Setting the table with something handmade
If you’ve subscribed here for a while, or read our social media feed, you know that we care deeply about eating together. It’s a crucial family time, developing our relationships with each other and with the food we eat. We’re happier, calmer, and more connected when we eat together.
Every culture has traditions around eating and meals. There’s a reason for that. Eating brings us together, and allows us to share in something deeper than a meal. In our culture, we often signal a fancy meal with more complex table settings: nested sets of utensils and different glasses. But there’s something simpler we can do. We don’t need separate forks or lace tablecloths or whatever other symbols of culture we’ve come to expect. I often find it’s enough simply to set the table with something handmade.
Sometimes it’s a hand-thrown bowl, or a foraged floral arrangement. Sometimes it’s a handmade napkin or placemat. No matter what, though, the handmade element connects us to the broader world, and the people we share it with. What work of hands could you bring to your table?
- Page
Farmer and Cultivator
