spend days, nay weeks, formulating abstract arguments and theoretical schemes. Sometimes there are minor breakthroughs and moments of unexpected discoveries. These are wonderful. But often I feel empty handed at the end of the day. Like I'm living life only in my head. I'd like to have something to show for my efforts besides a pay check. I'd like to feel, at least, that I might have made the world a tiny bit better for someone, if only myself. 


This blog will chart my exploration of these questions: Do ordinary things matter? Can caring for the domestic details of our everyday lives make us happier and healthier people? Does honoring the world of ordinary objects lead us to treat others (and ourselves) with more love and compassion? When we create something beautiful, do we make the world a better place?


My goal is to undertake ordinary domestic chores and projects with greater attention and to reflect on how this changes my general sense of well-being. I'll also report on other peoples ideas and efforts. I am a fan and follower of an eclectic range of blogs written by designers, painters, knitters, weavers, and writers. I'm constantly dazzled by the beautiful things these people do with their lives. Along with my many talented and creative friends, these people inspire me and make me feel better about the world we live in. I'll tell you about that too.


We all have an image of the kind of lives we'd like to live. Mine is not very extravagant, but it sometimes feels very far away. Achieving this life, I suspect, does not depend upon money or real estate or interior decoration. It is primarily a state of mind, but in my imagination, it looks something like this:

To quote the lovely Tina Fey: "I want to go to there."