The art of domesticity

I just returned home after a weekend trip with my husband to a nearby city. Instead of driving, he suggested we take a regional train that makes it way down our part of the country. I enthusiastically agreed - there is something about trains that is just so romantic. It was such a nice ride, and I'm sure much more relaxing for my husband in contrast to navigating the freeways. I finished reading over half of my current novel! 

We visited because we bought tickets back in January for a ballet, La Sylphide. I love visiting ballets and have seen a handful of productions at this point. La Sylphide had been on my list for quite some time so I was overjoyed to find it near me. Of the Romantic period, it's one of the oldest surviving ballets and just absolutely beautiful, though the ending is rather dark. If you enjoy doses of melancholy, like me, then you probably wouldn't mind it :) The story focuses on a sylph (similar to a forest sprite) who enchants a young Scotsman and leads him through the forest to a coven of witches... I won't spoil the ending.

It was a wonderful escape into the world of the fantastical - I think we all need to reconnect with play and imagination from time to time. I know that I have to consistently seek out inspiration to help propel myself along in life. If my creative well runs dry, I begin to feel a little unsettled. Have you ever read The Artist's Way? One method the author suggests to find your creative spark again is to take yourself on artists dates - I love that. Even simple things count, like going for a walk in a new part of town, perusing a used bookstore, or spending an hour by the seaside.

I've been home for a few days now and getting back into the swing of things. I'm feeling inspired to get creative in the kitchen. I'm dreaming of shepherds pie, french onion soup, and cabbage rolls - how delicious! I'm such a contended homebody, so much so that I've been teased in the past for being a bit of a hermit who never leaves the house. But... to me, domesticity is bliss. The art of homemaking is an art. At home is where I'm in my quiet, peaceful environment and surrounded by my favorite things and pockets of beauty. Things that lift up my spirit and recharge my soul. 

 

Just because you're a homebody, or a housewife, doesn't mean you can't be worldly or cultured or creative. As Tasha Tudor said - "I enjoy doing housework, ironing, washing, cooking, dish washing. Whenever I get one of those questionnaires and they ask what is your profession, I always put down housewife. It's an admirable profession, why apologize for it. You aren't stupid because you're a housewife. When you're stirring the jam you can read Shakespeare." Isn't that lovely? We all have the ability to create a life encompassing everything we love, that's tailor made just for us.

— TYG