Balancing borders


One is meant to be visited and one is meant to be lived in. One invites observation, the other demands experience.

I've been thinking about some ritual concepts lately. Specifically the idea of "between the worlds."

It reminded me of gardens and museums.

There are some gardens where everything is very formal and very precise. After these flowers bloom, then these bloom. Everything has to be trimmed just so. There is not a weed in sight. They are masterworks of design over function, meant to maximize pleasure and serenity, all while revealing beauty.

And then there is the working garden. There may be some design, but the emphasis is on producing. Things are changed and adapted as needed. It may look like a mishmash, but underneath there is a pattern of growth and change.

One is meant to be visited and one is meant to be lived in.

Museums are the same way.

The formal museum isolates it's exhibits from the outside world with a carefully placed barrier between the visitor and what is on display.. It is all carefully polished, emphasizing the exhibits and inviting the viewer to dream, but not to get too close.

And then there is the museum where everything is meant to be touched, smelled, handled. This is the place where the learning happens by doing.

One invites observation, the other demands experience.

If we are really going to be a bridge between worlds, we can't be the visitor for the afternoon. We have to touch, we have to learn, and we have to bring back pieces of one world to put in another. We can't seal one off from the other.

We have to find the balance between the borders.

Posted: Mon - December 26, 2005 at 04:31 AM
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