The spirit of Christmas is a celebration of birth, a return of lengthening daylight, a coming together of family members, and a time of giving. Christmas spirit is challenged by bah-humbug attitudes, materialistic pressures, and remembered losses from throughout the years.
Today, on Christmas 2019, as we close out a decade of challenges and triumphs, sorrows and exaltations, consider the spirit with which you wish to enter the next decade. The 1920s are sometimes referred to as the “roaring 20s.” What will the 2020s be remembered as?
Let’s begin in our homes. The spirit and soul of home includes the people we welcome, the objects with which we decorate, and the furniture we select. Perhaps yours is a shoes-off household. Or, a house full of animals and shoes-on and constant company. Or, a quiet house with a select few visitors ringing the doorbell week over week.
In whatever ways your home displays spirit and soul, it has a style that is uniquely yours. As designer Bunny Williams says in the January 2020 issue of Architectural Digest: “If you don’t really embrace your house, it’s never going to have a soul.” Embrace your house, coax it into being a home!
The spirit of my home welcomes visitors and friends in, invites a sit-down-and-chat, and typically provides tea and snacks. Growing up in a shoes-off household, I still have a shoes-off policy for family members; while guests can keep their shoes-on. After a few visits, I’ve been known to say to friends “feel free to help yourself in the kitchen. If you can’t find what you are looking for, just ask.” This is a friendly place where people are welcome for a minute or a week. Yes, people passing through town will stay for a night; people in town for work have stayed as many as six nights. What a joy to have a space where people feel welcomed and want to keep coming back.
The spirit of our spaces is as much about how we appoint and decorate our rooms as it is about our attitude of welcome, our joy and peacefulness, and our comfort in our own homes and selves. What spirit animates your home? What spirit are you bringing into 2020?
Nesting is about the objects and experiences that create a sense of home. Without home, it is difficult to maintain health, find joy, or to be productive. Enjoy the Nesting series of blogs on your search for and creation of a deep sense of home. –Jana
Jana Kemp
