The Fisherman's Cottage

I would like you to imagine a room.

It is the most beautiful room you have ever seen. It is furnished in a way that you find most peaceful. A room you could call your idea of a perfect 'home'. A place where you can relax. A room which has everything in it a perfect room should have - you decide.

Now keep that vision in your mind for a moment. Look around it, feel how warm or cool it is in there. Look at the furnishings, the decor, the floor and lighting. . .

Now, be honest, did you imagine a room underground? Did you imagine a triangular room?

I think I am fairly safe in saying 'no' to both those questions. Now why is that?

This was a question originally posed by the architect Christopher Alexander to show that we all have innate ideas of what constitutes beauty and that the patterns which create it for us are more common than they are different.

Here's another question for you. How many coats does a fisherman have? Hmmm, not so easy that one. So let me set the scene.

Let us look down on this area of the coast. Our vision is increasingly filled with views of the landscape as we float down to this little fishing village with a cove and its harbour. Look over there at the few shops and over there some chalets. Now look over here at this row of small cottages.

This one is owned by a fisherman. He lives alone. He lives by the sea. The sea is in his blood as it was in his grandfather's and his father's before him. He works a small boat with three of the other men in the village. Can you see the cottage in your mind? Let's go up the path. What's the garden like? We go in through the main door and into the living room. We see the rolled sea charts on the table and the unwashed coffee cup. We see the stains of other coffee mugs on the table. We see the sofa and the packet of cigarettes on the arm and the newspaper.

We turn back to the main door and notice how many coats are hung up beside it. Now, how many coats does the fisherman have?

Now you know the answer and you know what each one of them is for, don't you.

So how has this happened? When you were asked the question the first time it was almost impossible to answer except with a guess. But once you understand the context and the drives, once you understand the core the rest flows outwards naturally, you just know the answer!

This is the point. Going from the outside inwards we don't know the answer really. But working from the inside out, going from the core, the essence, the true self outwards, we add increasing layers which all naturally fit and work together.

Trying to create a life, or more correctly, a lifestyle, from the outside inwards will never really work. To try to convince yourself and others of your 'nature' by what you collect and try to shoe-horn together in some pastiche of a life will always have some incongruence. Flowing from the inside out, however, means that what we create will usually hang together, because each piece we add will be a refinement of what has gone before and will be tied to the central theme - your true nature. If it does look out of joint at any point it is probably because it is in the process of being adapted - just give it a little time, a little Kairos.

It will hang together naturally and uniquely, just as your perfect room did. It will be comfortable and be just perfect for you because you created it naturally.

And that is the secret of the Fisherman's cottage.