Saturday, December 27, 2014

Housekeeping as Art

Housekeeping as Art is going to be my...not a resolution, but an idea I'll try to keep in mind in 2015. 

The original thought came to me while I was reading Holy Curiosity by Amy Hollingsworth.  She is talking about the steps to creativity - wisdom, knowledge and understanding.  She uses verses from the Bible, including Proverbs 24:3-4 "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures."  The paraphrase from the Message says it thusly:
"It takes wisdom to build a house,
    and understanding to set it on a firm foundation;
It takes knowledge to furnish its rooms
    with fine furniture and beautiful draperies."

The idea of knowledge required to make a house a home intrigued me, and was followed by the thought of housekeeping as artistry.

I admit and accept that I will never be an artistic, creative person in the traditional senses.  I have absolutely no ear for music (my poor music when I was a kid!), I can not reproduce something lovely with pens or pencils or watercolours or markers or chalks or paints.  I can, I suppose, write well, but I can't control my thoughts enough to produce anything of substance, plus, it's not something I enjoy.

But I *do* love my home, and I do love my family, and I do believe I should be able to keep my house in a way that I wouldn't be ashamed to open my door to guests.  And that - the knowledge of how to make my house my work of art will be my focus in 2015.

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