PROCESS GIVES WAY TO PROGRESS
Envisioning What Can Be
One of my favorite parts of showing homes to people is watching them respond to spaces. Are they excited to look around the next corner? Are their arms crossed the minute they enter the front door? Do they pause...linger...or do they get quiet? It’s at this moment I know what’s happening. They've begun to process whether or not they can make this space their home.
This process—a series of steps to arrive at a desired result—is a sacred event in “home-creating.” It’s the practical, incremental changes each individual plans in their mind to create exactly what they wish to feel in their home.
I remember the pause..the linger…Jonathan and I had at the showing for the land that is now known as The Aal Together Now Farm. In that year, we had completed the renovation of a tiny 800 square foot home, and also added three children to our family! We were cramped, and our real estate “process” had begun.
A listing came up that caught our attention. As tired as we were, we drove to view the property, just as the sun was setting on a chilly, fall evening. With the toddler frat house in tow, we barely saw the interior of the house, but simultaneously stopped when we stepped out onto the back porch and took in the stunning mountain views. We both began to process how we could turn this home into exactly what we wanted. We exhaled, and began to envision our family here.
Beauty In Slowing Down
I watch this process unfold in my clients, as they ride the roller coaster of exhilaration on closing day to the following weeks, when the urgency to turn this new house into their home becomes pressing. The process never goes quite as quickly as planned, and the slow progress is disheartening.
But, as I stand in the middle of our long-awaited, 5-year plan on our own home renovation, I see the beauty in slowing the process down.
We have lived here. We know our home intricately. We have found that maybe we actually like that cozy room where we once wanted to knock down walls. The blue color on the walls has grown on us. The things that didn’t really bother us before, actually have become very important to change. Slowing the process has now given way to progress!
The Best Things In Life Take Time
I now linger in a happy bathroom—just finished, and appreciate the transformation much more than had we done the work right after we closed. The mini-farm life we have created confirms the beauty in slow processes—the bees work diligently to make the sweetest honey, the seedlings slowly grow into big blossoms, and the stubborn donkey grows into his lanky legs just at the right time. The bounty of the farm is never in a hurry; and just like our home renovation, it once again reminds me that the best things in life take time.
Cheers to your process and your progress, even if it feels slow as molasses (or honey!)
