Stuff 7 - The Welcome Wall:


I don’t know whose idea it was, but it was definitely one of my kids. The finger of suspicion with this type of idea usually tends to point at my younger Son.  This is not to say that the elder son is free of potential blame, he just tends to escape suspicion by keeping schtum & flying under the radar.


If you have been to our house, it is highly likely that you will have been invited to make your own unique contribution to “The Welcome Wall”.  The Idea is simple, we draw a circle, you paint something in it that you feel represents you best.


Over the 16+ years we have been doing this it has grown from a novelty thing we did for  a bit of fun, into something that we cherish .  For the 3 of us here at the Eastern Divisional HQ of the Mitchell Tribe it is an important thing to invite our family & friends to make their mark.


It’s always an interesting process to watch.  We have identified 4 stages that most, but not all people go through during the process of making their mark:


Stage 1: Initial Panic - Oh no, I’m crap at this sort of thing. I don’t know what to draw. Make Her/Him go first.  Seriously, are you making me do this?


Stage 2: Reluctant Compliance - Oh OK then if means you will leave me alone. Let me think for a moment.  You are going to make Him/Her do this too right?

 

Stage 3: Enjoyment & Immersion - I haven’t done this kind of thing for years.  Oh I love XYZ Stuff, I think this best represents me. Lots of concentration, tongues bitten because of the depth of thought.  Care is taken.


Stage 4: Enjoyment - I enjoyed that. I’m really pleased with that. Is that really going on the wall?  I will see that everytime I’m here!


What we have ended up with is an ever changing visual record of the friends & family that have visited our home.  Some of them are very old, drawn by young children who are now adults, but their marks are there.


My Father says that “the essence of good photography is that you are capturing a moment” in its own way that is what we have here.  It's always growing and each circle is unique & reflects the uniqueness of the person that creates it.


In the end I think it represents the expression of each person’s uniqueness & our acceptance of that person.  Everyone has something interesting to say or show about themselves in my experience.


This is our wall & it means you are welcome here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stuff 5 - A Few Good Nights:

Image
Ok so having been told off by my Mother for two Blogs in a row, I thought I should move to safer ground in subject terms. Today’s item is a Collage that is currently hanging in my Living Room. It's called "A Few Good Nights" It is literally the product of the time a few years ago, when my house for a while became the place where my friends would congregate. Mostly because a few of us had kids of a similar age & consequently had little time or money to go to somewhere as exotic as a pub very often. You never realise how rich you were, until you have kids. Being the crowd that we were, there was always something new someone had found for us all to try, it became a bit of a voyage of discovery at times. We got into the habit of sticking the labels of a beer we enjoyed, or even a whiskey that we thought was fowl, both worthy of a place because they were enjoyed or laughed about at the time. The wrapper of the Cuban Cigar I shared with Phil, along with the label of the bot
Read more

Adulting 4: The inherent problems of A La Carte History.

Image
Apparently, a good tale grows with the telling; this is especially true of me with my memories.  After all I do love a good story. One of my favourites is the tale I tell, when I explain to people how I met my oldest friend.  It is a good story and it contains the kind of elements that would illicit the response I tend to be looking for.   The first walk to the new school, the nervousness of being the new kid in class, the discomfort of new school clothes, meeting my new teacher, an argument with the annoying kid in class, who quickly became my best friend.    It is a nice whimsical story, but these days, if I am honest I have no idea if its true or not. This is because I was seven at the time & I have altered it many times since over the years.   I suspect Chris does not know either, but I know that his version of events will differ from mine.   It is well known that our memories are not particularly good.   The truth is, we all do this kind of thing with our memories quite a lot,
Read more

Places 5 - London:

Image
Our American friends would insist on saying London, England. And it's true 29 other Londons are available globally. Including London, Ontario in Canada, London, Arkansas in the United States there is even a London in Kiribati. But while it's actually true that other London's are available, really there is only one. I have had a long history with London. I was born, as many of my friends like to point out in Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire, very close to London. So some of my earliest childhood memories are of travelling into London with my parents to go to places like the Natural History Museum the Science Museum, British Museum (the place my younger son calls the Museum of Stolen Stuff), The National Portrait Gallery, Borough Market and of course watching changing of the guards at Buck House. Very standard London visiting fair and also formative in many ways. As an adult I have visited London regularly mainly for business but I've also had a number of very memorable week
Read more