Continue (An Art of Homemaking Post)

Last month I was sitting in a meeting when the lady across the table said that it might sound crazy but that I remind her of Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web.

I told her it didn’t sound crazy but was one of the kindest compliments that I could have received.

Especially on that particular day.

Later, as I was leaving the meeting she asked what the necklace that I always wear around my neck says.

Funny you should ask I said….it says Araneae…which is the scientific name for spiders.

At the beginning of 2015 I was asked to write an article about what my word for the year would be and the word I chose was Araneae.

I chose the word for a variety of reasons (that you can read about HERE) but what it boiled down to is the spiders ability to quietly go about her business, building a home and taking care of her family all while creating something beautiful and helping to make the world a better place in the process…and the fact I wanted to do likewise.

Then at the beginning of this year I felt like my work on creating a home for me and mine wasn’t yet finished and I chose the word “continue”.  Little did I know at the time what a challenge the web building process would soon  become.

Tonight as I write this I am sitting on the floor in our new-to-us house (because ALL of our furniture is in storage) under a half painted ceiling and next to a pile of wooden planks waiting for their installation day.  In a few minutes I will head upstairs to snuggle in next to my husband and children on a pile of mats on the floor (the same way I have done every night for over a month now) and will fall asleep going over lists of what needs to be done tomorrow and grappling with the new normal we are trying to find since my mothers stroke.

Like I said, back in January when I wrote about continuing I had no idea what the weeks and months ahead were going to bring….and I’m doing my best…really I am…but some days are hard…and I am filled with anxiety…or sadness.

In Charlotte’s Web EB White writes:

“A SPIDER’S web is stronger than it looks. Although it is made of thin, delicate strands, the web is not easily broken. However, a web gets torn every day by the insects that kick around in it, and a spider must rebuild it when it gets full of holes.”

And its on these days, when I am filled with that anxiety and sadness, I try to remember that my web IS stronger than it looks and that rebuilding is just part of the process…it will always be part of the process…and while my web may have some tears it isn’t broken or beyond repair.

This whole art of homemaking thing….it is an art, a craft that is refined (or repaired) day by day.  Tears and tears happen.  Accidents happen.  Health problems happen.  Financial set backs happen.  Spilt milk, dirty dishes, barking dogs, and flooring installation that has been delayed for 2 weeks happen.  But you know what else happens?  Giggling children.  And family dinners.  And time spent talking on the porch and holding hands and a million other things that make continuing the most important thing in the world.

Tonight I am tired.  But as I sat down to the computer to write today’s post my necklace caught on my shirt and I remembered my years theme…and the compliment from last month…and I was thankful.  Tomorrow is another day…another day to build the web…another day to spend with my family…another day to try again…another day to continue.

-liZ