Postcard 020 - Proof of Life
You know that feeling where you start to think about something and then it becomes a lens through which you see the world and it starts to show up everywhere? That's me right now with the objects people have in their homes.
I walk into a space and somehow the macro layout fades away and I become fixated on the objects — the functional things that sit out for easy access, the decorative things that show personality, and so on. It's been on my mind a ton as I've been nesting (or perhaps just being in my space more) and feels like an interesting balance of having things in the space that I want with making the space feel welcoming to others (and perhaps that's a false dichotomy in my head).
This came into sharp view in the house I rented two weeks ago, where most rooms had no objects indicating any "proof of life" — the only things we saw were towels out for guests. The one exception (if you could call it that) was this bookshelf, which had a limited number of objects, especially given the size of the wall.
I'm probably grappling with this now more than any other point in my life because I finally own a place, and instead of feeling the rush to furnish that I have over the last decade in apartments, I'm taking a much slower approach. My goal is that most things I bring into the home, never leave. (This is perhaps foolish, but at least aspirational.)
Taking this slower approach has been nice, as I mentioned with the lamps earlier, because there's lots of things that seem like friction which eventually fade. Most of what I get excited about having out relates to friends, and I'm excited to share more photos of those things soon.