For the past 22 months we have been working at getting the interior of the house liveable. We fixed the fallen ceilings, sanded and polished wooden floors, moved the kitchen and installed a shower and compost toilet. It all looks good but the house still did not have a real character. I've spent hours ,days , months researching online and in magazines for inspiration. I've tested out mood and color combination ideas by painting and repainting the front door so that when we come back from our morning japa walk we get to see the newest idea from the road.
The neighbours hated the bright yellow front door and now that I've repainted it black...they want the yellow door back. It made them happy they are telling me. The house wasn't "feeling it" I tell them. I'm looking for a balance between our Vedic culture and western location. I also wanted to give a nod to Paris because that is where my Grandma came from and I was raised French. After much research into French textiles I discovered that many of their patterns came from India!
This was good but I needed more! I'm also working on branding our business and web site....so all this needs to flow. I have a chair that faces the house and I sit and chant under the tree. I've been pondering something someone told me about this project being my dream! In actuality....it certainly is not. At my age I imagined that we would be the owners of a great big camper that I would decorate like a small palace on wheels with lovely little chandeliers and a fantastic altar. I imagined that I would finally have time to take care of my deities in the manner that they deserve to be taken care of. In my minds eye I saw Gaura Nitai and I traveling to each of our childrens homes and helping to get their homes and gardens developed. I saw us spending time with the grandchildren and teaching them all about Krsna...etc...etc..
Why do this large project then?
The only reason is....because we owe our lives to our teacher Srila Prabhupada. He requested everyone of us to take on this farming and protecting cows mission...not for ourselves but for the benefit of society.
Once I got my self out of the way I felt a teeny tiny bit better but still felt somewhat depressed at this lack of clear vision about a direction for the big picture.I plopped down on the kitchen chair while Gaura Nitai was doing some work and morosely asked him if he thought I was suffering from a deep...deep depression?(He is used to my melodrama.) He reassured me that I was just incredibly creative and I was just in a little slump but not to worry because usually something good comes of it. I went to bed.
The very next morning I was up real early feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed. I went to the computer and my eye caught this Youtube video. Aha!!! an Aha! moment...I felt excited. I've loved Chanel since the '80's. This was the Chanel 2011-12 Paris-Bombay Fashion Show.....Paris...India...crystal chandeliers....white and silver decorations everywhere. Fashion genius Karl Lagerfeld has once again outdone himself. So what if I would have to sell the farm to afford just one dress...it's not the elitist clothes that interests me but it's the mood Mr. Lagerfeld has created that I'm excited about. This affected me so profoundly because this was how my large altar was decorated while I was living in Panama. I like this mood. I felt that this is how the house wants to look. It just feels...right.
It was!
I want to see Govindas Farm be a beautiful and chic project. One that will make all locals and tourists smile and not push the gas petal as they drive past the project.
It is possible that the dark mood is lifting because this past summer we've seen cars stop to take pictures and we haven't even begun to develop the project yet. Perhaps this is a glimpse of the future?
I will post more pictures that inspire as they come along. It will be fun to see how we can incorporate these ideas into the project.
Govindas Farm needs to be simply beautiful.
Hare Krsna,
Kokum Lal
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