Gates, Doors, Portals

The gate to the garden and cottage

The sliding door looking into the garden

The original 1932 studio doors

The entrance gate to FlyAwke Tea Garden

FlyAwake Tea Garden Little Free Library and Community Board

Gate: an opening in a wall or fence

Door: a hinged, sliding or revolving barrier at the entrance to a building, room, vehicle or cupboard

Portal: a means of entrance

What's intriguing to me about gates and doors and portals is that they aren't just a means to traverse from one side of a fence or wall to another side. Or even a barrier meant to keep people out....unless we live in a fortified castle...but I digress! That's only part of the story! 

There is the prosaic threshold of moving from a sidewalk or street into a building or garden, or reaching into the cupboard for something. But there is also a sense in which a doorway or gateway is an invitation to enter into a different mode of being or perception. Doors and gates are liminal space, neither here nor there. They are openings, invitations to possibilities, a physically manifested question mark or enticement to a different mode of perception or way of being. A doorway into your home invites you to shed the cares and concerns and masks of the outer world. A gateway into a garden invites you to refuge, respose and renewal. Perhaps into a place beyond what we already know. In my spiritual tradition we enter "the gateless gate" of spiritual inititation, transforming our fixed, habitual perceptions of ourselves and the world into unforseen potentials and gifts.

Let us step together,

you and I,

into that place beyond our knowing.

Let us shape our lives

into a gift for the world.

The garden gate at the top is what you step through into the magical realm of Plum Blossom Cottage and gardens. It's an invitation to the refuge of the cottage and the way of being that we enjoy here in Portland. The sliding glass door lets you enjoy the garden from the inside of the cottage, a concrete expample of "refuge and prospect" design theory. The last picture is our iconic Plum Blossom Cottage image: the original 1930's doors to the studio. More about the history of Plum Blossom Cottage coming up in a future post!

Below are images from one of our favorite neighborhood gathering spots, FlyAwake Tea Garden. Started by Kevin and Arati Von Behren in 2013, the garden and tea shop quickly became our "go to" spot for refuge, relaxation, friendship, inspiration, and a sense of the timeless. 

When you enter the gates of FlyAwake there is a palpable sense of crossing from the "ordinary" fast-paced 21st century world of sound bites and attention deficets to a timeless, ancient world where life is lived more slowly, conversations unfold over several hours, spiritual wisdom is shared in a gentle dance of mutuality. And of course, there is tea. Fine tea. Rare Chinese teas. Herbal tisanes. Indian chai. Chocolates...and so much more!

Come...and enter the gate and doorways at Plum Blossom Cottage!

Here are some links: 

http://www.flyawakepdx.com/

https://www.facebook.com/FLYAWAKEPDX

To make a reservation at Plum Blossom Cottage:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3383967

http://www.vrbo.com/646878