Our childhood homes, our grandparents houses, our first apartments, the first place we lived where we had a mortgage payment due every month…these are the settings where the stories of our lives have unfolded. These places sheltered us and shaped us into who we are today.
And what about the place you live in now? What story does it tell? Recently, two dear friends independently sent me the following quote, each knowing it would resonate with me (especially since it is from one of my favorite writers):
“You may have no idea you’ve produced an extensive memoir, but you have. In fact, you’re living in it. According to psychologists who analyze the relationship between our home and our psyches, we often–consciously or not– choose and arrange our living spaces to reflect our life histories.”
-Martha Beck
It is a very interesting thought to me that we all have written a detailed story in the choices of where we live, how the rooms are arranged, and by what they contain. How do you feel about your house when viewed this way? Do your choices accurately tell the story of you?
It is often the case that our houses tell the stories of our past, but what is most important is whether or not it tells the story of where you want to go.
It can be a difficult thing to figure out. We often are so used to the way things are, and comfortable with the way things have always been, that we don’t see how our surroundings can be changed to help us become more of what we long to be. I strongly agree with Martha Beck’s assertion that a person cannot change their life without changing the rooms they live in, and vice versa.
So, where do you want to go? If your house is a beautiful, peaceful and nurturing reflection of that idea and dream, it is truly the shelter that you need to write the next chapter of your memoir and channel the story of your life.
