space

Talk around here centers on how, exactly, school will happen when it starts up again. Both of my kids are going to new schools—“going to” being virtual attendance for the foreseeable future. Setting aside all the issues with how distance learning is going to happen on the teacher’s end, my kids are also making plans here. Or at least my daughter is.

She’s talking about setting up a tent outside when “school” starts. This way, she’ll have a “school” to go to—a separate place to go and take her classes—then she can come inside the house and be home from school when she’s done. It creates a physical separation of the different parts of her life.

I understand this concept on a visceral level.

For my best mental state, I need a separation of work and not-work. When work hours blur into time when I’m not on the clock, I can get anxious. I’m much calmer allocating time to work and time to not-work, and I do my best to keep a set schedule. But I don’t just need hours set aside to work. I also crave separate physical space.

I do the best I can, with designating a special desk and laptop, even though I don’t have a separate room at home and am not going to my physical office much.

But I’m also thinking of a separate spot to take my writing more seriously, too. A studio to go and write.

It’s not a huge outlay financially, but psychologically, it’s vast. It means I deserve a place to make my dreams come true. That I believe in myself enough to invest in myself. It means I’m letting myself be the artist I want to be.

What’s one of your dreams? What step can you make to take it seriously?

Do it.