Details in beauty – beauty in details

Arriving in Aldermarsh and in Whidbey Centre is an all-senses experience! I wish I could guide you through my journey of the first hours of being here.

What is it about all these artful details that give these places their harmonic feeling? Why do people sense ‘the field’ as Jean-Francois named it, when they are here?

Walking from the great Thomas Berry hall to ‘Granny’s place’ on this narrow trail I became aware – again – of the deep silence inherent in all nature. Looking at all the details: the circle structure of the garden on Whidbey; the Zen-like, raked sand square by the front door in Aldermarsh; the naturally formed doorknobs on the sauna; the collection of different metal circles on an outdoor wall; the beautifully written signs for leaving your shoes at the door; … it became clear that it has to do with this silence, the stillness.

Although there was not one super-designer in all this, they fit together and they bring harmony to the place and to our senses. The same is true for the encounters with the people! Nobody is in a hurry, everybody stays with his or her inner needs and impulses, there is friendship in an instant, there is warmth in speaking and doing, there is deep meaning in the stories told at the dinner table.
The beauty in conversations, the beauty in community, the beauty in all details…