Front Porch Invitation

The Envelope
Front porches have always held a certain nostalgia for me. Funny thing is I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Alabama but never lived in a home that came with a front porch which may seem a little unusual since front porches and the south seem to somehow go hand in hand. But none of the houses that I grew up in or even those of my immediate family had a front porch. We had front yards and stoops and back yard patios but no front porches. Yet, a home with a front porch has always held for me images and feelings of home and family and just simple living.

We currently live in a neighborhood where the majority of the houses have front porches and our house was one of the ones that came with a front porch. It’s one of the features that drew me to the house and also to the neighborhood itself. We walk through our neighborhood most days and get to experience connecting with our neighbors through hand waves and short visits as they sit on their front porches. And we get to enjoy doing the same when we spend time on our front porch. In all of this front porch living we have been doing in this little neighborhood of ours, I have come to realize that what I love most of all about front porches is that they are these lovely uniquely-specific-to-each-house invitations. Sweet little invitations that welcome the owners and guests to moments of connection and rest.

Enclosure Card
Whether we spend our porch time visiting with those sitting with us, sharing a hand wave to neighbors passing by or indulging in the opportunity to share a conversation with neighbors who can stop and chat a while, front porches allow us to connect with each other in a way that we wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to do. It gives us permission to stop and engage with others and get to know them a little more than we did before.

Porch time also provides a restful invitation to just sit and let the world around us come alive. The trees rustling, the sight of flowers in bloom, the insects working, the sounds of kids playing, the warmth of the breeze and the sun are all about life stirring. Yet somehow when we let ourselves be a little still, all of that stirring can be so relaxing and restful to our souls. Letting life just be while we drink sips of it in can do our souls and bodies great good.

RSVP
A front porch is an invitation to experience the world around us if we will just RSVP and attend to the moments it invites us to experience. I urge you that wherever you live and whether your front porch consists of a huge wrap around sort, a front step, a driveway, or simply a space in front of your front door, see it as your unique invitation to others and to yourself to connect and rest.

Smiles and hugs,
Michele