Once upon a time I penned a post titled “Rosslyn & Reinvention” that explored Rosslyn’s history of (and aptitude for) reinvention. Today I’d like to push that idea a little further to explore Rosslyn as a catalyst in our own reawakening.
Let’s start with a quick recap on Rosslyn’s unique gift for reinvention. 
Reinvention is woven intricately, inextricably into Rosslyn’s DNA… It’s as if Rosslyn, in addition to historic buildings and generous grounds, is a nimble spirit distinguished by her imagination, her reimagination, a force that fuels her adaptability.
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Rosslyn is protean, evolving again and again, morphing and adapting, fulfilling diverse functions across two centuries. She is perhaps best defined by this tradition of perennial reinvention and renewal. (Source: Rosslyn & Reinvention)
It was this spirit of reinvention and renewal that drew us to Rosslyn.
Reawakening Rosslyn
At the time, back in 2005 and 2006, we saw ourselves as reawakening this property. So much potential. So long neglected. So incredibly derelict that virtually everyone we spoke to an Essex told us we were crazy. The property was beyond repair. A money pit. A marriage buster. 
And while there was some truth in all of these assertions, we learned little by little that reawakening Rosslyn was going too quickly and constantly develop the whole of our lives for a few years. It would take all of us. Everything we had to give. It would test us. Again, and again. It would nearly break us.
I was obsessed with reawakening and listening to the old house, trying to hear what she was trying to tell us.
At first we strained to hear, and then it became easier. Her stories, her dreams flowed, and before long we lost the ability to mute Rosslyn. We were inundated with her past and her hopes for the future. Before long it grew virtually impossible to distinguish between Rosslyn’s will and our own. (Source: Reawakening Rosslyn)
Little by little reawakening the potential of this two century old property was giving us confidence. Confidence and courage. And more and more clarity about what Rosslyn needed. About what Rosslyn wanted. Little by little reawakening Rosslyn expanded our vision for these four historic buildings. For the generous grounds that surround them. And for the lives that Susan and I had left behind, and the new life we were building together.
Reawakening Ourselves
This personal journey of reawakening was in some respects as challenging as saving the property from the forces of time. Susan and I both understood that the day-to-day work of rehabilitating our home was forging the dynamics between us. Sometimes it was consummate companionship. Others it was a crucible testing our compassion, collegiality, and conviction. We clashed. And we learned. From Rosslyn. From one another. And from everyone else who participated in our journey.
As we persevered through and almost endless historic rehabilitation, we enjoyed the highs of confidence and endured the lows of doubt. We celebrated victorious progress. And we suffered the anguish of maxing out our patients, our financial reserves, our endurance, and sometimes our joy. Susan was battered by the often, invisible but brutal lashings of Lyme disease. Family and friends endured our obsessive perfectionism and ever extending timeline. And while many encouraged and supported, others couldn’t resist pointing out the illogic and risk.
And yet there were so many moments when reality matched up with the imagination we had been shepherding since the beginning. The view in the photographs above, for example. 10 years ago today I stepped out of our bedroom onto our balcony and looked west toward the carriage barn and the icehouse, toward the snow covered meadow where our garden and orchard slumber, toward the many meadows and forests where trails invite us to snowshoe and cross-country ski on a day like today. Layers upon layers of reawakening still ongoing…
What do you think?