Adventures in Wortcunning: Windows, Walls, and Doors

Adventures in Wortcunning: Windows, Walls, and Doors July 1, 2016

If you were to acquire a plot of land to live on for the rest of your days, would you leave it undeveloped? Allowing the birds and animals to wander freely, the sun and rain to surround and govern your day. Would you be content to huddle over the flame, exposed to the elements and the unfiltered gaze of your neighbors? Throughout the seasons and the years?

Or, would you begin to make plans to build a home and maybe plan a garden, too?

a 3-D architectural rendering of a house
Courtesy of Anne Duthers

In pop psychology the idea of building walls is frowned upon and spoken of disparagingly. In politics today, building walls seems to be a hot topic, too with everyone from the DNC to Trump wanting to build a wall, a solid boundary for protection. In magickal rites we draw a sphere of protection, a shining wall of spiritual safety which is ultimately dismantled.

Cubicles and imaginary office walls appear in life and sitcom situations. People can sometimes take their unseen boundaries quite seriously. In dream analysis a house represents yourself, and rummaging through the attic means exploring the past. What does it say about the other rooms, below? And how about the maze-like cities I sometimes wander, searching for what perhaps I cannot know…

The body is often referred to as a house, or even a Temple of the almighty Spark of life itself. While self-care is important, this is more an exploration of personal and psychic boundaries. It is easy to take the attitude of our migrating ancestors and say, this world is not my home, I am just passing through… but what if we actually chose to live here and take care of the place?

Planting fruit trees vs. setting up a pup-tent: When I was a girl, I got a girlfriend of mine to dig a hole with me, a giant hole in their backyard so we could together build an underground fort. Oh my bats and whiskers, did I get in trouble for that!

Still, when I watch the Olympics and see these amazing young talents, with early dedication and focus to achieve those goals, the planning and gathering of such resources and energy to build what eventually is a work of art. Each athlete’s dedication shining like the Taj Mahal in the sun.

I wonder at the beauty of their achievements, and also wonder why I spent so much time adding onto and fixing up my own comparative cardboard shack. As if someone left a babe in the woods, I felt left to cobble together my personal boundaries from scraps and bits of left-over driftwood. I have only recently begun to build walls with any sort of intent or understanding to their purpose. Only recently knew that I needed to. It is only in safety that we allow ourselves to dream.

Perhaps I was content to play in the garden with the Fae, but after a time the weather, raccoons, and prying eyes took their toll. I began constructing a shelter, patching its quirky flaws almost daily. Seemed something or someone was always punching a hole in things, one way or another. So busy patching it up, there was no time to rest and sleep. No time to dream, let alone to plan my dream house.

As with the floor plan of a house, we layout walls and pathways between the compartments (rooms) of our daily lives. Just as we lose memory by walking through a doorway, we can draw distinct boundaries around our public, play, work and private selves. By saying ‘No’ (not this, not here, not now, not for me) we build a wall, and place the question in this room or that, and perhaps place it outside ourselves altogether.

It took me a while to realize I could build those walls. Make a plan, lay a foundation, and frame walls. It was allowed, necessary even. That they could still be walls even if they weren’t impenetrable 20 ft. & razor wire monstrosities. I could install doors and windows, too. Isn’t that what walls are for? With these, I could select what I wished to allow in. ‘Yes’– this here, this now, and this is for me. Now, to decorate the walls with paint and pretty pictures…

Interior walls, exterior walls, and garden walls with gates and bridges. I may do a little remodeling, but it turns out the property is extensive and bountiful. Reason enough to enjoy and take care of it. Some it seems are born knowing this. They end up at the Olympics living in the Taj Mahal. Others grow more randomly and over time, like gardens.

Between there and here was the part of deconstructing myself, and deciding what had to go: that shabby lean-to, for one. Turns out, when I backed up and took a look there was an existing structure all along. A tidy little cottage that looks a lot like my grandmother’s lately. Okay, maybe it’s a little odd and old-fashioned with a few strange things in the attic but why I was camping in the garden for so long, who can say?

I’m planting a few fruit trees, now, just as if I plan to stay a while. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m keeping the lean-to in the garden as a tool shed. It’s easier to howl at the moon from there.


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