Musings on a gathering space
[Originally published on Substack on October 23, 2024. Moving it here as part of building a more complete, unified archive of my work.]
My daughter’s chorus rehearses in this old hall with ornate flourishes all around the walls, ceilings, etc. I usually sit in the back of the room while the group rehearses. Yesterday, these chandeliers caught my attention, particularly the hanging “FOE” elements.
So of course I had to look it up. From the website for the organization currently occupying the space, “Originally designed in 1928 by prominent Ithaca-based architect, Arthur Norman Gibb (Cornell, B.Arch, 1890) as the Fraternal Order of Eagles’ lodge, the building retains much of its unique historical aesthetic despite reinventing itself through the decades as city offices, a bowling alley, a dance studio, a paper store, a music club, and even a police shooting gallery.”
It got me thinking about how many events, gatherings, experiences have been held in this space over the past 100 years. Almost unfathomable to me. (And wouldn’t it be totally cool if we could see a time-lapse video of all of the events in this hall over the years?)
BUT, what I really started musing about is whether this space, this hall, is affected by or somehow holds onto the energy of the people or gatherings it has held over the years. Sort of like how the rings of a tree trunk can reflect their growth conditions at any given point in time? (At least, I think that’s true - I am certainly not a tree expert, so I’m happy to be corrected about this!)
Then, I wonder whether part of what makes any given space unique is not just about design, but about what the space has held and what has passed through? It’s kind of beautiful to me to consider how this hall and the potential energy within has contributed to human connection without doing anything other than simply existing.
I wonder if this can be true for humans as well? What if without having to DO anything at all, we can exist as a space for experiences to pass through? And that by simply existing as our own unique spaces for holding and passing forward the consequent energy, we influence and contribute as an integral part of the world? To me, it’s an interesting contrast to the achievement, production, optimization-of-always-DOING orientation that is such a part of our culture. I don’t think there’s a “right” or “true” answer here, but I’m loving playing with this idea of “what else can we be”? And maybe if we were to break it all down to the level of “we exist simply as a beautiful space for experiences and holding our shared connections” with no other purpose needed, that’s also a magical thing to be in the world.
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