Doing Little Jobs Around the House: Repairing Shoji After Winter
Spring is the time for my husband's family to repair shoji screens, and I wanted to share how I find mindfulness and playfulness in this everyday task.
So, why do shoji need repairs? The name itself gives a hint: 障 (shō) means "to obstruct" or "barrier," and 子 (ji) means "child" or "small." Shoji are made of wood and paper, and while they keep kids out of certain rooms, they don’t stop little fingers from poking holes in them!
Plus, the strong summer sunlight makes the paper fragile, so it naturally tears, and the glue can loosen. That means it’s time to fix things up and have some fun!
As you can see from the photos, it’s definitely a group effort. First, we take off the old paper and wash and dry the wooden screens. Then we reapply glue and smooth the new paper over the screens. After all that hard work, we celebrate with good food and drinks on the patio, grateful for each other and happy to have made it through another winter.
I was also inspired by the idea of using flower-shaped pieces of paper to quickly fix the little holes and tears before the big spring repair. So, I decided to create a landscape on our bedroom shoji since they’re usually closed for privacy.
I love how you can bring a sense of playfulness into something as ordinary as the yearly shoji repair job!
I’m curious: what mundane task have you found a way to make more playful?