Another in my series of reflections about home. Furthering my thoughts from the last post, I have been struck by the thought of what a restful, steady home can allow to develop. Creative thoughts, dreams and hare-brained ideas are often fleeting–one has to be listening well to catch them. And one has to have a degree of stability and rest in order to be able to follow up on them. Reiterating what I wrote yesterday, what if the energy spent in all aspects of moving could be directed toward hearing the faint whisper of creativity? This is not be mistaken as a cop-out, but a recognition the role that “place” plays.

In talking to my friend Dave about this, he noted that there is an important role that place has in developing creative rhythms and discipline. Maybe a favorite spot or desk where one has a history of responding to the impulse to write poetry or paint watercolors.  Or a space that one has crafted to suit their creative endeavors hobbies.  I am constantly amazed at the “scrapbooking” spaces that my wife continues to create.  She has done this at our last five dwellings.  She loves to create a little nook, sometimes even in a small closet that would serve better as a solitary confinement cell.  I marvel at these spaces and hope that eventually we can get to a place where she can enjoy one for several years.

My equivalent creative hobby would be homebrewing beer.  As my collection of homebrewing gear has grown, I have continued to tote it along to each of last four abodes.  However, I keep having to reinvent my process as storage, drainage, access to water and size of outdoor spaces have varied.  I enjoy doing it enough that I keep at it, but I would love to not have to do that. 

Moreover, I wonder what desires never even reach embryonic stages because there is simply no psychic room for them to flourish.  Looking back, that is something I grieve.  We have prized mobility and the desire to attempt alternative living situations more than stability.  These aren’t inherently bad, but we have exhausted ourselves.  This “superhuman” pace of moving around has finally caught up with us.