34 - December 14

Topic: The Table in the Corner

    

     Every home has a kitchen, and in that kitchen resides the 'kitchen table'. I once lived in a fabulous little apartment where my 'kitchen table' was a counter that was between the kitchen and dining room area. Sometimes I ate at it, but more often, I filled my plate and ate in the kitchen standing up. Why? simply because my 'table' was stacked with work to do, my computer was set up on it and there was no room. If you look in my apartment right now, a rather nice basement apartment, I do have a kitchen table - sitting in the far corner, stacked with receipts, unopened envelopes, containers, papers, a hole-punch, tape and that thing that you use to pump up an exercise ball. Oh, and 2 warped candles. I removed 4 stacks of papers that I still need to go through ... relocated them to a box, which now sits on a chair beside the table. There is a lamp over the table and a florescent light in the ceiling close by. I encourage you to take a moment right now - to look at your kitchen table, where is it placed, what is on it, what is the relationship between it and your kitchen, and the rest of your house?
      Now, let's step back a second. Take a 'snapshot', hold it in your mind's camera and reflect.
      If you go shopping for a kitchen table, there are so many options to consider, so many things to think about ... what do you NEED? What is the purpose of your table? Where does it fit in your kitchen?
      It is the kitchen table around which people gather to share a meal and share their lives. It is the anchor in the family. They say you can see how strong a family is when you look at how they spend their mealtime together. It is the center of social activity, where nourishment is obtained, where food is shared, a source of unity, togetherness, connection. Tables can be round (closeness, intimacy, equality) or square (socializing, gatherings, celebrations). Think of dinners you share with extended family or friends - birthday parties, Christmas, Thanksgiving. The decoration and beauty of a table for spring, for holidays, a romantic dinner with candles, a summer tea with lemonade and scones. What is at the bottom off all of these? Community and relationships.
      Now look at my table ... or at yours. Go back to that snapshot. Do you see community in your table? do you see relationship and beauty there? I don't in mine. As it sits on the side, covered in utilitarian piles of paper, it is not conducive to any sort of romance or celebration. In fact, even in the attempt of those candles, they are warped and pushed to the side. Like the table.
      I think in our lives, we fill it with clutter. Albeit necessary clutter (those bills in those unopened envelopes need to be paid!), there needs to be a place for that clutter to be regulated and kept and managed. And the table, just like parts of my life, needs to be cleaned and the space needs to be created ... for community, for relationship. If there is no space, how can I ever invite someone in and share a cup of tea or a glass of wine?
      I don't think I need a kitchen table ... I need a bigger desk. And yet I do need a table ... I desperately need all that it symbolizes. I wonder what would happen if I cleaned it off? Maybe that would be a good place to start. I wonder what ... or who ... I could invite in when the table is cleaned off and made to look pretty with straight candles and fresh flowers?
      They say that your outer world is indicative of your inner world, and if that is the case, we have some serious work to do!

Build it and they will come ...