“Living well” may have several different meanings… For those who have never had the chance of even a roof over their heads, “living well” may be simply “having a good mattress”. For those who have had all chances, the concept of “living well” changes over life. At first, the nursery, the mother’s taste, the children sameness. Afterwards, the first desires, the colors, the place to play. Later on, the first symptoms of a personality, the bedroom becomes a private small world, the madness. As we grow up, we start accumulating – the records, the books, the stuff. We start realizing those are the things that translate us. Our homes become a clutter of memories; we start collecting objects, art, useless things. “Living well” no longer fits into our space. We feel the need to show off, to entertain people at home, to expand the family.
All in all, to have more space. Everything is so large the mis-encounters become more often, loneliness increases, the void becomes unbearable. We mature, the meaning of “living well” continues changing. We are no longer that happy about getting lost within our own homes. We approach the last stretch of life, and we have an urge to synthesize, to throw everything away, to divest, to search for our essence, to be free… at last. At that point, “living well” means being in the smallest space possible, keeping only that one piece that summarizes the whole collection. It means the plain white wall. It is then that it becomes clear we do not actually need much. Nothing much really, besides a good mattress.

Revista Joyce Pascowitch
February 2008