“These coppers, big and little, these brooms and clouts and brushes, were tools; and with them one made, not shoes or cabinet-work, but life itself. One made a climate within a climate; one made the days,–the complexion, the special flavor, the special happiness of each day as it passed; one made life.”
Willa Cather, Shadows on the Rock
Each craft has its tools. And those tools show themselves for what they are in the hands of the craftsman—in this case a woman. She knows how to use these tools because she knows what they are really for. She feels intuitively that her craft in the home stands out from all others. She is intent on forming something much greater than cabinets, or any such things.
The real fruit of her art is not tangible—or rather not only tangible—even if some immediate products are. The cabinetmaker sees his hands give shape to something concrete and beautiful right before his very eyes. He quickly perceives how well he is doing, and if something has gone amiss. The woman of the household struggles to see the fruit of her work. Sometimes the concrete things she sees are not very beautiful. Or maybe she succeeds in making them aesthetically pleasing, but the deeper purpose remains elusive.
In no other human art is there such a fine interplay, such a meaningful interweaving, of the intangible and the tangible. Such it is in the home, because such is human life. And woman is at the heart of it.
Yet today it can be so difficult for a woman to discover and to practice this art—one that is so her, and so hers. Commonly ridiculed and undermined, caricatured or simply ignored, it is seldom seen for what it is, let alone reverenced, and cultivated. When still practiced, emphasis can tend toward achieving a certain look in the home, or a certain performance of the children, missing the deeper reality. And often today this work in the home remains secondary to achieving other more purportedly ‘serious’ objectives.
There is perhaps no other work so hidden, yet with such real fruits—both for those within the home and the broader community. This work is certainly not for a woman alone. Indeed, such wifery calls for and flourishes alongside a closely connected husbandry—an art similarly in need of rediscovery.
Willa Cather gives voice to what is well-nigh beyond articulation. The woman of a household has a genius—even if as yet undiscovered or undervalued, even if different from her neighbor’s or her mother’s. She has a genius and an opportunity to make a climate within a climate—a work especially arduous when the broader climate is inclement.
By a persistent attention to the concrete, animated by a love of persons and an astute perception of their whole good in all its richness, women craft the special happiness of each day. Even when unnoticed. May they find encouragement, and support, and a gratitude that begins to be commensurate to what they are doing.
**NEW COURSE, OPEN TODAY: Woman of the Household
Open for all women, especially wives and mothers. START HERE.
Willa Cather (American, 1873-1947) was a Pulitzer-winning authoress known especially for her novels of the American frontier, such as O Pioneers! and My Antonia.
Three Beautiful Things in the Cosmos
“My soul takes pleasure in three things, and they are beautiful in the sight of the Lord and of men; agreement between brothers, friendship between neighbors, and a wife and a husband who live in harmony.” Sirach I wonder what these words sound like to the young. I...
Manual Workers, Wisdom, and Cosmic Order
“How can he become wise who handles the plough? ...each becomes wise through his work.” Sirach Ben Sira and Aristotle are of one mind regarding the scribe’s pursuit of wisdom. “The wisdom of the scribe depends on the opportunity of leisure; and he who has little...
A Wife in Her Well-Ordered Home
“Like the sun rising in the heights of the Lord, so is the beauty of a good wife in her well-ordered home.” Sirach There is so much to fathom in these words in praise of a good wife. What a revelatory simile/metaphor! Like the sun rising, so is the beauty of a good...
Husband, father, and professor of Philosophy. LifeCraft springs from one conviction: there is an ancient wisdom about how to live the good life in our homes, with our families; and it is worth our time to hearken to it. Let’s rediscover it together. Learn more.
I am very excited to begin your new course! It sounds like a wonderful way to start the new year and refocus on home during these strange times.
Thank you, Angela. I really hope you find it fruitful!
This is so beautiful! Thank you so much for mining these uplifting quotes and encouraging mothers and homemakers. I have passed it on to five young mothers.
You are very welcome, Julie. I’m honored you’ve shared it.
Exquisite! You make the holiness and beauty of our sex so patently evident that it’s easy to see why Satan abhors both femininity and masculinity. These precious truths must be guarded at any cost. If only women and men cherished our natures as we should.
Let’s keep working on it together!
I always look forward to Wednesdays and reading your posts. They are all thoughtful and uplifting, but this one knocks it out of the park. Though I have worked part-time off and on in my thirty-three years of marriage, I have always viewed homemaking as my primary vocation, an attitude that sometimes leads to awkward conversations with and questioning looks from other people. When seen from the perspective you describe, the fulfillment and satisfaction of homemaking is immense. No job I have held has ever been as rewarding. Feminists fail to see past the daily routine of cooking, laundry, and household tasks to the real beauty and service at the heart of making a home for the people one loves best. Thank you for articulating what so few people realize.
Thank you Woman of the House! I’m so happy to hear of your experience. .
Your point about viewing homemaking as your primary occupation is what Dr. Cuddeback mentions right at the end of the first module of Woman of the Household. That our primacy is in the household and that this is part of our nurturing design. I too have had many people, including close friends, not understand my perspective and my choice.
Thank you for these words of wisdom. It reminds me, that the value of motherhood is like a pearl of great value. She is the heart, and the weaver, of a beautiful home, and ultimately the country. Without the woman being a virtuous mother and wife, she can’t raise wholesome children, nor be the support her husband needs, to perform his role. Thank you, for putting forth the inspirational weekly stories. It is so good and nurturing for me to hear!
I’m so very grateful Catherine! Thank you.
This is so exciting! I’m about to give birth to baby #5, and I’m saving the course to go through in the long nursing sessions with a newborn :). Thanks for making this available, what a gift. Additionally, the quote from Cather’s Shadows on the Rock is so lovely– I felt that the novel beautifully expressed this important but hidden art of making home. Time for a reread!
Thank you, Nicole. God bless your birthing, and I hope the course makes for good watching! I also hope you can do a Shadows on the Rock re-read!