What a difference a week makes! Last Sunday morning I was lying in the cardio obs waiting for my breakfast (apparently they forgot I was there) and wishing to be let free. Hadn't slept much with all the noise and lights and interruptions every hour to take my blood pressure or check my temperature or give some pill. Exhausted and hungry I waited for the verdict until, finally, after a few complaints they brought me scrambled eggs with potatoes and fruit and yogurt and herb tea. I ate the food and the fruit and drank water. Coffee? No coffee. Eventually two cardiologists came, listened to my heart and whatnot, and pronounced me "ready to go home," "no need for more tests." Yipee!
Today I sit on my deck reading the Sunday Times and drinking coffee (yes, half a cup diluted with hot water and some milk) (my internist said it's ok to drink one cup a day: "everything in moderation" is his motto). I eat berries with cereal and cottage cheese later and unpack a few boxes from the massive packing David had to do while I was away in Europe. Everything was put away. I mean everything from the living-room/dining-room/kitchen. Now, with beautifully blonde floors we put stuff back. But we downsize. We've come to enjoy the minimalist look. Few pictures on the mantel. Few posters on the walls. Virtually no knick-knacks anywhere. Clean and spacious.
At first I was opposed to storing all those dear photos of grandchildren, grandmothers, weddings, travels. I wanted my tiny bottles and tiny cups collections from around the world. Now, however, I've come to enjoy the quiet of empty walls and shelves and windowsills. Blank spaces where I can rest my eyes and my mind, where I can daydream and not be assaulted by colors and images. Burnham was right: "Less is more." (Did he say that? I think so). (Or was it Mies?). (Someone inform me please.)
I am enjoying the new emptiness. An emptiness that allows for mindful pondering. A tabula rasa ready for new ideas and projects. And I am enjoying being at home, feeling well, ready to write and read and organize. What will I write next Sunday?
Oh yeah! I'll be at The Clearing in Elison Bay, Wisconsin. There should be lots of things to write about. As long as I'm healthy...
As the Greek Philosophers said, Παν μέτρον άριστον! That really applies to everything in life and is my favorite phrase.
ReplyDeleteI also like the minimilist approach and that too is captured in Παν μέτρον άριστον or in "less is more"...whatever works.
What are you going to do with all those pictures? Make a collage? put them in storage, put them in an album? ...and what of the knick knacks? I struggle with these things. Any suggestions?
Have a wonderful time in Wisconsin.
You are absolutely right Myra!
DeleteI put them in storage. In the basement or the closet. What I really like to do is to rotate them. A few months for a bunch and then the next bunch.
Thanks.