forget what you know.

question assumption. 
stop and wonder. 
be curious.
re-wonder.


i did this recently by asking myself if my "dining room" really needed to be a dining room? sure it's the room right next to the kitchen, but i'd much rather have a studio to paint and sand, and to enjoy a glass of wine while getting my hands real dirty. so i said goodbye to the room formerly known as the dining room!


i spent last thursday evening staining some wood and painting with minimal light wee into the night. there, happiness glazed over me.

i wonder what else in my life is posing as something because it "should be" rather than being what it could be?

there's this room in the barn

it's a square room that sits next to the kitchen.


in its past life,
it used to be the office of the head honcho of a design start-up, who owned the barn. 
then it used to be a bedroom for the head honcho of a local non-profit.
and for the past couple years, it's served as a lonely destination for meals. (aka, dining room)


it felt a bit like a jail. and i don't know what it's like to eat in a jail cell, but i imagine this experience came close. i put up some photos, threw in some plants, got a rug ... but nothing seemed to fit quite right. 


so today, i pushed the dining table aside, rolled up the rug, pulled out my old easel, and set up shop to start painting. 


standing there with my blank canvas,
i felt the breeze wrap around my left arm and hug my chest, 
i watched the golden rays settle, the plums ripen, and shadows whisper by.


instead of forcing the room to be what i thought it should be, it now has a chance to become what it was meant to be. 


i am beginning to see what was there all along...