Contentment

One of the most challenging things today, is acquiring personal contentment in the home.

It might be enjoyable to have a look into the past to see why so many women enjoyed the home. What was it about the home that made every woman look forward to being a homemaker? Why were there so many precious memories of the home?

In the 19th century, most homes did not look like they do today, yet a woman was most proud to be the lady of the house. Many in that generation did not grow up with any wealth, and some had very few modern conveniences. Our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers had no fabulous mansions, or wealth to speak of, yet they were always able to make a hot meal for someone and provide a safe and happy place for their own families. Almost all of them wanted to make the family successful, and very, very few of them would have rather left their children in someone else's care or left their homes while they pursued other things. They believed that the way the home was cared for and the way the family's needs of food, shelter and clothing, social and spiritual duties, education, etc. were so important that it required the full attention of the lady of the house.

It may seem strange that our fore-mothers hired help to sweep and wash, but I still remember stories from people who lived at a time when that was considered quite a good opportunity to earn some money. Long after the era in which you could hire help in the home, I remember being able to pay young girls to come and help keep house.Until very recently, it was possible to hire young girls who wanted to learn about homemaking. They were glad to have a summer job, and enjoyed helping to keep house. I, myself, as a teen ager, used to help mothers who had just come home with a baby. It was considered quite normal at the time and there was ne'er a discouraging word spoken about it.

No one was forced to work, but the jobs to help in homes were always available. Working in someone's home gave a young woman a chance to see how the home was managed and to develop some experience in home making. I believe, in general, many young girls seemed happy and content with the idea of just being young and being given the responsibility to work in someone's home. They wanted to be good examples to young children and be worthy of being hired.

Dressing was important in those days, even when you were going to work cleaning someone's house. The girls did not want to wear jeans and flip-flops and tank tops. Tattoos, piercings, and metal in the skin was considered something too primitive. Girls especially wanted clear skin, shiny hair and good breath. They were concerned about their grooming. Clothing was clean, starched, buttoned up, tucked in, and in general, made a person want to stand up straight. Even the poorest person would not have worn anything torn, dirty, with vulgar slogans, or too small for them. They thought these things were only for grunge work or for camping at the lake.

Ironing was a type of activity that calmed the heart beat and made one think. The iron board was brought out and some times positioned in front of a window. Some times a sister or friend would bring her ironing board, and help with the load of ironing. Remember, in those days, everything needed to be ironed. Everything was wrinkled. There was no permanent press as there is today. One simply would not wear a wrinkled blouse. Even the jeans were ironed.

There was a certain kind of contentment that came from caring for one's clothes. The laundry was carefully washed, hung on the line, and then when dry, sprinkled with linen water (just a combination of water and lavender or some other scent) and rolled up to be ironed later. Seeing the clothes, even if there were just a few, hanging neatly on hangers in the small closet, brought a great deal of satisfaction.

A porch or place to sit outside was common amongst most families, whether rich or poor. Whether it was a patio set, picnic bench or just sitting under a tree, it was considered a very essential part balanced living, to go outside and spend time in nature.

One thing that was common for most families was a swing. Whether it was hung from a porch or a tree, it was an accessible form of relaxation. It cost very little to hang a rope from a strong tree limb and make a board to sit on. Here, one could go outside and and let the mind rest. The eyes could take in the beauty of the path and the flowers growing along side of it. The ears could hear the leaves in the trees moving in the wind. A person did not have to be rich in order to find contentment in such simplicity.

Walks were a common occurance. It was considered healthy to take a walk once a day. Walks were not just mechanical actions designed to get exercise. While engaged in a walk, a woman might pick a few flowers or observe something lovely along side of the road. She might walk with a sister or her mother and talk of many things. A walk provided an important time of thinking. When one was restless or experiencing uncertaintly of mind, a long walk was considered a most important treatment. Nature walks sometimes involved collecting natural materials like pine cones and orchids to make an indoor display in a bowl. In cold seasons, walking was important enough that people bundled up adequately in outdoor clothing. There would be no dashing to the mail box with no coat or sweater. One dressed up in warm boots, coat, scarf, hat and gloves, and made the most of it.

Women had time to keep water-colored nature diaries that told of their discoveries on walks. In winter

It seemed a huge amount of the population in the Victorian era took painting lessons or painted free-hand, naturally. Many of these paintings can still be seen, thanks to the web. It is interesting to view paintings, because although there is a huge amount of grand paintings of famous places, people and things, thee are also many paintings, equally as beautiful, of the things that are a reminder of contentment: flowers, objects in the home, the view from the window,

I well remember going into an attic room of an elderly aunt and discovering an old scrapbook. It looked as though she had stopped right in the middle of it, 50 years earlier. There were several sheets of scrapbook embillishments, unused, from another era. They were not faded or worn. It was interesting to see the corners and labels and pieces that were once available for scrapbooks. She had made a page for every baby that was born, and added the cards she had received. She copied poetry into this book and outlined it with the special decorative, die-cut papers that were available at the time. My thoughts as I leafed through this

The teaching of contentment from the scriptures:

abaseed

content

covet

envy

how important the precepts of the Bible were to them: loving others and giving what you could.







Country Estate I and Country Estate II by Igor Levashov