Turning Tables

Celebrating our “Dressed” Up Selves

by Jennifer Hoelscher

For years I have had a fascination with tables. Yup, you read that right, tables. They come in all shapes and sizes, and just about everyone in the world knows what they are and probably uses one every day! The Encyclopedia Britannica defines a table as a basic article of furniture, known and used in the Western world since at least the 7th century BCE, consisting of a flat slab of stone, metal, wood, or glass supported by trestles, legs, or a pillar.

So while our tables serve us physically, they also connect us emotionally to one another. What does that mean exactly? Well, it starts when we sit down to create or to converse with someone. Before you know it, the magic happens! We feel that soul-nourishing satisfaction of creating something real. That magnetic pull reminding us that our most authentic needs start with being present with ourselves and with each other.

Tables, it’s where life moments happen. Like when I learned how to create a 3-D model of the solar system that mom and I worked on till midnight, or when my Aunt Ellen shared several photo albums full of family stories. I learned a whole lot of life lessons at that table! Another topic for another day! The table is where I learned social graces. How to listen to others, how to pass food, to break bread, and how to set the table. After discovering Martha Stewart and her “it’s a good thing” tag line, I fell in love with the concept of creating this beautiful backdrop to accompany my food. My love affair with all things beautiful began, and for the past 22 years, and three homes later, I “dress” up and play at my table.

The last year 2020, brought forced lockdowns and the word flexibility. (Not my fav word) Our wants were kicked to the back seat! Can I get an Amen over here?! Life did not stop, though. Loved ones passed on, lovers made vows, and babies were born; (first-time grandma!!). The thing I took from it: We. Slowed. Down. We learned that when we sacrifice our wants, we gain more in our “need” columns! We got back to “dressing” up our creative, connective selves! So how did this happen? We turned the tables!

They became our virtual stands for our computers, our game boards, puzzles, and craft boards. The sacrifice seemed insurmountable at times. But choosing to be present during most of it, we started to ad” dress” our needs. To create our tables filled with perhaps that book you’ve been longing to write, or that Coq au vin you’ve been dying to prepare, to sit longer, to laugh harder, to really… listen.

So what will 2021 look like?

Who knows! We know that we can survive without all our wants and maybe better off for finding those needs. I’ll be here, dressing up my table. No matter how many can join me!