What was it that made you fall in love with that quirky heirloom that sits half-hidden on your bookshelf?
Was it the shape?
The color?
The style or smell?
If you’re like most people, it was a little bit of all those things. But if you think about it, isn’t it the nostalgia for the story behind that heirloom that made you love with it in the first place?
Preserving and sharing the stories in family heirlooms has been a large focus of Heirloom Explorer. But that is not the whole story. Here you will also read about cultural heirlooms and artifacts in art and historical museums.
Why it Matters
One of my favorite quotes is from Walter Pater’s The Renaissance, written in 1873.
“We are all condamnes”, as Victor Hugo says. We are all under sentence of death; but with a sort of infinite reprieve. We have an interval and then our place knows us no more. Some spend this interval in listlessness; some in high passions, the wisest at least among “the children of this earth” in art and song. For our one chance lies in expanding that interval, in getting as many pulsations as possible into the given time.”
At a time when our history and lived culture are being altered or erased, it’s even more critical that we consider all the ways we can share wisdom, build connections, inspire our community, and respect the human experience of all.
My hope is that by sharing family and community stories through art and artifacts, we can extend this interval we are in and preserve the stories for future generations.
Have you read “What is an Heirloom Explorer?“
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Let’s Be Social!
If you’re on social media, let’s be social together
Instagram: @heirloomexplorer
Threads: @heirloomexplorer
Facebook: @heirloomexplorer
What you’ll find on my socials
On Instagram, I post stills and reels of interesting heirlooms I’ve found. I like to show what they are, how they work, and how I use them around the home. In my stories, I share things that are on my mind or things I find while traveling.
While I don’t post much on Threads, I love jumping into interesting conversations about heirlooms, decluttering sentimental stuff, genealogy, books, writing, and travel.
Facebook? To be honest, I’m not on it a ton. I tend to repost my Instagram and blog posts. But if you are on it, let me know, and I’ll give it another look.