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A sense of place
Dec. 11th, 2012 05:15 pm I've been watching a TV series following the staff at Claridges, a very expensive and old London hotel.
It brought together a number of thoughts in my mind, which cohered while I was reading an entry in Ranunculus's DW journal.
One of the things top end hotels do so well is continuity. The napkins are always folded exactly the same way, the paint is always fresh, the staff tend to be the same people year on year. When people return, they are returning to a familiar place, where they are known and they feel at home and secure.
There are several things that evoke this sense of place for me. Conventions are one, especially if they've been in the same hotel for several years. I can walk into the Radisson Edwardian at Heathrow or the hotel in Coventry that Redemption currently uses. If there's a convention there, I will instantly feel at home. The faces are familiar, the reg desk is in the right place, I know where ops will be. It feels right and safe and known.
Christmas can have a similar effect. Once I put the decorations up (which I don't do until very close to the day), the house is a subtly different place.
I think that's why I ended up on the Wimborne Minster Folk Festival committee. Wimborne in festival week is a known and familiar place. I know where the Appalachian dancing will be. I know where I will eat tea with my family on Sunday evening. The dance teams are known to me and the dance styles.
If the festival had ended, I would never have been able to return to that much-loved place.
A 'place' can be ephemeral, but still very real.
It brought together a number of thoughts in my mind, which cohered while I was reading an entry in Ranunculus's DW journal.
One of the things top end hotels do so well is continuity. The napkins are always folded exactly the same way, the paint is always fresh, the staff tend to be the same people year on year. When people return, they are returning to a familiar place, where they are known and they feel at home and secure.
There are several things that evoke this sense of place for me. Conventions are one, especially if they've been in the same hotel for several years. I can walk into the Radisson Edwardian at Heathrow or the hotel in Coventry that Redemption currently uses. If there's a convention there, I will instantly feel at home. The faces are familiar, the reg desk is in the right place, I know where ops will be. It feels right and safe and known.
Christmas can have a similar effect. Once I put the decorations up (which I don't do until very close to the day), the house is a subtly different place.
I think that's why I ended up on the Wimborne Minster Folk Festival committee. Wimborne in festival week is a known and familiar place. I know where the Appalachian dancing will be. I know where I will eat tea with my family on Sunday evening. The dance teams are known to me and the dance styles.
If the festival had ended, I would never have been able to return to that much-loved place.
A 'place' can be ephemeral, but still very real.
