Sizing It Up and Down
Two sets of parents have begun down-sizing their lives, and are moving into smaller homes. As a newlywed I am working with my husband to accumulate, as opposed to the de-cluttering our parents are doing. It is an interesting juxtaposition, and both situations carry their own challenges.
We are trying to collect, to build our lives and our home as best we can. We began literally piece by piece, because we had nothing when we moved to Ottawa. Deciding what was essential was key due to limited resources and space. When I say limited space I mean a 450 sq/ft apartment downtown. We have had so many fights over what counts as a practical appliance and what is simply a "want". Since, there is very little room for luxury. (Partly due to the fact we have accumulated so much music equipment so quickly!) We then struggled to find inexpensive but durable furniture, which pushed us to choose fewer pieces but things we believed would hold their value. We became the King and Queen of Kijiji (an online garage sale similar to Craig's List). When we did buy something that ended-up not working my husband would turn around and re-sell it online.
It was a stressful tome for us. We were so afraid of making poor choices (buying too much, too little, too poor of quality...etc.), that we were a paralysed when it came to making big decisions, but for all our hesitations we seem to have built a neat little home.
Hot off the Keyboard
Selina Mullin (2013)
Zack Ingles (2013)
Our parents are drying to discard the unecessary parts of their lives. They are gifting, donating, selling, and repurposing their habitats. They are asking themselves whether they need to get by with everything they had before. Where we are questioning what we will need, they are asking themselves, "did we really need this in the first place?" I think this is really cool, because after raising kids and launching them off into the world, they get a chance to question where they are at in their lives and whether they want to continue living the North American Dream.
Do we need more? Do we need five of the same thing? When is it enough? At which point are we content? And, each couple seems to be doing a great job of asking those questions. I am so proud of them for accepting the challenge to rethink they way they live. It seems like life has been waking up all sorts of people and demanding they answer these tough questions.
That's the biggest part of how we live our lives. We need to make sure we are asking the right questions. We can't always make the optimum choice, but keep the discussion going and always being up for a review of the current status quo goes a long way.
And, the best way to stay off of a reality TV show about hoarders? Be willing to let things go.
March 2013 - #1
A Poem ~ Vessels
In quietness and rest this home is a vessel.
A vessel which carries life and being, but does not limit its function, malfunction or growth.
As I rest here on the couch I hear the gentle whirring of the dishwasher, lulling the quietness of the warm air in this house, as it makes clean the lesser vessels which held the well-prepared dinner just enjoyed.
I can hear the gentle rumble of the stove, with its slow creaking as its metal expands; this vessel of fire which keeps the air warm, which can take a chill out of a cold room, a cold body, sometimes even out of a cold heart.
Above this, but gently, I hear the voices of two generations, though time and experience divide them; they are cooing to each other. I can hear grandmother gently holding, and grand-daughter reaching out to time and experience.
Aidan Knight
Musician
Hailing from Vancouver Island on BC’s West Coast, Aidan Knight is a songwriter to be reckoned with. His debut album Versicolour carries the listener on a journey through soulful ballads, energetic choruses, and melodic instrumentals. The album kicks off with The Sun, a song that takes you on an epic ride with a soulful and atmospheric beginning, and then into a guitar driven finish with a beautiful accent of horns.
Skip ahead a few tracks and you’ll find a track called Knitting Something Nice. The title alone suggests that Knight is anything but your typical songwriter. I’ve been at many shows where he’s introduced this song by saying: “Who here likes handicrafts?” Needless to say the track does not disappoint.
Jump ahead a few more tracks and you’ll find yourself at Sorrows, a song reminiscent of classic Negro spiritual choruses that will pull your ear right in to the final anthem of Versicolour. If I had to pick a single moment in this album that summarizes its intensity and “awesomeness” it would definitely be the transition of Sorrows into the resounding chorus of Jasper.
It is no surprise that those who hear Aidan’s music are instantly hooked. Put on your headphones on Sunday afternoon, get comfortable, and listen to this album front to back. You can thank me later.
Check out Aidan's website for more info or to hear some of his work.
For a moment the two seem as one, both intertwined with the other, grandmother drawn to be child-like and grand-daughter grasping for grandmother's experience. How we grow with and into each other in mysterious ways.
We are vessels of life, of hope and love, of growth and brokenness, of quietness and strength, vessels that carry light and warmth, in this furnace made of skin, of tender enduring material, which stretches and creaks with experience and time, that gives light and warmth for those nearby to enjoy, to stand close to and heal, to find nourishment in the feast of company and love, to cleanse and wash each other through water and tears and sometimes fire, to hold and to shelter and to bring together. How we grow with and into each other in mysterious ways.
Yet though we are the vessels of light and life, we are not the light itself. We are the vessels. Yet, we are more than vessels.
Raymond Funk (2010)
This is the album cover for Aidan Knight's debut release titled Versicolour, March 2010.