I live with my family in Melbourne. So, for those of you living in a part of our beloved Australia right now in another lockdown, I feel you.
Two years ago, if someone had asked me, “what is home to you?” I could have easily replied with –
- A place that is a hive of activity in the mornings and evenings
- A place for me to do deep work peacefully during the day
- A place to connect with my husband and daughters at the end of a day
- A place to relax and unwind
- A place to truly be myself
- And a place to enjoy the company of frequently invited guests
Fast forward two years and if you ask that same question, you will get a very different answer. In one of my more defeated moments, it might sound something like-
- A place of lockdown
- A classroom
- A disrupted office for my business
- A makeshift office for my husband
- A place of constant mess and monotony
- And a place of loneliness at times, even when being surrounded by my favourite people.
Just as we need to be gentle and kind with ourselves at present, we also need to be forgiving of our homes. When you rented, purchased, or built your home way back when you could never have anticipated the additional needs we would be imposing on it in 2020/21. Right now, our homes may be bursting at the seams or a little bent out of shape from overuse. And it’s okay.
When things settle down and we return to a level of normality, which it will, our homes will return to their original intended state. We will bend it back into shape, purge the accumulated mess and stuff, and appreciate our homes once more for all the right reasons.
If we take a moment to reflect on how we can be grateful for our homes in lockdown, it might sound more like-
- A roof over our heads and a safe place to be
- A place for our children to still learn and grow with access to their education and amazing teachers
- A place to continue work in our businesses or employment
- A place to love and connect with our families
It’s a tough gig, but it feels better when we try to change our perspective of home to one of gratefulness. And we could all do with feeling a bit better at the moment.
Perhaps with all the extra time spent in your home, you are imagining some changes that could improve the use of space or liveability. Your imaginings could be as minor as some interior tweaks or as big as a knockdown and re-build.
My advice would be to get yourself a notebook or start a computer file to collect all your thoughts and inspiration. Then, one day down the track, when the time is right, and you embark on your home project, you will have your project brief done and dusted. And it will also be a bit of fun putting it together.
So, for now- Be kind to yourself and be forgiving of your ‘slightly bent out of shape’ home.
