Non-traditional student makes for some non-traditional thought processes! We are in the midst of moving house, downsizing from our wonderful house on Westbrook Street, to a small in-town rental. I am actually quite excited about the move, but I know just how much I will miss the pastoral tranquility (granted, often interrupted by two small dogs). As part of my capstone class that I am taking right now, we had to think about our 'creative spaces' - where do we do our best work? What makes one space better than another! That started my thinking about where my desk was going to be. I spend more time at my 'workstation' than anything else - it is kind of important!
I tried a variety of different options in our farmhouse. The desk in the living area resulted in continual distractions. The attempts to work in our rarely used dining area led to too many calories ingested, and too many interruptions. I finally made my space upstairs, and created the 'Bridget zone' that became my place, the spot in the house where I could distance myself from the day's minutiae, and let myself write, study or think. The small area at the top of the stairs was once the children's play area. The slanted attic ceiling, windows overlooking my horses' paddock, 100-year old wooden floors, and book-lined wall, all created the very atmosphere I needed to help channel my mind. Unlike past experiences, I actually looked forward to going up to my desk, whether homework, volunteer tasks, or just to write my blog. Family pictures surrounded me, and Latte was normally snuggled behind me as I sat in my big desk chair, focussed on the task at hand.
Our new house will lead to very different possibilities. Downsizing and changing from country-living to an in-town house with limited space, and no view of pastoral tranquility. I know that my lesson plans and reflections are the best when I have a special space that I enjoy working in. I have two choices. First, there is the spare room. We are moving to a small, two-bedroom rental, and we already know that our dresser and dressing table won't fit into our bedroom, they will go into the spare room, and my desk could go there too. The second option would be in the finished basement. There is another small bedroom in the basement, with half-bath, as well as the general basement area. Do I choose lighter and convenient, sharing 'my space' with our clothes and laundry, or do I go downstairs to privacy, but darker - and possibly more distractions, since the washer/dryer will be down there, our Wii, and (something we are looking forward to) a fun, bar area! The bedroom downstairs will be the official spare room, the space that will belong to our children when they visit,
It truly is a conundrum! I lean towards the upstairs space, and I think that is where I will start. If I can make it more of a library, less if a dressing room, more of a personal space than a catch-all, I think that it has potential. Although, I chuckle as I write this - we looked at the house about three weeks ago, and my memories are hazy. Was it a 'light' room, or dark? Was it street facing or other house facing? I can't remember! All I remember about the basement was Paul and I laughing because we are downsizing from my dream home, but will finally have a place to put the bar that has been stored in the tractor shed for ten years! We knew that the basement would house guests and be our social space immediately. I think about how the basement would be more private - but not it the children are home. I also think about the mistake it might be, trying to make the ‘social’ space my private area; that doesn’t seem to make sense.
As I am writing, I am musing the options. I can’t envision where the door is or where the window is placed, so I can’t sketch out options. That is frustrating. I can see a wall of books and my desk. Perhaps a picture of our old farm and photos of the horses and those happy moments that someone has captured, of my horse and I flying over jumps. The dressing table and chest of drawers can be used for picture placement and extra space. Is there a walk-in closet? I am not sure! I hope so - that would be a good space for the plethora of ‘future classroom’ totes that I appear to have collected over the years at UNI - or placed things from my children rather than selling at our big moving yard sale. We do have a storage space, so I am deliberating over those totes being with me, or there with the boxes of ‘future classroom books’ that have also been somewhat obsessively collected. In my year-round student teaching though, perhaps I will need some of my supplies. Maybe the move will lead to more severe organization and listing of contents, then I could store them, number them, and know exactly where everything is. Great plan, now to find the time to make that happen.
We are packing and sorting every day, and my mind is continually turning over possibilities. We take over the new house June 9, the transition then begins. The main move happens the weekend of June 14, when I will need to make final decisions as we place the furniture where we think that we want it. I can’t wait until we have a key and I can go in and check out the space again, do some measuring, make some determinations. Who knows, maybe my thoughts will change once I revisit the space. Perhaps I will set it up and realize that it is not going to work. These thoughts have helped me to focus my thinking, and to consider why my upstairs space has worked so well for me. I must think about how I will need to find something to overcome the lack of view, how to replicate that tranquility that I need in a small room in the middle of town. I have wonderful pictures to use, and can start to create the atmosphere that I envision right away. I need to focus beyond the, ‘it’s just for a year’ and to the, ‘this will be my space and it needs to work for me’. Just that adaptation of thought is going to help me to settle into our new home, and help to spark creativity in my future work.
Let's see what I decide; I will know soon enough!
