It wasn't until I gazed upon my "sense of place" when I actually understood this quote. You can look at the world around you and instantly tell a lot by a person by their surroundings — that is by who, or what they choose to be surrounded by. With these pictures, I hope to allow you to catch a glimpse into my "sense of place," as they are vital components that make up the very essence of who I am.
This first picture is my living room. That's right, my living room. But it isn't just a living room. It is the objects within it that help to create my overall "sense of place." Let's take a look! To begin, I absolutely love earth tone colors; especially earth tone colored clothes and nail polish! I love earth tone colors because they are soft, calm, lively, vibrant and safe. They represent much of who I am. They are soft and subtle and can sometimes go unnoticed, but when you pair them together they POP! They are calm and safe in a sense because you can mix and match them with just about anything. They aren't overly dramatic but they have a little taste. When I look at earth tone colors, I almost feel that there is a certain sophistication to them in how they display wisdom, knowledge and experience about the world around them.
These next pictures display flowers. Not just any flowers, but white flowers. To me, white flowers represent purity, innocence, honesty, elegance and perfection. All of these qualities represent who I am as a person. I say perfection, not to boast but in a way that represents what I often seek and strive for in life in all things. To be the best person I can possibly be and to do things the best way I know how to achieve them. If you noticed in the last picture, I also had a floral carpet. In general, I love flowers and plants because they represent delicacy and growth. I see myself as being a very delicate and gentle person that has to be treated with care or else it risk the chances of being harmed, due to its innocence. I strive to grow in all areas of life and I don't think we are ever finished growing as people.
These are my speakers! In the previous picture you might have also seen a guitar! I absolutely adore music and the arts such as poetry, dance etc. Music is definitely my safe place. It is often where I retreat when I have difficulties vocalizing my inner thoughts or feelings. Both playing and listening to music is where I feel safe to express a wide range of emotions that I often times shut off from the world around me. I enjoy playing the guitar as well as the piano!
These next pictures is a jar and a basket. How can a jar and basket be my sense of place might you ask? Because similar to music, writing is also a safe and escape place for me. I enjoy writing my thoughts down on paper when I don't know how to express them to others. Or I simply write down impactful quotes or silly sayings that may have been unique to a particular experience I've encountered. I personally feel that when I write things down that I have the enjoyment of always looking back on them and it brings me back to the place I was experiencing when I wrote it down at the time. However, the basket isn't just any basket and the jar isn't just any jar. I call this basket my "release" basket. If I had a bad day for example, I write it down, put it in the basket, pray about it and leave it there. :) Or if I'm worried/anxious/sad about something I do the same. I call the jar my "blessing" jar. No, its not really a blessing jar. Its just a spaghetti sauce jar that I washed out and transformed into my now blessings jar. :) #SUSTAINABILITY The blessing jar, as I'm sure you can guess is where I write down all the ways God has blessed me. I like to put the exact date and time on the sticky notes so I know exactly when they happened too!
Last, but not least... drum roll please!
Pictures of family and friends. What would my sense of place be if I didn't have these beautiful people to share it with! I cherish and value the long-lasting relationships I've encountered over the years and they hold a very special place in my heart.
This here, is what I'd like to call...
