First interviews completed

What I hoped for happened. And what does that have to do with 'ibasho'?

I stood at the door with trembling knees. Last week, the time had come: I conducted the first interviews in people's homes for my book-in-progress.

I spoke with a lovely couple, each with their own unique profile and experiences with stimuli. They opened their homes and their hearts to me. They explained how their brains work, and how their homes play a role in that. I tried mainly to listen, to be curious about their stories.

And what I hoped for, happened.

I heard new things. Perspectives I hadn't known before. For example: "When I'm tired, I have less of a sense of where my body ends. And I bump into everything." Later, I told my sister, and she said, "Gosh, I have that too! I never thought about it!"

That's exactly what I want to achieve with my book. I want you to read it and think, "Hey, wait a minute! I (or my child) have that too!"

And how you can address this in your home or workplace. In my book, I'll offer ideas for this, based on information about sensory processing, insights from science and philosophy, theories from the interior design world, and practical experience from myself and other interior designers.

IBASHO
A word that keeps popping into my head is ibasho. I came across this word while reading about the Japanese language in preparation for a lecture by Michel Dijkstra on Japanese philosophy.

Ibasho can't be translated into a single Dutch word. 'I' means 'being/existence,' and 'basho' means 'place.' It represents a place where you can truly be yourself and feel completely at ease. But it also encompasses an aspect of security and future prospects.

The term perfectly aligns with what I'm seeing more and more clearly. What MUST become the central theme in my book: a beautiful home is more than beautiful wallpaper. More than Japandi or Hotel Chique. More than the right colors. More than space, more than cabinets. What you want to create isn't so much a beautiful home, but... ibasho.

Your living environment is what you directly experience through your senses. But also what it evokes in terms of emotions, memories, and associations. It's your connection to the earth, the place where your body resides when your mind drifts away.

A home is an incredibly precious commodity. A place of your own. And by treating that precious commodity as such, you give yourself and your family something incredibly valuable. A fertile ground through which you can ground and flourish, where you are safe and have a future. Just as a poppy thrives in sandy soil and a hydrangea needs clay soil to bloom, so too does everyone have different needs.

I'll be speaking to many more people in the coming weeks. Would you also like to contribute to my book, either as an expert on stimuli or as a professional in a field that relates to my book? I'd love it! More info in the comments.