Metaphors of Home
It’s fascinating to think of all the metaphors a house can hold within its walls. That was actually another metaphor right there, and I won’t try to list all of them, but I always had a thing for windows. They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and the windows to a house have that same uncanny effect for me. I do mean to use the word uncanny in the way Freud intended it, because it suggests a kind of un-house-ness to the thing, and this makes me very happy for some reason. I like to look at people’s houses, and see eyes for windows. I don’t think it’s unique, but I don’t hear people talking about it very often. This is how it always is in the cartoons, and it’s what I see, too.
It’s always interesting to me to meet someone new, and to visit them at night, when the lights are on. Sometimes, if I happen to be in the neighborhood, I’ll drive by sometime during the next day. Blinds can be open or drawn, and they add a kind of personality to the house, and it gives me a better sense of the people living inside. My best friends are used to me looking at their houses with great reflection, and they’re used to my little eccentricity. It always strikes me how different an interior can feel from the exterior. In our culture, it often seems like we like to keep these very distinct, but each exquisite in their own way.
That always charms me, because it suggests that people do take care to see that appearances can reflect some greater reality concerning who they are, and how they live. For me, I like to bring them together, the interior and the exterior. It’s less about putting my innermost feelings outside for the world to see, and more about bringing the outside in, so that I feel connected to the world, but still keeping a healthy solitude from it. It took some time, and a lot of effort, and I found myself upset, until I found Next Day Blinds. My protest stopped altogether, as I saw how easy it really was to let the light in, and to have control over the interior in a way that was very gratifying. I have no good metaphors for this, only a very happy home.
| Posted in Home and Garden | No Comments »