Thursday, August 27, 2009

nesting


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When I am confused about the world, or my place in it, when I am a bit sad, or feel a bit out-of-place, or when change whirls around me and makes my head spin, I nest. You know what I mean; so far today I have cleaned the house, done laundry, rearranged noticeboards, moved furniture, updated my inspiration board, sorted books and papers, and now I'm baking. I find this kind of domesticity calming and soothing , and I guess it's because no matter what is going on in the world, if I can get your little corner of it neat and pretty, I feel like you I a handle on something. If it's just colour coordinating cushions. Even if I know that, really, it makes no difference in the grand scheme of things. It makes me feel better, so when all else fails, I alphabetise my recipes.
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I was thinking of these things when taking the rubbish out to the lane way behind my house, and when I found a nest lying in the gutter. Coincidence, no?
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When I'm done, I know I will sit for a while, in my nest and think about things, then I will feel better and able to go out into the world again.
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Do you nest? When? What kind do you do? Does it make you feel better?

9 comments:

  1. Pepper, I was just thinking today that you had disappeared from my feed on blogger and I was wondering where you had gone to!

    I DEFINITELY understand what you mean. When I'm feeling a little off for one reason or another, I always get this unbearable urge to clean and tidy. Either that, or create a comfortable fort around my bed consisting of tortilla chips and salsa, lots of good reading material, and my journal. One of those all-day bed-rest type of things. And then I yack to my best friend. I always end up feeling tons better afterwards, and I hope you will too!

    xxxx Jayne

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  2. Hi Pepper,

    yup, me too.
    Anything that makes me anxious = tidy/rearrange the house! I think it soothes me, makes me feel a tiny bit more in control or something.
    Most of my friends just don't get it.....lovely to read about someone else who does it too!

    And where will you keep that gorgeous nest?

    Nicki x

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  3. Yep, I know what you mean... I've just had a week of nesting and very little crafting or blogging. It made me feel better on one level because I felt more in control of my surroundings but it was also pretty depressing not to be crafting... started to feel like the housekeeper again ;) Great post. K

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  4. aw.. hrm.. let me think. I think that I get that cleaning/tidying urge more so when I'm cranky or stressed out with the world, thus making everything more 'orderly' seems to help with that stress. Then, when I'm feeling like how you described, I tend to try and escape everything orderly or familiar - I manage to conveniently have my lunches alone outside, watching the clouds and the trees, or if I'm at home I sit outside and find something soothing to do - gardening or just sitting in front of the fire, staring and thinking : )
    Hope you're feeling okay : )

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  5. I do exactly the same! Clean, cook, wash, dust,and then when I'm done with all that my poor kitty kat cops it: he gets brushed and bathed and spends the rest of the afternoon sulking and shaking the water of his legs.

    PS - I think that nest is begging for some kind of soft toy creation to be made for it! ;)

    x

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  6. I have just returned to nesting after a long break... my nesting involves tidying the house and washing clothes/ towels everything- then at the end I get into bed I really didnt like our bed, but we got a new one and it is glorious... so now my nesting feels complete

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  7. Hello, looks like we are both indeed natural nesters. Thanks for finding my blog so I could find yours!

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  8. I feel the same way! When I am stressed I nest! Even when I was a child, if I got in trouble and was sent to my room I started cleaning it! When i was pregnant though the hormones kicked in and i went into a nesting frenzy, cleaning, rearranging, sorting everything.

    I love then sitting in my clean house and admiring my handiwork. :)

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  9. While I don't clean, I can definately relate to sticking around home. We call our house "our bubble", a place where we all belong and are together and safe. A protected place where we can take on anything the world sends our way.

    I hope that your confusion and mixed emotions have settled and you are once again ready to go out into the world.

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