Thursday, February 11, 2010

30 Days of... HOME - Calibrated.

I have been living in photography sin.  I have been uncalibrated.  I have been limping along, hoping my monitor is getting the color right and crossing my fingers that the finished product is going to look the same to everyone else on their monitors or when it's printed.  It hasn't been working.  Everything looks greenish or bluish on other monitors.  !!!!  People do not look good tinted green or blue.  Deathly is the word that pops into mind... followed by sickly.  I've somewhat calibrated my monitor now and have a mountain of photos to color correct, but I'm going to wait for my calibrating software to arrive to dig into that.  Anyway, I'm sure you all don't care about my monitor and it's color issues.  What I realized in dealing with this is that I have been living in an uncalibrated HOME.  This month is 30 days of HOME and it's been tricky.  I meditate on the word "HOME" daily and try to assess what makes something a HOME and what it means to me, but I hit roadblocks left and right.  What makes something a HOME for one person, doesn't apply to another.  Nothing seems universal.  But, today I did realize that in order for something to be a HOME, it has to be calibrated, so to speak.  Universally, for everyone.

A HOME is specifically planned out to appeal to the homeowner.  There is a certain type of decor and a certain palate of color .  Particular finishes are chosen.  The HOME is organized in a way that improves daily operations within it's walls and out.  In many ways, it defines how one lives.  If it is calibrated properly, the person dwelling there will be much more at peace.  My house has been uncalibrated.  It has been ripped apart, shuffled around, left unfinished in all sorts of places and been undecorated for the most part due to it's state.  I have been in limbo for three years with this house.  It has been a place to hang my hat, a project, a nuisance and the thorn in my foot.  It has also been a place we have become proud of and learned from and made wonderful memories of growing our family in.  The things that have happened here have made it our HOME, but until recently, it hasn't been a place that felt like "mine."  I hadn't gotten to put my stamp on it.

It was disorganized thanks to the shuffling around of our lives and it caused me a huge amount of stress.  I hate disorganization.  SO MUCH.  Stray objects, without a HOME of their own, make me in sane.  Any HOME of mine, would be organized.  Mine was not until recently.  Now I feel much, much better.  In my house, I had a lot of things that didn't feel like mine.  I have a lot of acquired furniture that I like just fine and am so thankful to have, but it's not what I'd go out and buy right now.  I have a lot of decor that I bought before we even got married or at the very beginning of our marriage.  It does not suit me anymore.  However, now I've found ways to make much of it work for me.  Sometimes just painting and changing hardware make it feel new again and it becomes even better than something I'd have bought.  There is a history there, but with my name all over it.  It belongs in my house.  The more I make for this house, the more I like it here.  Organization and decor seem really simple, but if those two points within your home are uncalibrated to your taste or needs, your house will feel like simply that.  A house.  Like some one else's house at that.

Here's an example:  If you walk into your kitchen to make dinner and find that someone has come in and rearranged everything in your cupboards and drawers, I defy you not to get hair-pulling pissed as you fumble around and it takes you twice as long as it should to get food on the table.  Even if "random kitchen re-organizer person" did a great job organizing, it's going to be different from how you'd have done it and it's not going to help your flow as you go about your kitchen tasks.  You set your house up the way it works best for YOU and in doing so, make it feel like your HOME.

So, here's what I know:  HOME'S are incredibly personal spaces.  There is a saying, "HOME is where you hang your hat."  And that is true, as long as your hat is hung where you want it and can find it quickly.  There is another saying, "HOME is where the heart is."  That one keeps popping into my head for numerous reasons, but for now I'll just say that if your house is so out of tune with your needs that it causes you stress, your heart is going to be sick.  And I'm not sure where a sick heart's HOME is.  Each little thing we get finished on this house lifts a little more weight off my chest.  I feel a little more free and a little more at HOME.  It also wrenches at my heart since we're leaving this place just as I'm finally starting to settle here.  But, my point is, the more calibrated to our lives this house becomes, the more it feels like HOME.  We're putting our stamp all over this place and it's making a huge difference.  Now, as for other people seeing the same thing as we do when they look at our house, I can't say.  I think that only matters with the color in my photographs and a calibrated monitor.  This house is ours and as long as we love it here, we're HOME.

SIGNATURE

2 comments:

  1. When my Mom was a military wife she had 2 signs she hung everwhere we lived. "Home is where your heart is" and "Bloom where you are planted." I think they helped her stay more sane. I have the signs now and they're still true. I think the family unit becomes much more important in the military, because that's your home no matter where you are. Good luck calibrating it!

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  2. I soooo totally get you on this one. Since I'm in school I always seem to have a project half finished around here and 90% of the furniture in our house was given to us or free and wasn't what I would pick for myself today. It's been my desire this year to work on changing that so you have a very understanding reader here!!!

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