Doors and Doorways
I love looking for and taking pictures of unique doors and doorways. There is a special kind of magic when walking around older parts of cities and town and you stumble upon a gorgeous partly hidden door.
In literature, doors and doorways are highly symbolic. They represent a new beginning, a transition, or even escape. Whether open or closed, doors contain the unknown- secretive and mysterious. Very cool! A book cover is a door to a story, but it will typically give you some sort of clue as to what lies within. A door on a building or entrance to a garden, courtyard, or perhaps a road does not. Is the door a barrier for safety or isolation? Is it to restrict or imprison? So many questions, so many possible answers.
In Europe, or pretty much any other place than the U.S., doors are colorful, made of beautiful wood or combined with metal, often ornate with effortless grace. One can see the time taken to craft the door by hand, a labor of love perhaps or pride in a craft well learned.
These doors lend themselves to a storyteller to weave a tale about what lies beyond a simple threshold. To be enchanted, transported, or even terrified. The absolute joy a simple door can give is a wonder in itself.
The next time you see a door, pause for a moment and consider…where does it lead? Who lives beyond its archway and frame? Is there a key you must possess or will a simple knock gain you entrance? If a key is required, will it be ornate? Simple, yet unique? Or will it be mundane?
Today I’d like to leave you with a lovely poem by Annie Fellows Johnston (1863-1931)
Book Houses
I always think the cover of A book is like a door. Which opens into someone’s house Where I’ve not been before.
A pirate or a fairy queen May lift the latch for me; I always wonder, when I knock, What welcome there will be.
And when I find a house that’s dull I do not often stay; But when I find one full of friends, I’m apt to spend the day.
I never know what sort of folks Will be within, you see; And that’s why reading always is So interesting to me
Until next time,
Cheers to the storyteller in all of us!