"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." ~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Doors fascinate me.
There are so many stories wrapped up in these planks of wood, wrought iron patterns, and painted designs.
How many hands have gripped doorknobs, opening doors to bring heartfelt bouquets in apology...
...trembling fingers wrapping around ornate knockers, screwing up the courage to meet a long-lost parent for the first time in years...
...nervous palms pressed against the painted wood as adolescent courage is gathered to take that special girl to prom?
My own life is full of doors, carrying a multitude of remembrances.
The bright orange door in my family's living room upon which I rested my back when I needed a good cry...the creaking swing of my grandparents' screen door that led from their kitchen to the backyard where the fairies lived in my innocent imagination...the ornately designed wooden door that led into my El Pueblo room on my third missions trip to Peru.
Doors are remarkable.
Not just because they themselves bear stories...
...but because of the paths to which they lead.
Doors and paths are lovers...working together in a strange sort of dance to bring journeys and people together...
...lives to join, memories to create, breaths to inhale and leaps to take.
These simple pieces of wood and metal...mere minerals and resources drawn from the earth with no significance on their own...merge together to carry so much emotion, so much memory locked at their cores.
They are so much more than portals from one room to another, from interiors to exteriors...
...they are passageways to life...walkways to love...
...bearers of moments.
Never second-guess a door.
It might just change your life.
I feel that way about stairs, though doors run a close second!
ReplyDeleteI never really thought about doors before, but now that I read this...I look at our own front door and think of all the memories it holds...bad and good and it suddenly became very special to me!:) Love this post!<3
ReplyDeleteYup, I agree. Doors are marvelous, mysterious, and magnificent things.
ReplyDeleteAnd your Tolkien quote made me happy. =)
All these years, I've been opening doors, never even realizing how important they have been and are. Oh, and I love that Tolkien quote!
ReplyDeleteI loved this post! It really did make me think about doors in a different way. They really are something special.
ReplyDeletei have never thought about doors before. very interesting.
ReplyDeleteUm, I love you already because you read Tolkien and Lewis. :) I love that quote and your thoughts! You are a wonderful writer!
ReplyDeleteYou guys are so sweet. I'm so glad that you were able to take something new and fresh away from this post. It's just something that I've been dwelling on for a long time, and I finally decided that the time to write a post on the topic had arrived!
ReplyDelete<3 Love you guys so much!