There's a painting in your hallway you haven't really looked at in years. A vase your grandmother gave you. A postcard tucked into a mirror frame. A shelf of objects collected on trips. You live among them, but you've stopped seeing them.
This is a small, playful practice: visit your own home as if it were a museum.
Prepare your visit
Choose a quiet moment when you won't be interrupted. Put your phone away. Decide on a "route": the hallway, the living room, the kitchen, your bedroom. Bring a notebook if you like, as if you were writing labels for an exhibition.
The walk
1. Enter as a visitor. Stand at your front door and look at your home as if you'd never seen it. What's the first thing a stranger would notice? 2. Stop in front of each work. A print, a photo, a child's drawing, a beautiful bowl. Give each at least one minute. 3. Write an imaginary label. Title, date, origin, and one line: "Watercolor, bought at a market in Lisbon, 2019. It reminds me of the summer I learned to slow down." 4. Notice the light. How does daylight fall on each object? Would it look better somewhere else? 5. Find the "masterpiece". Which object in your home moves you most? Why? 6. Visit the hidden collection. Open a drawer or a box of keepsakes: letters, tickets, stones. Choose one to bring out and display for a while.
Rearrange, if you like
Museums rotate their collections. You can too. Move one piece to a new spot, put away something you no longer love, give a forgotten object pride of place.
Why it matters
The things we choose to live with tell our story. Looking at them again reminds us of who we've been, the people we love and the places we've traveled. It's a way of feeling at home in our own lives.
A diary for your collection
The Collector's Diary is a free printable journal with a short guided meditation, made to help you remember the works of art in your life: where you found them, what you noticed first, how they make you feel. Your home is already a collection. This is its catalogue.
Remember to take as much time as you need, and meet me at the next one.
Love, Evi