Every spirit builds itself a house, and beyond its house a world, and beyond its world a haven. Know then that very world that exists for you. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
During the 19th century the home was viewed as “heaven on earth”, a hallowed haven in an uncertain world. When man, woman or child crossed the threshold they were safe, “not only from injury”, wrote John Ruskin, “but from all terror, doubt and division”.
My young son once said, “The whole world stops at my front door and I get to come home and leave it all behind.”
Creating a place of heaven in our hearts and lives allows us a measure of safety from which we can grow beyond our own borders.
Victorian women approached the domestic arts – cooking, decorating, gardening, handicrafts and entertaining, not as burdens, but as a form of personal expression and a means of persuasion. Traditions that celebrated the joys of home, family life and spirituality acted as the mystical mortar that held bodies and souls together in a tumultuous society that was changing at the speed of light. Today, we seldom invite others into our homes and lives. We stop at the surface, never allowing anyone to "get too close". Why are we so afraid?
“Home is where we start from, “T.S. Elliot observed. Today, a century after he was born “home” is the place where many souls are longing to return, if not literally, then figuratively. Have you ever stumbled upon a place or even a relationship that says "this is home"?
The time, energy, and emotion invested daily in the soul-craft of homecaring – carving out a haven for yourself and those dear to you – is a sacred endeavor. Life holds no more guarantees for us than it did for our Victorian ancestors, yet they faced the future with full hearts, determined to create a lasting work of art: a happy, secure, and beautiful retreat of love and laughter. Is this not something we wish to do as well? Would we knowingly withhold these joys from our loved ones? It's time to start envisioning what gifts you can offer to bring peace in your world.
This parallel between the victorian home and our contemporary ones is interesting. I wonder if there's something in that old adage, "a man's home is his castle" that might translate into something else today. It seems that with the mid-century addition of television our homes have become the ultimate in personal entertainment. Now, with home internet, phone service, cable, extended cable and music at the press of a button or better yet - specifically selected and piped via headphones into our ears and no one else's, there is no location in which we are more personally entertained. Is there something to be said for the entertainment factor in our current lifestyles that inhibits extroverted entertaining and sharing with family and friends?
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