Creating Spaces

Last week I flew to Portland, Oregon, where I spent a long weekend enjoying the very walkable downtown area. The city is a crazy quilt of vintage and modern, old brick buildings next to modern skyscrapers, with the whole urban, industrial sprawl running along the beautiful and broad Columbia River.

There was something about the severe spatial displacement of traveling across the country from my cozy nest of a home in an East Coast town to the big city in the Pacific Northwest that made me hyperaware of all the unique spaces that these city dwellers have created.



Some of these spaces spoke of grim survival. A pile of leaves under a bridge and a sleeping bag tight against a brick building under an awning protected homeless people from the constant rain. Three shopping carts loaded with scavenged possessions carved out a square patch of private sidewalk. At the same time, stately old buildings had been eviscerated and turned into parking garages, sad remnants of rosier economic times when it made more financial and moral sense to house people rather than just their cars.



Other spaces evoked a sense of mindful practice in the midst of busy city life. I spent a lovely hour or so soaking up the quiet at the Blossoming Lotus, a vegan cafe housed in a yoga studio. I felt revitalized after my time in the space, and I imagine that this type of space represents spiritual survival for urbanites.

Just down the street, a beautiful, light-filled space created a platform to honor craft as art. The Museum of Contemporary Craft opened up a space for multiple conversations--between artists and theorists, and conversations about the crafts themselves. I was thrilled to make my way through the exhibits and see how craft is being taken seriously and examined from a critical perspective. I don't think I've ever had the chance to talk about craft in such a deep way as I did when I spoke with a museum docent. We chatted about the specific works presented in the exhibits, and our conversation touched on the influence of the Bauhaus on contemporary craft and the connections between artist and student, which were spatially mapped out in a ceramics exhibit. I also experienced the work of Jiseon Lee Isbara, a textile artist whose silk and paper fiber work rendered our multitasking lives as quilt-like art.

Another amazing space brought entire landscapes together into a block-sized enclosed garden. As I wandered from space to space within the Portland Chinese Classical Garden, I experienced a sense of order, symmetry, and peace that was a welcome antitode to the crowded city streets. Each window and door created a frame for a particular tree or shrub, inviting viewers to experience each plant as it changes with the seasons.

I left Portland with a feeling that I had woken up--that this vital, energetic, intensely creative, and complex city had jolted me into an awareness of all the living that goes on behind the facades of buildings. It made me think about how very basic our needs are--for food, shelter, and human companionship--and yet how we still strive to create more complex spaces that feed our spiritual and creative needs.

I'd love to hear about the specific places that help you thrive spiritually and creatively.