Not All Pictures Are Created Equally Part 1 :: Letting Your Home Tell Your Story

As I was hanging some frames of our wedding pictures, I was thankful that I knew my “style” when I got married.  Our wedding and engagement photos are perfect shades of blues, greens, and natural browns and grays.  I did not realize how important this would be as the photos compliment my home decor so perfectly.  It is as if they were made for each other.  I am reading Donald Miller’s (author of “Blue Like Jazz”) book “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.” I am not finished yet (I am not super into reading) but the book is about him figuring out “his story.”  There is a part in the story where he realizes his character (him) in his story (his life) has been so consumed by writing that he has not lived a real life.  He states:
“My home felt like a stage on which props had been set for a fake story rather than a place where a person lived an actual human narrative.” 
He goes on to say he does not have framed photos of a wife or of children…and that those people had not become a part of his story…a story with a character that has not been fully living.  A stay at home mom friend of mine was sharing her struggle with looking to the future…when her children get older.  Would she work again.  What was her purpose?  Was she meant to do more?  As I sat there listening to her…I was fine with what she was saying but it caused me to reflect on my own life.  I have no children.  I work very part time.  And I don’t want more (children will come later).  Is there something wrong with me and my lack of wanting to do more? With all these different fragmented thoughts I came to this conclusion.  I am living out my story.  I do have filled picture frames of a life being lived.  Though there are days I feel pressured to work more or feel overwhelmed with the amount of things I have on my plate…when I really sit down and think about it…I am content. 
I am living my life as a wife…as a friend…as a daughter…  I do not feel like the walls of my home are empty.  They are telling a story.  A story of love…a story of life…a story of joy…a story worth living… After I graduated college, I quit my job (because I was feeling limited to being able to do more with it), I got into blogging, and I dreamed of a life of being a wife and taking care of a home.  I felt lost.  People thought I was being lazy.  But I think during this time I was developing a new part of my life story.  I don’t want to say anything like “marriage saved my life.”  But rather I was meant to be where I am now.  I get to take care of a loving husband.  I have this gift of time…to create, to make our house a home, to share my story in blog form.  I love that Donald Miller’s book is subtitled “What I learned while editing my life.”  I am thankful that blogging has helped me to be more reflective...it allows me to be who I really am.  Even as I hang framed photos on the wall…I am learning about myself…and I am being reminded about the story I am living at this very moment.  How is your home telling the story of your life?
More on matching your family photos with your home decor tomorrow.  I was too reflective today to tie in decorating advice!
Photos courtesy of Daly Focus Photography.