A Chair That Swivels

 

There was a new layer of snow on the grass this morning. 

It came after winter rain and wind before it calmed down during the night.

 

This feels like the kind of day to sit in a chair that swivels as the world rolls by at a steady beat outside. 

 

While I watch the snow sparkle, I remember other times of sitting in chairs. 

 

I have great memories of a chair my grandpa would sit in as he watched the news or waited for grandkids to stop to say hello as we jumped out the front door. 

His chair would also swivel so he could see anywhere in the house at the twist of his foot. 

 

It was magic. 

He would let us twirl.

My grandpa would sometimes let one of us grandkids sit in the chair and twirl us all the way around in the chair. 

 

Laughter filled the front room and would then travel through the house. 

 

I can hear his low belly laugh now. 

The laugh that would have all of us giggling and wanting another turn in the twirling, swiveling chair. 

 

Then, we would be told to stop so this favorite chair of grandpa’s would last. 

It was hard to do what we were told sometimes and yet it was his favorite chair. 

 

Ok, remember that we love grandpa.

 

Aaahh. 

Yes, we did stop but the smiles would stay with me.  

 

Perhaps the memory stayed with others. 

 

I have held that memory close for decades. Have remembered the fun, calm feeling since then. 

 

What other feelings have come? 

 

Gratitude.

 

Joy.

 

Trust.

 

Wonder.

 

Love. 

There are many feelings.

There are so many feelings. Did you know there are 87?  

Brene’ Brown talks more about human emotions & experiences in her book Atlas of the Heart. 

 

I am going to learn more about it as I sit with the depth each one brings to me. 

 

Today, I am going to stay with the memory of the chair, the trust it brought along with the love I still feel. 

 

Powerful, isn’t it? 

 

Here is the next thing this chair brought. 

 

I saw an exact duplicate at a craft show one year. 

You bet it stopped me and had me circling back to the booth. 

 

I walked around the chair twice, touched the edges and the cushion to make sure it was real. 

Checked for the full swivel.

Same fabric, exact color. Then I checked for the full swivel. 

 

Yes! 

 

The friends I was with had a car that could fit the chair, so I approached the vendor to see how much they wanted for the chair. 

 

Now, usually everything in the booths at a show is for sale or you can make an offer. 

 

No, they said, the chair is not for sale. 

 

Goodness. Gulp. 

 

I offered a few hundred dollars. 

No bite. It was part of their set up, the staging for the booth. 

 

Oh bother. 

There was nothing more to do. 

I wished the chair well, said goodbye and 

Walked

Away. 

 

And then, my quest began. 

Little did I know.

Little did I know that the sweet memories with my grandpa meant that a chair that swivels would be lovely and add just a bit of joy and wonder into a nook of our home. 

 

It took a few years and then, the swivel chair was found. 

 

Now, I know. 

 

The memories were there before. 

I could have kept them tidy and in place without a chair. 

 

And yet. I do love to sit in this chair, while swiveling. 

 

It makes me grin with contentment, 

 

Tranquility. 

 

Connection. 

 

Somehow, when the big upheavals come along, it is a place that I go to be still, remember peace and keep going. 

 

The chair that swivels is one of many in our home I go to and yet this one brings extra memories. 

 

What about you, my friends?

Is there a place or space in your home that is like this chair that swivels? 

 

Create a new one, if you’d like. One nook at a time.