Hello beautiful human,
The shapes a bright container can contain!
So wrote Theodore Roethke, in his lovely poem “I Knew a Woman.” I’m thinking of shapes this morning and what they invite. The shape of this Space we enter and share. The shape of my morning hours, so carefully articulated with the mug of coffee, the candle, the pen and notebook. Before the pressures and distractions of a day, I create time and articulate a space to remember who I am, right here, with you.
How do we tend the architecture of our time? Where do we meet ourselves? Small rituals, habits, traditions can help us do this work. Beloved objects, special corners we tend with care. The very work of tending, thankless as it sometimes feels, unending as it no doubt is (the table has to be cleared of mail and dropped purses and dishes dishes dishes every day) is the work of honoring and making sacred. Of returning to ourselves within and without.
The work of tending, I don’t have to tell you, is mostly unpaid and undervalued. Which means, we are absolutely (and somewhat terrifyingly) free to decide on our own what is the value of these works and efforts for us.
Tenderness, attention, intention, tend, all come from the same Latin term, tendere. All of these energies spring from one grand stem, to blossom into our lives in so many ways. Or as Juliana Castro puts it in her essay (shared behind the paywall, below), in back of all these terms the idea “that we care, that we try, and that we are soft and easily injured.”
Tenderness. Attention. Intention. Tend. This morning, it feels tender, and kind, to stop there, to let silence enter this carefully cantilevered Space with its mercy and invitation. To allow time to unfold with the spring breeze and hold us as we open to remember with our bodies where and how we feel care, try, soft, easily injured. Tendere.
Looking to grow the connection and energy? Here are some options:
Engagement and conversation are another way to co-create and collaborate with An Inviting Space. I always love to hear from you!
Your time and attention are the true gifts. Thank you. xoS
Now for all the good goodies, a term my cousin invented decades ago for good smelling lotions and potions, shampoos and soaps. Links, photos, quotes and a peek or two behind the scenes:
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