There are some children in a nearby park that have discovered a large orange hollow tube, big enough to sit in. It's appearance is a bit of a mystery, just kinda showed up one day last week. It looks like it might be a tube slide that came unbolted from a jungle jim, made out of some kind of indestructible plastic. Ever since it's discovery it has been the center of many new and exciting forms of play. I can hear them screaming and laughing as I type this. They have not left it, except maybe to eat and sleep. My mind wonders what games they have invented with it. How fascinating that children are always drawn to anything they can sit in.
I recall making a house out of a large box that our new fridge came in as a child. Cutting holes for windows, putting blankets inside for beds, making a door that closed and decorating the outside with worn out markers. I remember what the cardboard smelled like, and the feeling of dampness that came up from the ground underneath. I remember too cutting my knee on a large staple that was sticking out, and the blood stain that followed. But most of all I remember my obsession with my new space. I wanted to live in it permanently, eat all of my meals there, position it so that one could watch t.v. from inside, recieve my mail there. I had it all figured out. There was a secret knock, if omitted you were denied entry. And please remove yours shoes, we are trying to cut down on the little piles of grass that are building up in the corners. Would you like a process cheese and mayonnaise sandwich?
Joseph Campbell talks about recreating our childhood spaces as adults as a means of accessing our 'sacred space'.
"A sacred space is any space that is set apart from the usual context of life. In the secular context, one is concerned with pairs of opposites: cause and effect, gain and loss, and so on. Sacred space has no function in the way of earning a living or a reputation. Practical use is not the dominant feature of anything in the space...I think a good way to conceive of sacred space is as a playground."
I think in some ways my home now is just an extension of that cardboard box. It looks exactly like the images of the house I used to draw as a child. (My parents were actually called in by a concerned teacher who showed them dozens of the same picture of the house, eyebrow raised in disapproval. It seemed my artistic talent was being called into question.) The current home is filled with things I have collected on walks in the woods, decorated with paintings, toys and old furniture. What i have wanted to create most was a feeling of safety that surrounded the experience as a child. Is it possible to create safety? I think that one must come from within. There are still places that I am trying to heal.
It helps to give ourselves the space and the time to do the healing.
Maybe I should borrow the orange tube for a while.
Posted by kerismith at August 17, 2004 07:06 PMOh yes...the igloo we built in '78, when there was so much snow that it piled up on the sidewalk. We even had a fridge for honey-candies that the old neighbour woman had brought out to us. And my seat in the apple tree at our garden patch, where I'd hang all the things into the twigs that I had brought out for a day in the garden. The snow is gone, and so is the apple tree -- but for a moment, they were back again... Thank you!
[I could rant on 'concerned' teachers who ruin talent after talent out of own experience, but why should I ruin my good mood now :) ]
Posted by: mademoiselle a. on September 1, 2004 04:24 AMI pondered the thought of rolling that hollow orange tube into traffic, but we can thank my morals and values for kicking in at that very moment. And I thought of the children of course.
Posted by: Isinban on August 21, 2004 05:57 PMI want to create safety too. Thank you for a wonderful entry.
Posted by: Andi on August 20, 2004 01:00 PMI so loved your wonderful entry! Brought back lots of memories of building forts. I desperately wanted to live in a treehouse when I was little. Figured I could make all my own furniture and everything I needed. I was convinced that as long as I had my Easy Bake Oven I could eat good too (don't ask me where I thought I'd plug it in, ha).
Posted by: Pat on August 19, 2004 02:47 AMKeri, we had a fort in the backyard too. It was a wonderful arrangement of cardboard to be admired by all. It was, unfortunately destroyed by fire. We learned two things: All the names of the firefighters at the station and that rule, the one about not leaving the magnifying glass outside in the sun, was probably a good one.
Posted by: cooper on August 18, 2004 11:38 AMi was a HUGE fan of box house building with my sister. one time we made a long house out of tons of boxes my dad had. it stretched through the hallway and branched off into each room of the house (down the stairs too, although that proved tricky to navigate).
once we took a fridge box out into the middle of a field by our house and sat in it eating a box of jello powder we stole from the pantry. then i think we rolled down the hill in it...the box, not the jello powder.
Posted by: amanda on August 18, 2004 09:30 AMThe memories that came rushing back into my head as I read this post.
The one memory in the forfront, is the time my cousin spent the night. It was a rainy day, and we (counsin, brother,and I ) decided to make a fort in my bedroom. We used every box, blanket, pillow,chair, mattress, etc.. we could find. We had so much fun. Until evening when mom told us we could not sleep in it that night. We had to disassemble the fort, and clean up the whole mess, and what a mess it was!
Posted by: Michele on August 18, 2004 09:28 AMi had a cardboard-box house too! which my best friend and i decorated tirelessly with markers and construction paper. at the edge of the porch, it was sheltered yet exposed enough to -just- the right amount of the elements. we covered our own 'roof' with a layer of styrofoam board and the happiest moments were spent listening to the pitter patter of the rain while we were safe 'indoors' with our mugs of hot chocolate!
Posted by: spyda on August 18, 2004 08:40 AMWhen I was growing up, my brother and I were such builders of miniature houses that there were restrictions put on the materials we could use (the big sofa cushions were out).
Posted by: Katie on August 18, 2004 07:48 AMI've become a big advocate of creating something of a sacred space by spending time with children. Maybe you should see if you can join them in and around the orange tube!
Posted by: kat on August 18, 2004 01:23 AMI too used to love it when my parents purchased a new appliance that I could turn into a dream house. Honestly, it was the biggest thrill. It is funny because I am only 26 but often when I look at the things children have now for play, things which really negate imagination, I think back to the joy I had in turning a simple cardboard box into a special place and I wish that for children who have too many 'things', too many gadgets. And then before I get too full of myself I look at all the time I spend on television, computer, music videos, things that exist almost principally to distract me and I am reminded how I need to go back to paring things down and renewing my creativity by turning things off or in some cases simplifying my 'toys'.
By the way, I visit your website regularly and always find something new that gets me back onto the path where I am feeling creative. Thank you so much.
Posted by: ladybug on August 18, 2004 01:13 AMGorgeous entry. It makes me want to find a house to move into even more. We have been living in my parent's house for long enough now - and while it's a fabulous place with a wild garden and all the rooms are filled with books and clutter, it's their playspace full of their imaginings. I miss having my bits and pieces around me and unpacking from storage will like the most amazing christmas morning! I'm glad you spent all that energy drawing your house as a child, perhaps it helped bring it to you. xx
Posted by: claire on August 17, 2004 11:01 PM