Journaling this morning….11-19-09
I’m feeling sad lately not to have an office space that is my own room. Licia’s space, where I can work on art and writing. Crying about it this morning. I am told this relates to being a teenager and not having much of my own, including my own room or private space. Of course, Peter is worried about the money, and I think of this too. I know my writing will not yield much in the money department for a while, but have been guided to create some teleclasses and local classes, so this should pay for any office I rent. I am told it will be March of 2010, now.
What does it mean to have a quiet, dedicated space for me to do what I want to in? I am definitely needing to relive being a teenager and fill up that empty reservoir. Of course, Peter is correct in citing that I have had my own space, in Asheville, in the apartment in Del Norte, and in the gallery space. And I loved having those spaces, especially the Asheville one, because it was purely mine. The Del Norte spaces I liked less because it was shared, and not quiet. I can understand that he sees me needing an office or studio as unjustified spending because I don’t bring in the money. I say this to myself every day, as a matter of fact. What can I do for money? Why haven’t I made money before to the extent that it supports my having a space? Why does it have to cost my family for me to have this?
But I also think that I am coming into a new space in my life because my kids are getting older and needing me less. Before, I always had them in the back of my mind, and if they called from school or the years I home schooled them, it was me that ran to serve, me that got interrupted, me that multi-tasked. They have always been my top priority, and that has been as it should be. Peter doesn’t understand this because he has been able to be away and dedicated in his job. I know he is under so much pressure being the bread winner for our family, and I am grateful for this because it has enabled me to raise the boys and truly be there for them.
But now, they are getting more involved in things and doing their own thing…and I am needing to have a quiet, uninterrupted place where I can leave my things, not have to move from couch to chair to bedroom, where I can walk in and out and leave projects in motion, a space that is mine alone. Is this too much to ask for?
Perhaps that is what I have been doing with the blog and websites over these years…defiantly creating a room of my own, in which I get to be the boss, I get to decorate the walls with Kiss posters if I want, I get to have control over something that is only mine, for a change…..making my presence felt and trying to do it in ways that justify expense or my existence in the world….by trying to make money for my family, my offering services to humanity for free for years and years….what if I am allowed to do it just because I am worth it?
Today I spoke to Peter about how much I enjoyed using his home office as a dedicated space while he was gone to Colorado this last week. Of course, my stuff needed to be moved in order for him to resume working in his office space. I understand that. But when I was expressing my need for my own space this morning, Peter interrupted me to argue with what I was saying, rather than to listen deeply to what I was trying to say. Apparently, it hurt my feelings because now I am not smiling at him.
Here’s what I know: I am emerging. I need space in which to do that. I am always going to be the mom and wife and partner in this family, but in the few hours that I can, I need to have my own space in order to do the work I’m meant to do in this world. For reasons that I can’t seem to logically explain, it is hard to do that in my house due to all of the interruptions and noises and distractions and things beckoning at me to complete them. Even when I had my own office space, it had to be about building a business, and that conflicted greatly with writing, which is not a money producer for me (yet). Plus, I was still very much mom to my boys…I did not have the mental space unoccupied that I am starting to feel freeing up now.
NOW, I feel as though I might have a chance to have the focus and the drive and the discipline to write those books that have been hounding me every moment of my existence to be written. It could not have been so before without it costing my family something…I feel now it would be a benefit to my family for me to get these things done. I am a nicer person when I write, and feel better about myself when I get a chunk of writing done each day. And it is so much more doable to do these things in a dedicated room of my own.
Here is what I want: a big room, like a studio, or a couple of rooms…one is comfy and soft, and this is the Writing Room as well as where I would see clients. The other is the Art Room, where I will have tables and shelves and organized bins with my art supplies in them. I can leave art projects out on the tables because we will not have to use them to eat dinner on. It is inviting, and yummy, the way I always decorate my spaces. When I walk through the door, I instantly relax and take a deep breath. It is quiet in this space…no noisy neighbors, no shared walls with a corporate office or rap music producer or a college kid with stereo. It’s my universe, and I feel full ease and permission to be me.
Universe, please send it my way.
