The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-10-31
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Observation-Disclosures

q Observation-Disclosures
IN planning a house for this climate
my first concern would be 20 provide for
a spacious lanai, as large as land COR sea-
permits. Then 1 would consider the
cook-house and the library and on that
foundation Ia build the rooms and
etceteras that make up the complete
house.
The lanai first, you observe. Yes, the
lanai is peculiar 20 Hawaii, although its
martial equivalent is seen elsewhere. No
where, believe. is there more delight
ful home custom than that OF the large
open, family living-room-shut IN chlehy
bv roof. sweetened by the sunshine,
swept by the mountain breezes, ana sus-
centible TO every change of earth and
sky. 1t is next 10 living out Of doors
and if your lanai is in the mountains OF
by the sea, you feel very near 70 the
heart of Nature.
AS for the furnishings, books and news
papers and sewing lie on tables at one
end, the chfldrens picture books and
TOYS are near by, the hammock is just
beyond the tea-corner, and at the other
end the large table makes dining
room which has for it's frescoes living
pictures of dewy morning or the vivid
pageant of sunset. The lanai then IS
the heart of the house and throbs with
life and sociability, exerting subtle,
hospitable influence on all within its
magnetic field.
Under all it's charms your lanai hides
a certain menace, unless you provide 1t
with a retinue of smaller rooms that may
be shut away from the lanai and afford
quiet for anyone in quest of it. Times
of being alone are absolutely essential
to any soul-growth. We must face
ourselves to know ourselves, and we
must work out for ourselves our own
salvation, intellectual no less than spir-
ituaI. I.arge-hearted hospitality is
beautiful IDEAL but it's delight is only
enhanced by frequent solitary hours
when our own natures prevail.
We who dwell in Hawaii fatter our
selves that we are a peculiar community
and vet I fear we are not all providing
against the danger of being commonly
necnliar We are isolated by our coral
reefs and lava beds, yet we are united
many of us, by the same aims and
interests We know each other pretty
thoroughly, and all unconsciously we
are merging our respective indiV1duah-
ties into one intellectual Nirvana. rms
aggregate mind may easily be labelled
island and would undoubtedly be in
teresting and agreeable to our friends
from over the sea, but what of the units?
.sThe world is too much with u.s. runs
the sonnet, but it was Emerson who first
impressed me with the value of solitude
as an antidote for too much familiar talk.
We descend to meet, the claims, not mat
ter how charming our companion may
be-our highest thoughts are reserved
for our own inmost hearts, and we are
strong and helpful only we give our
selves sufficient time to heed the prompt
ings of Nature around us and within.
Emerson. too. has much to say about
solitude. 'sOnly in solitude do we learn
our inmost nature and it's needs" Only
in solitude can originality of mind be
preserved Only in times of solitude can
we become men of all ages, and enter
| into the souls of men who have thought.
Let me give you De Quinceys idea:
| mo man will unfold the capacities OF
his own intellect who does not at least
checker his life with solitude" My own
thought is that society may be the mar
ket where we get our seeds of thought,
but solitude is surely the soil for the
garden where they grow best.
|
! am not advocating a hermitage by
any means. Man is a social animal,
especially woman. Lonely living is al
! most synonymous with eccentricity,
warped and morbid. We need the world,
lit rubs off our sharp angles, but we do
not want to be rubbed all around even
Nv till we all are only smoth pebbles
Much of the worlds best society, bal
anced by being alone, develops the best
| in us-ourselves. Let us respect our
own preferences and tastes as we dc
! those of our friends, and with our
causes our social demands and ouI
family life, let us not stunt our own
souls, or yield them up to the influence
! of everybody without making them
everybody-proof in some measure.
Build your lanai. then, broad and high
but build the cosy library, too, the tiny
telephone room and the sewing-room
Best of all, make bedroom for every
one in your family, a room that may be
a haven of peace to its occupant. With
such a house there need never be family
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