“Fire tends to go out; heal the fire on the altar of your heart. Anyone who has looked after a fireplace knows that the fire needs to be rekindled from time to time.” William Booth
There are two powerful yet untranslatable words from the north; they can only be told through emotions. Gemütlichkeit, Hygge: the warmth of the fireplace, the crackling fire, the soft light, the scent of pine needles or salt, the fragrance of a freshly baked apple tart. The north – that north – in its welcoming warmth after the cold, belongs to my childhood and my fondest memories and is lively in my inner rooms. The physical ones, on the other hand, I can now leave for a while. So, it’s time to go out and bring this warmth to the homes that need it most. It’s time for a home rebirthing!
Paciulì is the title of my first novel that I wrote thirty years ago. It is the sad and melancholic story of a lost family home. That sense of defeat I transformed into new energy. Today Paciulì is my nomadic soul; a breeze, a living spirit that brings new energies where it stops; your home, for example. A place you haven’t lived in for a long time; where you live only in summer, or the old home of your grandparents, the nest of lost love. With drums, bells and meditations I will inhabit the uninhabited spaces to restore their energy balance. With love and grace, I will take care of every corner flooding it with joy and beauty. There are bright rooms and shady corners. I’ll take everything into custody, thread by thread, making contact through your objects. I’ll pray, revitalize, refresh and then accompany you in the ritual of honouring and letting go of all that must be. Memories, emotions, things. I will also offer you creative solutions to give them new life.
For this reason, thinking of giving a name to this new project, I immediately thought of Paciulì, a symbol for me of a positive and vibrant transformation. Imagine Paciulì as swirling and luminous energy that leaves a new imprint on a house that has lost colour under the dust of abandonment. Paciulì brings a new imprint in respect of what has been and lived so that every room, flower bed, and kitchen, will be able to shine again. Paciulì recalls life and presence to transform emotional barriers, even ancestral ones or those who previously lived in the house. Paciulì brings panache and imagination and leaves a precious trace of a story, its meaning and value, recreating a serene and bright environment to start a new chapter in your life.
Your home will be a place for me to stay here and now, committed to welcoming new forms of beauty, care and dedication in addition to mine, which I don’t want to impose. I like to work on the study of colours and the arrangement of objects because everything has its place and its function, even narrative. I like to rearrange everything by theme. The drawer of the pencils, the cabinet of the jars, the corner of the garden tools, where maybe you can dust off an old rake that has done so much work, a zinc watering can, a basket made by granny. I will not leave you a ‘perfect’ house; it will have that healthy lived-in taste, but with a particular order and care together with the regenerating scent of a nice cleansing; all while maintaining your style. I will remove time dust by passing a slow place and old cloth and finding a new place for each object.
I will take care of the garden, and the orchard; I will open the windows thinking each time of a portal towards infinity; I will wet the flowers, cuddle the cats and prepare their food; I’ll arrange the cupboards and the wardrobes. I can make preserves with fruit from your garden. I will wet the roses, the courgettes, I will pull the weeds. I will tidy up your library, dust and arrange the books; I’ll organize the cellar, the garage, and all those spaces that… one always postpones and says, “then I’ll do it”. In the closet, for example, I will put everything from one, differentiating what can be sold, given, and reused to draw new energy, perhaps by creating new furnishing objects, new nice things. Everything can become a work of art, a sustainable recovery project and new life.
I want to put things in order, patch up, rewind and fix broken shards according to the art of Kintsuji, in a precious and delicate way. Therefore, I will have maximum respect and care for your most intimate sphere. If you give me the consent to access your secret corners, with great attention and sacredness I will be able to find an old object that you had lost or a memory to enhance; if you want to entrust me with your scrapbooks and photo memories, I can offer you a job on genealogy, a biographical writing project, or a story set in your home.
I will try to empathize with you or those who have always lived in that house to be close to your ‘feeling’ and not make any gesture that cannot be more than appreciated. You will find the table set and fresh sheets when you arrive; you will let yourself be pampered by loving and serene energy, like that of the gestures of a caring mother and you will enjoy your beautiful house.