senior lifestyles
The region's folk traditions encouraged this pair to change gears late in life
By Diane Rixon
For Coastal Senior
Tim A. Rutherford photo
David and Annette Dirlam in The Folk Traditions Store.
David and Annette Dirlam promote balance of traditional skills with modern lifestyles
SAVANNAH
David and Annette Dirlam are passionate about folk traditions. Last year David, a cultural psychologist, and Annette, a holistic nurse, left their home in Carlsbad, Calf, and relocated to Savannah where they have opened The Folk Traditions Store.
Ask this couple the reason for their dramatic career change and you will find they are intent on raising appreciation for folk traditions.
The Dirlams define Savannah's folk traditions as the music, literature and other traditional crafts and skills practiced by the people who were present here back in 1733 when the city was established - namely Native American, British, Irish, Jewish and African. On display at their cozy store on 414 Whitaker St. is an expanding range of items relating to these cultures, including books, videos and sheet music as well as a selection of musical instruments such as folk flutes, penny whistles and harps.
Educational programs are also offered at the store. There are music lessons on Monday evenings, with folk harp and flute being taught on alternating weeks. David Dirlam teaches flute, while Dean Owens, local musician and former harpist for the Savannah Symphony, teaches folk harp. Wednesday evening is book discussion night. The store even has its own newsletter, "The Folk Traditions Times."
David and Annette have a well thought-out philosophy about the role that folk traditions can play in modern society. Central is the idea that traditional skills "restore roots, significance, harmony and balance to modern lives". This philosophy is what inspired them to open the store and what motivates them in their work.
The idea formed in David's mind over the course of years working as a research psychologist at the University of California in San Diego and at King College in Bristol, Tenn.
"After 35 years of researching the human mind it became more and more apparent to me that the mind doesn't end with the skull; that psychology has been entirely too individualistic and that it's only through our interaction with other people that we really have minds at all, and that what our brains do for us is enable that interaction and help to preserve it", says David.
Folk traditions, he believes, encourage this kind of meaningful interaction and learning between people.
In the course of completing a book on human psychology, David made a decision to seek out a more effective way of sharing his ideas than simply teaching and writing about them.
"I realized that I really wanted to spend the rest of my life trying to help people to understand and use this concept in positive ways," he says. He then spent four years as a management analyst for a small manufacturing company doing cultural work and data analysis, but says he found this to be also a frustratingly slow way of reaching people. Then came the idea of venturing into a retail business and The Folk Traditions Store was born.
Annette shares her husband's views on the importance of folk skills in creating a balanced lifestyle. She says that as a holistic nurse she has spent years helping people achieve balance in their lives since holistic healthcare is based on the conviction that "the body, mind and spirit all function together," so physical symptoms should not be treated separately from the rest of the person.
Annette has worked in a variety of settings over the course of her career, including the pharmaceutical industry and health clinics, and doing outpatient nursing and home health nursing. She now jokes that the store is her "new practice," as she is still working to help people integrate their minds, bodies and spirits.
Although relatively new to Savannah, David and Annette have already become involved in local community events. They regularly attend services at Temple Mickve Israel, and David has chanted the Torah there on one occasion. They also participate in Temple social life. For example, they volunteered at last year's Jewish Food Festival. The Dirlams are also members of the Savannah Folk Music Society.
Savannah was a natural choice for relocation, say the Dirlams. They had enjoyed past visits to the city very much, so the idea of settling here permanently was appealing. Living in Savannah also allows the couple to be closer to David's twin daughters who live on St. Simon's Island.
While enthusiastic about Savannah's rich cultural heritage, David and Annette believe that the city's folk traditions now need to be paid the same sort of attention that has been given to its grand old houses. David points out that just like these houses our folk traditions must be continually used if they are to be preserved, and "while people in Savannah have done a great job of preserving the old houses, not much has yet been done to preserve the city's traditions."
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