When I was young, I was completely fascinated with Russian nesting dolls, which I’ve recently learned are called Matryoshka (matrëška) dolls. Say that five times fast. There was something so ordered and logical about that perfect series of hand-painted wooden dolls of decreasing size, placed one inside the other, like a tight knit family where everyone knows their place. I would carefully place each in the correct order, only to take them all out and start again.
I was clearly a scientist at a very young age – my love of stackable dolls soon morphed into a love of spreadsheets and perfectly labeled jars, but the idea of order and logic is still the same. So, when I spotted this Russian-print dress, so reminiscent of the perfect, symmetrical hand painted dresses on those dolls, I fell instantly in love. Prints folding into one another, like beads in a kaleidoscope, with tiny mirrors bouncing images back and forth unto one another, creating unity where there might otherwise be chaos.
Throughout pretty much every aspect of our lives, we are naturally attracted to symmetry. This pull towards a harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance is everywhere – butterflies, snowflakes, the perfect hexagonal honeycomb made by bees. There have been numerous studies on this topic, where we’re naturally attracted to more symmetrical faces. Even sharks can be trained to identify and preferentially choose symmetrical objects (little known nerd fact to mull over). The more you think about it, symmetry is all pervasive throughout not just nature, but geometry, chemistry, and even emotion and relationships (quid pro quo, anyone?)
In a way, symmetry represents order, and we all have a natural tendency to want to organize everything around us in order to make sense of the world. We crave familiarity, repetition, constancy. We seek out the comfort of stable friendships, build our lives around a predictable calendar, within which we find predictable seasons. We can take a deep breath and feel confident in the reliability of the symmetrical structures we’ve built for ourselves. Even when something unexpected happens, we still are hardwired to explain it in the context of the past or the future – it was fated or meant to be. It’s one piece of the puzzle of our journey. It’s a way for us to make sense of our lives, because I think we all have trouble accepting something as meaningless. We need there to be a cause and we need for there to be a subsequent effect.
I read that the Matryoshka dolls are always carved from the same block of wood. Apparently, different pieces of wood would have their own expansion-contraction characteristics and moisture content and a set of dolls created from separate pieces of wood wouldn’t fit together properly. It sort of sounds like a family, with it’s own unique quirks and family codes – we all only have one, and despite the ups and downs and levels of madness only our family can drive us to, they are the only ones with whom we fit together perfectly.
This weekend and I fit each other perfectly as well. Don’t get me wrong – It was One. Rainy. Weekend here in Perth. Literally, it felt as though the sky opened up and reveled in gleefully throwing buckets of water on us. Normally I’m not a huge fan of rain (it is not a friend to the suede shoe), but given that the plan was to rug up and finish off some projects around the house, the rain just served to keep things cozy. Because of this, we had one of those weekends where we were able to catch up on that which needed catching and still found time for relaxation and togetherness. It’s the kind of weekend that leaves you refreshed and ready to face the week.
I can only hope there’s some beautiful symmetry in motivation this week, because I would love to end the week the way it began.
How was your weekend?
xoxo
Outfit Details:
Dress: Sartorial Matters (similar modern, handmade or vintage here & here
or make one from this stunning fabric!)
Belt: Pinup Girl Clothing
Necklace: Gift (similar here & here)
Handbag: Mo-Mo’s Vintage (similar here, here & here)
Shoes: Fluevog via Amazon (similar here, here & here)
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