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The destruction of the next room began in earnest yesterday, the removal of a wall in the master bedroom to open it into the attic. For a large house, the bedroom spaces are unusually small and there is very little space for clothing storage, so the attics will become walk-in wardrobes. This requires heating them first, as previously they were entirely cold spaces and snow would blow in -  we have a person doing the insulation for us, as it has to be done well.

As I started taking the wall away, the first layer was *relatively new* gyprock with a layer of wallpaper covering it. Underneath however, there were at least 5 more layers that sat on top a soft particle board, which would have given the wall "carpet" feel it was so spongy. Then beneath, the wooden planks that were used to form the concrete basement and repurposed as walls. 

![IMG_20200704_164914.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/xFNmtirJ-IMG_20200704_164914.jpg)

While the work itself isn't fun, there is something kind of special about peeling away these various layers to expose the past, as each was likely put down at stages of life where the owners felt they needed a change, a time where they had the time and money to do something, introduce a new feel into their world. I don't know the history, but each layer could represent the first owners move in, the arrival of a child, the conversion of a child moving away, extra money to spend from a promotion or a divorce and the preparation to sell. 

It will never be known exactly what the history is, but there have been a handful of families who have called this house home and they have likely all experienced some of the best times and the worst under this roof. All have likely laughed and cried here, whether it is through that arrival of a new child, or the loss of a parent, proud parents throwing a graduation party, or the feeling of emptiness when their children have moved away. People have lived here, people with messy lives and feelings, ups and down and all kinds of issues that for them at that time, were the most important things in the world and took all of their focus and energy. 

![IMG_20200704_173857.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/yqFwyy2e-IMG_20200704_173857.jpg)

Taking this wall away from the house doesn't remove their history, it gives us space to add to the history of the house, to evolve it with the current needs of our life, the world that is the most important to us at this time. The next family may come in and question our decisions and convert or revert it again to suit their needs at that time but again, our history isn't wiped, history can't be, what happened has happened and there is no going back and rewriting actual events already lived. 

I wonder what it would look like to see a collection of photographs taken by the families who have lived here throughout the years and what would be the focus. I think the house wouldn't play a starring role, it would be a background actor, ever present, but the life of the family would take precedence, their home looming behind, slightly blurred. A home is a common meeting point, a place that ties a family together, but it isn't what makes a family, it facilitates a family's living.  


![IMG_20200704_164505.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/QWfM2zjw-IMG_20200704_164505.jpg)


For my family at this point, the house takes precedence in many ways as we ourselves as a family are focusing on its development and suitability for ourselves. But, once it moves far enough along the development timeline, it fades into the background and becomes the slightly blurred backdrop as we live our life around and through it, the walls behind our barbecues, the stairs we stand on for a family portrait when our daughter graduates, the windows we open to let smoke out after burning something in the oven. The house becomes infrastructure that we utilize to make a home and will eventually outlive its usefulness *to us* and we will move along and hopefully, someone else will fill its space and give it a new purpose - 

*which might look a lot like much of what has happened in the past.*

History of humanity repeats for a reason and that is because while a lot changes is superficial in comparison to what evolves in us as people. We are genetically hardwired and while technology might fight against it, we evolve much more slowly than we are able to change our environment. We can engineer a world where we don't need a community or family unit, but for the vast majority of us, our body hasn't caught up to the technology and, will look for ways to seek balance and to be itself. We can train ourselves to ignore it or practice avoiding looking at it - but it is there within us all to some degree, as we are far more alike than different. 

I am quite sure that for each family that has lived under this roof that now shelters us, many of the same thoughts, hopes and fears have been experienced. The dreams of better lives, the worries of parents for their children, children for their own futures - each family added and removed layers, and tried to do their best - what happened, happened. 

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]


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