Friday thing: another room of her own
Finding a way in again.
Since I last published approximately 7000 days [in house-hunting hours] ago, we have fully moved into our new house. New Home. It is feeling more familiar1 and comfortable2 every day, and I can usually make my way to the grocery store and back without using GPS. I had all boxes in the house unpacked within two weeks3 and most rooms are at least 80% functional/75% smartly put together at this point. We can accept visitors, even though many friends & family don’t yet know where we are because I still have not sent out the cute new address cards I bought two months ago. Anyway.
When we first walked through this new place, I was smitten with the built-in shelf system in what I immediately claimed as my office space. Its soft grey paint with blond wood tops & brushed gold hardware plus a cushioned window seat were clearly meant to be mine, fulfilling a key part of the reader/writer wish list of 11-year old Me.4 I instantly had visions of where some pieces of my old office would go, along with ideas for merging my crafting desk & supplies. After getting the kitchen and living room in order, I set up a Bluetooth speaker downstairs and focused on recreating my Room of Requirement for a third time.
Some parts were easy - there is only one place for sitting at my laptop, one corner to fit my mother-in-law’s old teacher desk - but other things like stacks of books and gatherings of tchotchkes had me overthinking deliberating. I put my energy into arranging calendars, artwork, and bulletin boards on the walls, trying to discover patterns & themes for the shelves. And when in doubt/growing weary & frustrated, I stuffed things into the many drawers I never had in an office before.
As the room has come together, I’ve spent some time reading in the window seat with a cup of tea but until today I had not tried to write, or make any art. Or ride the stationary bike, or do yoga. Basically I haven’t yet let myself fully relax into a routine with the room yet. I’m wondering about ghosts. Could be rogue spiders, I’ve spied four so far. Or maybe I need to name the space first, which I appreciate sounds very woowoo but then, I did all that vision board manifesting and GOT MY NEW HOUSE WITH A VIEW.
Also just realizing that I don’t have a candle burning in here. I guess I need to revisit my collage/meditation work and start making more serious connections with my new space [name ideas welcomed, please].
“So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters, and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say.” - Virginia Woolf, from A Room of One’s Own
I still reach for things in the new kitchen and bathroom as if they will be where they were at our old house. Meanwhile, the cats instantly understood where their treats live now - in the main bathroom, so whenever a guest goes in there, Zelda & Fred sit & yowl directly outside the closed door.
Except no air conditioning, and suddenly it’s unseasonably warm in the Pacific Northwest.
#HelloVirgo
Staples of my preteen fantasy life: Cushioned window seat, canopy bed, Princess phone
Ooh I love this room, and the window seat was/is also my childhood dream. Beautiful - glad to see you are settling in!
Oh, to have a room of one's own! Hope you get settled soon :)