On my personal blog earlier today, I compared House on the Rock to Taliesin. Some of you who know me well might have been surprised that I came out more on the side of order and constraint rather than eclectic chaos. I was a little surprised myself.

What stood out to me, as I considered this later, was how apt each house was to its place. Taliesin on the “shining brow” of the hill, a self-sustaining retreat for the Wright family (if only because they owed money to everyone in town). House on the Rock a crazy carnival designed to draw people in and dazzle them each step of the way, even if some of that gilding was a little tarnished. Each arguable the better for the presence of the other one.

It seems to me that, in our everyday life — whether that’s our family, our community, national politics, business — that we might have  a lot to learn from that..

That’s also why each place matters, why the “Washington slept here” places are no more important than the former automobile garage or tiny stone house that provided a home for generations. It’s why we should think hard about the meaning of every place we go. Why we should appreciate each place for the role it plays.