Kortney Garrison

Homeschooling With Ease

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kitchen madonna

10 December 2010 by Kortney

when we were contemplating our move last summer, one of the things i wondered and worried over were the window sills.  just what would they be like at our new place?  what if they were too shallow to hold the feathers and candles and flowers i put there?  where would those things go?  how would i create the little pockets of beauty and wonder that nourish me so?  but there was no need to worry.  our new windows open onto lovely views and their sills are even deeper than before.  we can even set up a short train track on the living room sills!

this is a repost from last winter.  Leila at Like Mother, Like Daughter has been talking sinks and kitchen flow and the beautiful and useful all week.  now it’s our turn to share!  i can’t wait to see the other shrines to the domestic.  (you can click on the picture to see a larger version of this rather messy picture…just an average Thursday night!)

last fall i went to hear Rahima Baldwin speak.  she encouraged us to imagine our homes as places that support the spiritual path of each member of the family.  that’s sounds lofty, but really it hinges on basic things: a sense of reverence and gratitude.  she also said it was important to make a place for prayer, an altar.  it doesn’t take much, just a little thought and attention.  she said the window sill above the sink was a good place.  the room filled with laughter.  dishes and prayers!  but she said it’s a place where we spend time nearly everyday.  it’s a place whose repeated motions can free the mind for other work.  it’s a place (unfortunately!) where we can be alone.  the dishes must be washed.  why not invite beauty and prayer in too?

so i cleared off the widow sill above the sink.  it has a way of collecting odd bits.  now it holds a doll from Ecuador, a tiny, silver Virgin Mary, a crow feather, another small icon, shells from San Diego, dish soap,and a succulent from Nicki.  now that i’ve listed it all out, it seems crowded. but it’s not.  just a quiet place to rest my eye as i wash each day’s sink full of dishes.

Filed Under: celebration, daily life

Comments

  1. Leila says

    10 December 2010 at 4:38 pm

    Very sweet! I love your little madonna with her arms open wide! Isn’t she loving?

    You are so right…invite beauty and prayer in!

    Thanks for sharing!

  2. Tamara says

    11 December 2010 at 8:09 pm

    Home-Sweet-Home! Love the insight of making it a spiritual path 🙂

    Linking up from Like Mother, Like Daughter.

    Have a lovely week, Tamara

  3. Michelle Reitemeyer says

    12 December 2010 at 4:49 am

    Love that tiny Madonna which is small enough to fit on any window sill.

  4. Susan says

    14 December 2010 at 9:23 am

    Kortney, I’ve written you a letter, but I don’t think I have your new address. Could you email it to me?

    Love your kitchen window! I always pray while doing the dishes 🙂

Trackbacks

  1. atmosphere is an education | one deep drawer says:
    28 October 2013 at 3:25 pm

    […] Rahima Baldwin says that our homes can be places where each member’s spiritual needs are met.  this can begin with cultivating a sense of reverence and gratitude, a sense that we are created and thankful.  this can begin with a simple alter, a place set aside and marked with beauty, a place of focus.  Rahima suggests the ledge above the kitchen sink!  we’re there (too) often anyways.  our hands are busy, can we turn our hearts to prayer? […]

  2. learning all the time :: 3 january 2014 | one deep drawer says:
    3 January 2014 at 10:23 am

    […] following our bliss?  Julie mentions the shift that happened for her when she started lighting a candle over the sink as she did the dinner dishes.  what small markers of beauty and intention might we add to our […]

  3. beauty every day | one deep drawer says:
    24 October 2014 at 5:58 am

    […]  candles, fabric, shiny glass, leaves + feathers–these have all found a home in the simple altars i’ve […]

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