All my life I thought if I could have an office space away from noise and distractions that my writing would take off. I had NO idea how wrong I was about myself!
Hubby, God bless him, obligingly cleared a place upstairs over his workshop for a nice little office with a pretty view from the window. It took him a whole day to get that space cleared of his stuff and set up with my desk and book cases and other favorite things.
I liked it up there. Quiet. Nice view. Rug I liked. Books. No distractions. But I couldn’t work up there. It was too quiet, too lonely, too isolated, and I was unable to work in that lovely little office. Productivity in my ideal space turned out to be zilch. I get more done on this laptop sitting in the middle of everything than I do in a private little office that is all mine.
Perhaps I should have known. I have always enjoyed working on papers for graduate school at a local coffee shop. I like the bustle of people and the fact that nobody bothers me or interrupts my thoughts. Maybe that should have told me something important about what I need for working effectively but it didn’t. Until I got the office, I didn’t know it was wrong for me. I didn’t know that I needed to feel connected to people even when writing. I need mental space but not isolation.
Hubby KNEW this about me but he also knew I needed to figure this out for myself. He is cool that way. He knew that I would not be happy with the office connected to everyone until I had an office that was quiet and isolated. His loving work made my self discovery possible and just reinforces what a brilliant move I made when I proposed to him!
So here I sit, in the middle of the noise of my day, blogging away, and realizing that I just needed to get used to creating words on the page while listening to the noise in the next room. That is part of why I have this blog. This blog is a means to the end of writing while in the middle of life. My vocation to write is not separate from my vocation to motherhood and marriage and other interests. So we combined my sewing and music spaces and office in what was the guest bedroom. When finished, I will be able to look from my desk out the door, across the loft, and see the playroom.
The office that was too quiet will replace the guestroom I am taking over. It has its own bathroom, and Hubby put a small refrigerator over there for my use which will stay. We’ll add a little work table and microwave and it will be a very nice if unconventional guest space.
God bless my Hubby for making this self discovery possible.