Kate's Five Things #53
Slow Stories, Creation as Religion, Rooms that Hold
Some ideas arrive like a full sentence dropped into your lap. Clear, sharp, whole. I've been paying attention to those lately. The ones I almost scroll past in my own mind. When I’m in a creation hole (where I currently reside), I am reminded that making is my kind of religion. I used to rush towards the product. Now, I see this process being just for me. Whatever I share becomes the thing I give up.
This feeling of knowing— that creating will always be how I find meaning— rang especially true writing this piece for
’s Slow Stories. If my words move you, consider writing a few of your own.This week, I've been practicing the art of not chasing the end result, just catching the ideas that point in that direction. Letting clarity speak without commentary. Not sharing it while I’m still processing. This week’s Five Things are fragments that felt complete when they showed up. So I'm leaving them that way.
House Call Last Week…
Last week, I wrote about rooms that hold me and why. Here’s a snippet:
When function comes first, beauty follows. Function brings clarity. It solves problems. It makes life feel easier. Aesthetic choices then become expressions of identity, not distractions from it. Together, it’s a magic combo.
Five Questions (for you and me)
When did you feel most at home this week?
Standing at the kitchen sink, eating cold leftovers noodles straight from the Tupperware.
Where are you moving forward?
Leaving first drafts alone for 24 hours. The urgency to create→ edit → share everything as soon as it appears has always been an Achilles heel, both in writing and life. Things settle themselves when given space. Flirting with this new editing process doesn’t twist to conform but instead rings like a bell.
Where are you stuck?
The guest bedroom is still a purgatory for objects I can't quite commit to but can't quite release. Every time I open that door, I close it again without decision. I am still thinking about those silver candleholders embedded with gems that I released a few years ago and want to have them back in my home. My desire to purge and hoard swings like a pendulum, and I’m accepting this as part of my process.
What did you consume that was regenerative?
Splinters by Leslie Jamison
What question are you asking?
What need am I trying to meet by spending? By moving toward “more”?
Your turn. Pen to paper, or whatever works.
Five Things I am Using and Loving
This viral black lip balm by Finding Ferdinand. The rich stained berry color looks nothing like a "just put on lipstick" vibe. It goes from goth-in-a-tube to a sheer, buildable tint.
The polka dot silk dress from & Other Stories somehow manages to be both the thing your grandmother would compliment and the thing that makes people stop and ask where you got it.
This Japanese weeding tool has changed my relationship with the hostile takeover happening in my garden beds—its blade slides under roots with such satisfying precision that I've started looking forward to finding thistles.
These acupressure balls look like dog toys but have saved me from the particular agony that comes from typing too many newsletters while hunched over.
This custom bandana from Atelier Saucier makes my dog look like she knows a lot about natural wine. They call it the “Haute Dog” which is funny and it’s currently on sale for $48.
Rooms of Our Own
Every week in Five Things, I share a reader’s story (or two) about the spaces that hold them. This Week’s Rooms of Our Own: Whitney from Buffalo, NY
This is a favorite corner of my house. I sit on this blue couch and talk to my husband at the end of the day about politics, kid logistics, and any other topic we’ve been saving up for each other. He sits in a big oversized chair across the room and the dog usually joins me on the couch.
From this spot I can see a lot of art we’ve collected and hung on the wall. I can look out the windows at the parkway in front of our house and easily remember why we bought this place (it was the windows and the parkway). I can look behind me and see the wallpaper in the dining room that I love so much. I can look to my left and see the large staircase that my kids like to lean across and yell to me from. There are books all around me and usually a craft project on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
The French doors lead to a side porch and in the summer, if we’re home the doors are open.
I live in Buffalo, NY.
Have a corner of home that feels true? Send a photo and a few words to kate@housecall.com.
Until next week,
Kate
P.S. The most beautiful homes are never the most composed ones.
Oh yay, you shared my photo ♥️
That Japanese weeding tool is a gem, picked one up last year and I love it more than one should love a weeding tool. Great for re-edging and digging up more and more lawn, because lawn is over-rated any way.