Serenity and Inspiration Among the Dead It might be odd for an interior designer to post a image of a faded gravestone nestle within an overgrowth of vegetation. And maybe it is because I am a historian that I found this setting so peaceful. I have had a fascination with graveyards since I was a child. In Elizabeth, NJ, when my grandmother made me walk downtown, in between buildings there were cemeteries dating back to the Revolutionary War and sooner. I found the faded years and names etched in stone fascinating because I wondered who they were, how they lived. That curiosity continued and when on my trips, I would enviably wander through pathways lined with markers. I find peace among the dead for some reason. Macabre maybe, but these last resting places are beautiful and serene, not haunted or scary. And as I walked through overgrown paths, not only was wondering about the dead as I noticed the ages of death, but the colors, texture, lightness and darkness provided inspiration, while providing serenity. It was the dead’s gift to me. #charlestownsc #historicgraveyard #mothernaturesbeauty #historicgraves #charleston (at Unitarian Graveyard)