I looked at a house today, and two friends came with me; one had been a realtor, the other is a builder.
I’ve been correcting myself lately when I say a decision is based “just” on intuition. My intuition has proven itself the most trustworthy and excellent guide again and again and again, and it’s only our disconnected patriarchal meritocracy that doesn’t value it. (Gasp! Burn the witch!)
And, a way to give more space to intuitive judgement– or perhaps a result of taking that space– is the room to really look at what’s in front of me, at what’s going on: is this house a good place to make a home?
Wearing the fearful blinders of optimism isn’t any better than refusing to give weight to hunches, gut feelings, fortuitous coincidences. It’s no good to use only visible evidence, and it’s not grounded to use only Spidey senses. Having my friends join me today wasn’t me doubting the Magic, it was a risk, an act of vulnerability: I will keep engaging in this conversation even though I might learn this is not where it’s headed.
We walked all around the building and heard about drain tile and washed gravel and block fill; all the care and ability that went into making the house sound and grounded and stable.
I didn’t even take in the locations of the walnuts, the burr and red oaks, the maples with names I’d never even heard before– beyond the native birch and spruce and balsam I have yet to get to know.
We looked in the attic and went down in the crawl space: everything, everything was tidy and tight and cared for in a way that inspires you to keep it going, to drink more water, to pay it forward, to leave things better than you found them.
I think it’s easier to help each other than we think. No– I’ve always known that. I think it’s easier for me to be helped than I used to think. I think I talked about wanting collaboration but now I’m actually starting to do it, not just on stage but in this backstage, mundane world, in my street clothes. And I think alignment looks like a little house tucked back in the woods with a whole lot of care in and under and all around it.
That’s a good place to make a home.
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