I Have Always Lived in the Castle

[dotinthesky]

I have finally started watching Netflix's The Crown. It's a sort of English Dynasty in muted colours and grating accents.

One episode last night resonated with me. In it, the Queen Mother flees the court for a remote part of Scotland and falls in love with a derelict castle by the sea. She hears that the castle is up for sale and goes to visit it with some friends. The owner of the castle, a twinkle-eyed older gentleman, doesn't recognise her and so he's very candid about the leaky roof, lack of electricity and general disarray. He offers to sell it to her for £100.

I can sometimes be the harshest critic of my family's guesthouse. We also have leaky roofs, electricity that goes out any time it rains, and an endless array of DYI to get through. In The Crown, the Queen Mother falls in love with the castle. All she sees is a refuge, a quiet place, a space she can fix up. It's surrounded by wild nature. In a way, that's what guests seem to see when they stay with us. I'm always taken a little aback when they compliment our rooms or breakfast. Really?! my mind says. You sure?!

This inability to be content with what's here - with what's perfectly good for most - is probably linked to perfectionism, which I think we all struggle with in some shape or form. I've seen perfectionism play out in my approach to creative writing (blocking me from finishing pieces) and now I see it in the guesthouse, where I worry that the room will be a let down if it's not 100% perfect. There's a really nice video on perfectionism and procrastination by YouTube user "struthless" that inspired me to get back into my novel and re-evaluate how perfectionism plays out in my life.

Recently, a couple booked to stay with us for the New Year. I warned them our TV only received one channel, but we had good wi-fi, in case they wanted to bring a tablet/laptop to watch Netflix. (I tend to feel anxious guests will complain about the TV in their rooms.)

'Oh no!' they said. 'We want peace and tranquility. No television is perfect for us.'

Comments

[olamina.livejournal.com]

I always imagined your guesthouse as being shabby but cozy, and my plan for visiting would be to tell people i was headed "off the grid"!