Two years since footsteps. Silence echoes within my walls. Dust, shadows, emptiness. It’s been lonely.
Rain falls outside. The smell of eucalyptus in the air. In the distance, voices…people laughing. I imagine them. I wish for them to be here instead of there. To give me a purpose once more.
Eighteen years ago, I was alive with voices. I miss that. Now I see people walk by but they don’t even glance in my direction.
There’s been a lot of time for thinking…I think about what it was like before anyone was here... before all of us on this street, when the earth breathed, before we messed with the balance of this place. I think about belonging and I wonder if belonging is only for people – or can walls crave it too? What is shelter without connection? What is safety without purpose?
.....
I’ve never truly ‘belonged’ here. My neighbours have been here much longer. They are polished. They have a purpose. I’ve lost that. It’s what I yearn for. I know I can be more than an empty shell. I have something to offer.
Today, I see her again… the girl in the alley, small against my shadow, cold and alone. I wish I could offer her shelter. Could I offer her shelter? Could that be why I’m here?
.....
Then... it begins with the jingle of keys. A door creaks. Dust bunnies dance through the air. Light creeps in. Someone new. She walks confidently through my space, running her hands along my walls, stopping to admire a column and the height of the ceiling. ”How about we let some natural light in?” she says as she starts sketching “...so vast...so many possibilities”.
Then... it begins with the jingle of keys. A door creaks. Dust bunnies dance through the air. Light creeps in. Someone new. She walks confidently through my space, running her hands along my walls, stopping to admire a column and the height of the ceiling. ”How about we let some natural light in?” she says as she starts sketching “...so vast...so many possibilities”.
Dare I hope?
.....
More people. This is exciting. I forgot just how wonderful this feels. They bring tools and food and laughter and ideas. So many ideas for what I might become. I’ve often wondered why buildings like me were given just one purpose. Why can’t we change as the world does? Maybe this is my chance.
More people. This is exciting. I forgot just how wonderful this feels. They bring tools and food and laughter and ideas. So many ideas for what I might become. I’ve often wondered why buildings like me were given just one purpose. Why can’t we change as the world does? Maybe this is my chance.
I’m learning new words I haven’t heard before... “adaptive reuse”... “design for disassembly” ...”circular economy”... “regenerative design”.
They talk for hours about building a community and how someone called Winston Churchill once said “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us”...what a beautiful sentiment. Something I want to be part of.
I feel my purpose evolving. Soon, I’ll breathe again.
.....
Natural light spills into the depths of my void and the outside air is crisp and refreshing. It feels strange, but good strange. They said this new corridor of light would bring the sun deep inside. So everyone can feel it. So life can thrive.
Natural light spills into the depths of my void and the outside air is crisp and refreshing. It feels strange, but good strange. They said this new corridor of light would bring the sun deep inside. So everyone can feel it. So life can thrive.
I watch as they transform the old tin sheeting into garden edging, and concrete into gravel paths... It brings me joy knowing that materials are being reused instead of discarded.
And then I see her again... the girl from the alley. This time she is inside, working in the garden, laughing with the others. Safe. Warm. Building something new.
I feel seen. I feel safe. I’m looking forward to what tomorrow brings.
.....
The construction has ended but the people have stayed. They gather around the large table in the communal kitchen to share food and stories. They work together in the garden. They bump into each other at the mailbox and have a chat and laugh together. They are making this space their own. Potted herbs on window sills. Handmade quilts on their couch. Children add chalk drawings to a bare wall. Small things that mean so much.
The construction has ended but the people have stayed. They gather around the large table in the communal kitchen to share food and stories. They work together in the garden. They bump into each other at the mailbox and have a chat and laugh together. They are making this space their own. Potted herbs on window sills. Handmade quilts on their couch. Children add chalk drawings to a bare wall. Small things that mean so much.
Plants and vegetables are blooming and a community is growing, I can feel it in my bones. It feels good. I belong. I don’t know what the future holds but I do know that this is exactly what I am meant to be right now.
No longer an empty shell. I am home... theirs and mine. And we rely on each other to rediscover our purpose.
Sketchup + InDesign + Illustrator + Photoshop
