Day Six Space Wild Musings with Renee Magnusson Peaceful, Easy Feelings The prompt ‘space’ made me cringe, made me ponder my cluttered, crowded house with its unfinished floors and the basement issues yet I do find peace here, perhaps not as deeply as I’d wish sometimes but I do love my home. What I have on my walls defines me and my space best I think. My hubby Rob doesn’t much care about what’s on the walls or about the general state of the house except for finding things in the kitchen which is much more his domain so I have free reign with what goes on the walls. I have a whole room to myself for my creating. I call it my studio as it sounds loft-ish and Heidi-ish but it’s really a small 3rd bedroom upstairs. It needs some (lots!) of reorganising but parts are well-organised. I’m in the process of sorting through the roomy drawers in the old desk from my dad’s office in Burrard Dry Dock, North Vancouver so I can group together ideas and pages and schedules for a round robin art journal group I stumbled into: Gladdened Gluebooks II. I use a microwave table as my painty table as it has lots of storage underneath it. Most of my upstairs tea selection lies behind its bottom cupboard. I aim for my bedroom to have the best ambiance in the house (I’ve given up on it being the living room as Rob usually has boxes of files piled haphazardly that he’s working on) and sometimes manage it. It’s the easiest room to corral clutter and again I’m using the practicality of drawers to stash things. The two top drawers in my dresser are full of Rob’s odd socks. Lol. Ten minutes of sorting and matching or throwing away and I’ll easily have at least one drawer for more storage. I became entranced with Marie Kondo’s methods of storing clothes a few years ago and am thrilled that I keep up with it for the most part. My armoire is full of box lids crammed with T-shirts, leggings, yoga pants and skirts; its drawers have neatly folded nighties and underwear. The underwear delights me and I’ll often arrange them in like-colours just to get that burst of pleasure when I open the drawer. Today when I changed the bed sheets, I got them, somewhat neatly folded, from a little wicker, cloth-lined basket at the foot of my bed. This kind of organisation, things having a place to live and actually living there in harmony without exploding out, pleases me. Some of my favourite stuffies (yes I have stuffies!) sit on top of the basket: a bright pink elephant with sparkling toe nails that my ‘sister’ (really my ex-sister-in-law, Brenda) gave me as a birthday pressie one year; a soft white teddy that Mam surprised me with on my 50th birthday; and her old woollen poodle, Fifi, who was a gift from France from an old fiancé. I had never realised before how much happiness this one little space in my home gives me. Thinking about space (and ease which is actually today’s prompt) I realise how much more energizing it is to consider the positive parts of space in my home—those things which do work. Concentrating on them gives me the incentive to keep spreading that kind of calm. Much more conducive to creating a harmonious space than freaking out about unfinished floors and clutter. My first apartment was originally occupied by a good friend who loved old décor, stout velvet couches and dark heavy furniture. When I moved in, I had a love seat and couch set made of pine with canvas cushions, very Ikea-looking. The difference was incredible even though the space was the same. Other friends commented on how light and airy the place looked when I lived there. Oh to achieve that now! Yesterday, in the hospital waiting room, I considered my personal space. I had commandeered a row of seats against a back wall by sitting in the very middle seat. I like to have my back against a wall when in a public place if possible. I sat under a trio of watercolour paintings of flowers and local scenes so I could easily twist round and admire them. They calmed me. As did having a view of the whole waiting room and corridors. A sense of control in a situation where I really had little control. Day 319 of 365 days of haiku Colonoscopy focus on all the pretty things Day 320 Pretty Christmas tag red-tasselled ornate heart treasured bookmark
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AuthorWelcome! I'm Sue Blott: a writer of all things, a poet at heart, mom, wife, daughter, step-mom, grandma, tea drinker, tai chi-er, mystic, artist, dreamer...and now a blogger! This is my world. Categories |