Today: I am full of gratitude for the love and emails I’ve been receiving in the wake of last week’s tragedy. This weekend I had the opportunity to take part in a healing ceremony that seemed to shift things in me personally. The journey of recreating my sense of home continues.
Today: Tragedy struck Toronto this week, leading me to think about how the arts can support us in dark times and how it can bring us together.
Every place has its own character, its own gifts to share. Often those gifts can be seen more readily when a place is fresh and new, when it offers some respite from our daily lives, a contrast to our familiar routine. We dream of walks along the beach or strolls on the Champs-Élysées. We want mountains, quiet, solitude or restaurants, culture, excitement. We want a bit of adventure, an experience that will nourish us and add some spice to our everyday life. Travel is one way to do that but what if we go the other direction?
We become so accustomed to our city, our town, our neighbourhood that we stop seeing its gifts. And we’re so busy and drained from life’s demands that we often stop going out to play, savour and explore. If we’re not careful, we stop having new experiences at all. We stop filling our wells and expanding our horizons. We remain on our everyday treadmill while waiting for a vacation or a trip we will take ‘someday’ instead of engaging with beautiful, nourishing experiences that are available in our own backyard.
This can happen even in a city as big and dynamic as Toronto. This city has so much going on that every day there are literally oodles of wonderful things to chose from – a cultural festival, a class, a charitable event, a conference, hundreds of restaurants, concerts, art exhibits, theatre performances, dance, even ax-throwing! I mean, Justin and I went on a date night where we learned archery in a castle!! That’s the kind of city this is. In fact, there’s so much to do that choosing becomes a barrier. Can’t decide? Another night of Netflix it is!
Now, I love a night of Netflix! But not every night. Not all the time. I want it to stay special too! So sometimes, I want to make a different choice, have a new experience – and I don’t want to wait for a trip!
I asked myself that question this week and Justin and I ended up at Porch View Dances, a dance event that is known for having “real people dancing in real places.” This is how they describe the event: “Audience members travel from house to house to see new dance works created by professional choreographers and performed by local families on their porches, front yards and driveways of their own homes.”
So on a beautiful summers night Justin and I went to one of our favourite neighbourhoods to watch creative hearts dance. The streets were blocked off by volunteers on bicycles and the audience felt like a community. We sat together in the middle of the road and were immersed in a culture of dance, celebration and inclusion. We moved between locations on foot, on bike and in wheelchairs. We watched community dancers and professional dancers and we had the opportunity to dance ourselves. It was beautiful and memorable.
Walk with me through the Porch View Dances…
Ultimately the event did exactly what it was intended to do: “PVD was designed to celebrate the stories of neighbourhood residents and to bridge the gap between professional art and everyday people.. PVD sends the strong and powerful message that art is for everyone.”
No wonder I loved it.
For years one of my Focus Areas has been what I call “Experience Life”. There are a million ways to do this and one beautiful way is to get out there in your community, in your town and engage. Find what there is to love, wherever you are. Each place has something unique and precious to share – just like we do.
This week, I hope you’ll get out and “experience life” in your hometown.
Today: I’m thinking about the power that exists in our creative capacity and all the things that happens when we use it. Plus I share the wonderful experience I had at Porch View Dances here in Toronto last night.
Mentioned in Today’s Show
From the emails and comments I’ve been receiving in response to our renovation, it is clear to me that so many of us are on a journey with our things and our spaces. Of course this makes sense. We creatives are sensitive to our environments, we have needs that are a little outside the norm and we value expressing ourselves in every aspect of our lives.
No wonder “home” is no small thing!
As we move forward in our renovation journey, my big progress this week has been with books. Oh, we do love books in our family! I had no idea that perhaps our love was a little intense until a mover came in to give us an estimate: “You sure have a lot of books, don’t you?”
Do we?
I really had no perspective. I mean, on my second birthday, my mom took me to the library to get my first library card.* Growing up, I had a spot on the side of my dresser for library books to be read and we had a spot on the top of the piano for library books that were to be returned. One of my first ‘businesses’ (I only put it in quotes because it was more like a non-profit) was setting up my own local library for neighbourhood kids.
Now, thanks to the mover’s off-the-cuff remark, I notice that we have bookcases in almost every room: the studio, 2 bookcases; Justin’s den, 3 bookcases, the bedroom, 2 bookcases; the living room, 2 bookcases; the kitchen, 1 bookcase; the guest room, 1 bookcase; the storage room, 1 bookcase – and every one of them full.
Okay, yes. We have a lot of books.
At a family get-together this past weekend I had the chance to ask my dad and my aunt how they downsized their collections. My Aunt Beth, a retired librarian, gave an answer that startled me, “Cutting is in a librarian’s DNA.”
What? Cutting? Not collecting?
As my aunt continued, it became clear that cutting is crucial to curating a great collection. A library only has the space that it has and so a part of the librarian’s job is to make sure that the space isn’t simply filled but that it is filled well.
Oh, now, there’s a thought. If the public library works within its spacial limitations when it comes to books, maybe it’s reasonable that I should too. What if instead of trying to make a home for ‘all the books’ (aka every book I have ever read, purchased or received), I made a home for…. well… now I’m stuck again. Which books should I make a home for?
I asked Aunt Beth what criteria libraries use to make their choices and was inspired by the clarity of her answer:
Condition: Is the book still in good shape? Is it damaged, dusty or otherwise shabby?
Content: Is the content still useful and relevant?
Circulation: Are people reading it?
So helpful! Even if these aren’t your criteria (for example, my dad said he wasn’t overly concerned about condition), the key here is having criteria.
As I considered these new ideas, curating my books started to appeal to me more and more. Suddenly I wasn’t feeling pressed and pressured to find a home for every single book. I also wasn’t feeling the need to declutter for the sake of decluttering. This wasn’t about being ruthlessly practical and austere.
Instead choosing which books to keep became an opportunity to create my own personal library. What would that look like? What subjects would I specalize in? What authors? What would I find most useful, inspiring and memorable? Is that my criteria? If not, what is? I’m still working that out and it feels like an act of creation, identity and love.
I also realize that this isn’t a one-and-done activity. Just like at the public library, the curation of my own collection of books will be an ongoing activity. This new-found approach is more like tending a garden than laying the stones of a building. I love that. Instead of building a dusty old collection of memories, my library can come alive and that’s just the kind of magic I loved in the books I read as a girl. Perfect.
What approach do you take with your books?
What criteria do you or would you use to curate your library?
Today: After a family conversation about books, I’ve made some progress! My aunt, who is a retired librarian, shared some useful tips and gave me a new perspective.
Mentioned in Today’s Show
