"Our contribution to the progress of the world must, therefore, consist in setting our own house in order.
-- Gandhi
Regina Leeds begins the second month's chapter with the above title and quotation and I think they are excellent choices. After all, how can we really hope to create something positive in the world at large if we don't even have our own lives and our own homes in order.
Regina starts off with a question: "How would you describe your bedroom?" She then goes on to list some very positive adjectives such as "comforting, nurturing, inspiring, elegant, and joyful" and asks if these words are on the list. Realistically assuming that most people reading this book would not be able to truthfully choose from this list, she offers encouragement. "If not, I hope they will be by the time February (or in my case, May) has ended." I hope so, too!
My house is a small bungalow built in the late 1800's, so the rooms are quite small by today's standards. The front door opens into a small entry way, with the dining room to the left and the living room straight ahead -- all entirely open. My bedroom, weirdly enough, is to the left of the living room with two doors leading into it, although only one is used. It seems that this room was originally two very tiny (probably) bedrooms, but apparently the very elderly lady who lived here before me used it as a sitting room.
Having the two small rooms opened up into one makes it a nice-sized bedroom. But over the years it has lost it's roominess due to the ever-expanding number of objects taking up residence there. Let's see, I have a double bed, two night cabinets, three bookcases (one large, one medium, and one small), a tall dresser and a wide dresser, an antique pine table, as well as a desk chair, a comfy chair, two lamps, and two very large trunks. I'm feeling claustrophobia washing over me even as I write this!
This first week is a time of observation and reflection; a time to focus, and a time to answer some pertinent questions, such as: "Do you like your current bedroom?" "Are there things about your bedroom you don't like?" "Is the room filled with things from your past?" "Have clothes taken over your bedroom?" "Can you sit on your chair or is it forever draped with clothing?" "Is there space in your closet or is everything smashed together?" "Do you have multiple wardrobes in your closet because your weight fluctuates?" "Is the closet floor a shoe graveyard?"
Such excellent questions!! I really did take time this week to try to see my bedroom with 'new eyes' and my new vision really worked to open them up. I wrote down what I liked and didn't like, and answered the above questions. There are a few things I do like: my antique table which was bought with the very first money I ever made as a writer, all of my many precious books, a bedside cabinet that my son refinished for me, and two wonderful old trunks that my partner refinished for me.
But there is a lot more I don't like at all. The closet is extraordinarily tiny and, yes, everything is completely squashed together. In fact, it is such a hassle to hang things up and stuff them back in that quite often my desk chair has clothes draped all over it. And yes (sigh), my weight does fluctuate quite a bit, although for quite a while it has tended to fluctuate only on an upwardly sliding scale.
As Regina suggested, I took a piece of paper and drew a line down the middle. On the left side I wrote down all of the things I could think of that would make my bedroom more of a sanctuary - things that could actually be done within this month. On the other side I wrote the other (larger) tasks that I wouldn't expect to get accomplished right away, but it was quite a nice feeling to write them down as future projects as even doing that much gave me hope.
And so, week two is looming and I am feeling very excited. There is a lot to do, of course, but just having a plan in my mind and some kind of end result in my imagination gives me great comfort. Rather than feeling overwhelmed as I have for so long, I feel enthusiastic and optimistic.
As little kids like to say, "only one more sleep" and this new phase of bedroom transformation will begin. But tonight I will not focus on the clutter, I will stay positive and dream sweet dreams about my wonderful future "sanctuary". This is going to be so much fun!
Cheers!
Diane
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