Kate’s Five Things #27

Gentle People with Quiet Ways...

Catching Up

We’ve been staying with Joe’s parents this week while our home is rented out for a photoshoot. I came across a little music box in the room where my kids sleep. It was painted by Joe’s grandma, who used to sing those words to this song to him when he couldn’t sleep.

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we will not be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

Isn’t it interesting when a song, poem, or fable we’ve heard before suddenly strikes differently? It spoke to me this week.   

Last Week’s House Call

In last week’s newsletter, “You Don’t Need More Stuff—You Need More Ideas,” I wrote about ways to get unstuck and out of a rut when dealing with roadblocks within your home decor projects.

Here’s a snippet:

“It’s no secret that I’ve been in a design rut as of late, not motivated to do or change much in my house for the past two years. Behind this rut is the desire for my home to be less of a consistent project. I’ve simply wanted to enjoy it more. 

Perhaps that realization is the key to a problem I’ve wanted to unlock: how to sustainably enjoy the process of creating a home that grows and evolves with me. 

So when I ask myself, What would I change about my home? Why do I feel stuck? What seemingly unmovable roadblocks are movable?, the answers sound very different than when I ask, Why do I hate this room? Beyond the former questions are actionable steps—ideas worth exploring.”

If you like topics like this one, please consider upgrading to a House Call paid membership! It’s how I’m able to do more of this (writing and creating) and less sponsored content. Thank you to everyone who has become a paid supporter of my work.

How I'm feeling this week…

Introverted. All I want to do is curl up and read. I have kept my phone on silent for a couple of weeks now. I’ve come to love this quiet cycle because I tend to reemerge on the other side with a renewed sense of appreciation for the busyness of life. Listening to this energy, knowing when to engage more and when to pull back, feels totally different now that I’ve accepted I will forever be vacillating between the two. I’m not wishing I was somewhere else. I’m here in the now—the present—which has always felt so elusive, right outside the membrane of my mind.

What's in my cart…

I’ve had zero energy to browse the web this week, but you can check out Current Listings to see what I’ve been eyeing lately. 

What I'm consuming…

 I finished One Day on Netflix and cannot stop listening to the soundtrack. I am haunted by it in the best way. My book club is reading Rachel Cusk’s A Life's Work: On Becoming a Mother this month. This got me thinking… should we do a House Call Book Club???

What resonated with me…

Susan Cain’s book Bittersweet not only described my internal world to a T but also validated the thread of what keeps me coming back to writing, creating, and sharing online. In a vast sea of marketing and capitalism, the strongest current I see beneath all of this noise is our subconscious desire to connect with others around the human experience. I’ve been driven to experience it all—the highs, the lows, the bitter, and the sweet. This book is an invitation to turn our collective pain into something beautiful. It gives me so much hope.

A question I've been asking myself lately…

What are you avoiding by worrying? This question has saved me so much energy. 

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Space of the Week

The most beautiful laundry room ever?? designed by @davidfrazier.co for the 2023 @kbshowhouse.

Kate