I keep coming back to redwheelbarrow.
When I was 19, I took an American Literature module as part of my degree and discovered William Carlos Williams' classic poem, The Red Wheelbarrow:
so much depends
upona red wheel
barrowglazed with rain
waterbeside the white
chickens.
I thought it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. It's perfection and simplicity and joy, all in one (and yes, I've gone and ruined it up there in my banner, sorry William, I didn't think I could liken my babblings to your beauty).
If you want to know more about the poem there many, many explanations, deconstructions and criticisms on the internet without me sticking my oar in. You can find them here, here and here (and loads more can be found yourselves, you naughty plagiarising students!).
But if you're really interested, I love it because it feels like a meditation or something Master Po would get Kwai Chang Caine to contemplate upon in Kung Fu. To me (and please don't shout at me proper scholars) it says that we should stop and look at the little things in life, to study their beauty instead of being caught up in the hustle and busyness of the world around us.
When I used to design publicity material and websites for people, my mantra was always 'less is more' (followed up by 'the beauty is in the detail', which despite appearances complements rather than contradicting the former). So when I set up my own business doing this for charities, I chose 'redwheelbarrow' as my company name. redwheelbarrow as a company and the accompanying website came and went (you'll guess why from reading yesterday's post) but I put the name to one side with great sadness.
But now it's back! Not as a business but as blog name and concept.
redwheelbarrow makes me happy. It's capable of holding things that make me happy. It will hopefully remind me to stop and look around me for the little things in life that bring me joy (and to share them with you). It's also a great visual aid to put things in or take photos of in unusual settings for future mastheads. And it's my version of Play School's windows or Angelos Epithmious's bag - if you're very good, I'll show you what's in the redwheelbarrow every so often and what makes the thing we find there special...don't say I don't spoil you!
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