Monday, September 16, 2013

A Room to Grow


Virginia Woolf said it first and best:

"Women, then, have not had a dog's chance of writing poetry. That is why I have laid so much stress on money and a room of one's own."
- Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
For the first half of this year, I sat on the couch in my living room to write.

It was very distracting.  This was due to many reasons:

1) I could see the kitchen and that just seemed to make me hungry or want to clean up.  It turns out that when you must write, you can think of a million things to do other than write.

2) despite writing on a couch, my bottom often got sore.  This is not due to anything other than needing a better couch cushion.  I have a bony butt.  There - I have said it.  If I ever end up in some prostrate position for months at a time, you must come and turn my old carcass, will you?  There - I feel better having asked.

3) People in the house seem to know when I am writing and randomly show up to chat about the weather, the laundry, do I have any money, how is the writing going anyhow....

So we decided to clear out the room off of Barry's office/library.  It is still a work in progress, as I am needing some curtains to close off the closet, and I am looking for some more hooks and a little bookshelf for my writing things, but it is on its way.  Now I sit in here and write and write and write and my productivity has increased ten-fold.

Almost Bloomsbury-ish, if only I could get rid of black chair..

A spot to watch the world go by when things are stalled

note the cushion on desk chair for bony ass...

family heirloom rocker, covered in orange velvet by my dad in late 70s...

Miniatures corralled until I get that dollhouse


paint supplies in corner


Antique lamp and picture of me on Christmas Day to remind myself the ability to create is a gift and well, just because I love Christmas....


pictures of children...

and grandfathers...

whimsy on the wall...

my parents getting their degrees at UNB in the 1950s

favourite picture of my grandfather with favourite picture of my dad with us at Disneyworld.  That man loved Disneyworld

The mirror behind the reading chair showing the clutter which will soon be hidden..

Love this reading chair!

View when I look out the window from my desk..

Can you have too many hats that you don't wear?  I didn't think so...


One of my grandmothers - not the one you saw a couple of weeks ago - this one was the artist


one must always have a mask ready.

a corner still in the process of being reclaimed - note the crazy old mirror that distorts everything...

So there you have it.  I write in here, I paint in here, I do the odd bit of yoga in here.  It is so comfortable and peaceful. 

"I told you in the course of this paper that Shakespeare had a sister; but do not look for her in Sir Sidney Lee's life of the poet. She died young--alas, she never wrote a word. She lies buried where the omnibuses now stop, opposite the Elephant and Castle. Now my belief is that this poet who never wrote a word and was buried at the crossroads still lives. She lives in you and in me, and in many other women who are not here tonight, for they are washing up the dishes and putting the children to bed. But she lives; for great poets do not die; they are continuing presences; they need only the opportunity to walk among us in the flesh."
- Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
I was the woman washing the dishes, putting the children to bed, holding down a stressful job that did not make my heart sing.  Now I have a room of my own and I am forever grateful!

Do you have a space for yourself in your home, whether it is a room or a nook and cranny?  I would love to hear about it!
Have a fabulous Monday and Stay Safe out there!

44 comments:

  1. Such a cosy room and what lovely windows, I love the astragals.
    We are opposites, I have hardly any nick nacks/photos etc on show, I like surfaces, especially desks to be empty apart from a single plant.
    The whole house is really my space, I'm in it on my own most of the time, I have graciously given hubs one small wicker basket in which he is allowed to dump mess!

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    1. I so wish I could like smooth, sparse surfaces! It would make my cleaning easier!

      I love that hubs has a wicker basket - I am going to work on straightening the library/Barry's office in next few weeks - it is driving me mad!

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  2. PS. That's a great oicture of your grandfather.

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    1. That is one of my favourite pictures ever. That is exactly how I remember him - sitting in the porch, smoking his pipe. He was such a great grandfather!

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  3. Lucky you! It looks cosy and interesting to hear that it really did make a difference. Funny enough due to my present living arrangement, there is a limit on wifi at home and i am not in cafes most of the time and i find that my productivity has gone up. it's like i know i have to go home soon so i don't google wallpapers over and over and over again. I get to work. plus i love people watching and that seems to stimulate something or it could be the coffee...

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    1. I meant to say I am now in cafes all the time...

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    2. HI CSW! Funny, until I made this room, I thought of doing that exact thing, but now that I find the writing going well, I am content to stay the course. I love sitting in cafes for the same reason, so I can see how that could be so good for one's writing!

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    3. Oh you two are weird! I don't know how people do that, I am too self conscious and I can't concentrate with things going on around me.

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    4. At first I thought it looked kinda oddly pretentious or something but nowadays everyone and their ipad is in caffe nero watching game of thrones or something and laughing out loud or wincing. I am positively boring typing. I am showing my age. But try it Tabs - it oddly works!

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    5. Too funny Tabs! CSW is right - at our starbucks there are more people watching their ipads or working than chatting!

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  4. Thanks for giving us a glimpse of your work space. Mine is much smaller and very spare. It forces me to finish the work I brought home fast so I can get out of there. Much like McDonalds with the uncomfortable chairs so that customers don't dally. Starbucks made the mistake of making things too cushy that patrons stay the whole day with their laptops and one cup of coffee.

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    1. Oh that is interesting! Since I am trying to get this next book done before the end of the month, I want to be as comfortable as possible so that I stay there!

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  5. Your room is perfect, so Wendy! Thanks for sharing it with us! You have a wonderful big window too which is so nice.
    I have a study upstairs but it's for the family, and I associate it with the admin work I do for MrBP so I like to get out of there as soon as possible. I should try to use it more, I've been doing a little decorating up there so that should help.
    Love the VW quotes!

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    1. Thanks Dani - I love your little study! I am still mid-way through the decorating, but it is coming. I do like a big window. Out your study you can see my future house!

      I just reread A Room of One's Own on the weekend. I liked it a lot, but a lot of it was very dry. She could have but that lecture in half and still have made all of her points in a wonderful way. Is that sacrilegious of me to say that?

      It is so gloomy here today. I am going to beaver away and when I take a break - really keep going on the closets - I really would like to take more to consignment!

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  6. Lovely work space, Wendy! Love the photos and the orange chair is fab.
    I no longer have a space of my own :-(
    My oldest child has taken over the study as she has to share a bedroom with her brother. She'll be moving into it full time soon, hence our forthcoming renovations.
    I miss my study....

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    1. Well, if it makes you feel better, it has taken me till 50 to find my own space!!! Think how happy she will be! And then find a wee nook somewhere! Or borrow Tabs' husband's wicker basket!

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  7. Hi Wendy,your place looks very creative and artsy!

    I now have a room of my own,with a desk.bookcase,piano and a comfy chair,but it still feels strange to me.
    It lacks the personality:)

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    1. Well you will add the personality! Oh I am imagining all of the music you will be making!

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  8. Well done, Wendy,

    I have named your space for you: it is Xanadu, as in No More Interruptions.

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  9. Hi Wendy, I love your cosy space, especially the pictures on the walls and the lovely big window. My husband has a 'study' which is full of his stereo equipment and guitars. Like Tabitha, I don't have a designated room, but then again I don't really like to feel cut off. I'd like a room to decorate as my own, with all my books etc., but I don't know if I would sit in it much.

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    1. I hear you - I don't think I could have done this when my kids are little - now I really do need a spot to work in and we have bought a new "pop-up" bed so we can put company in here as well!

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  10. Didn't VW also specify an income-- 50 pounds annually, I think?

    Your space looks v.comfortable and conducive to your writing.
    I have a small room, not really mine, but no one uses it but me and my eldest daughter when she is here, floor to ceiling books and a sofa, small table , lamp, sea chart on the wall. I go there to read, do stretches, think.

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    1. You are right. I am going to need a little more than 50 pounds annually, but she is right that a woman needs money! I like the sound of your office!

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  11. What a lovely space Wendy!

    Unfortunately I don't have any space where I can "escape" just yet, but I am hopeful that when we find our new house I will have my private spot! I already dream of the wall art that I want in there. I literally can't wait. This dreaded housing market is halting my dreams!

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    1. The housing market is awful, isn't it! You hand in there - there is always a space for us, it just sometimes takes us awhile to find it!

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  12. WMM,
    Your writing space is lovely, and so full of inspiration and charm. I commiserate. Sitting for extended periods when I work always causes me to have stiffness in one spot or another. It is so unhealthy. My own work space is very spare, but I work better with no visual distraction. I defifntely in the same boat as the lady poet as well. I find it very hard without a looming deadline to put my work before my housework. I takes a certain discipline to work at home.

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    1. KNityarns - It really does, doesn't it? I do not allow myself to even leave the room unless 1500 words are no paper (save bathroom needs!) or else I am all over the place!!!

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  13. It is so great to have a space of your own Wendy! I don't have any so far and never thought about it... I think I would love it. My kitchen tend to be the space of my own as I love being there, but surprisingly, I am not the only one and most of the time, when we have guests, we all end in there, sharing deserts and coffee in this tiny space :-)

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    1. I think the kitchen is the soul of the house - it is always where people end up here!

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  14. Just lovely! Unfortunately because we live downtown our apartment doesn't allow us space for ourselves. But I look forward to have my own little reading nook one day when we eventually purchase our own place. :)

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    1. HI Laura,

      when you are ready to write the great American novel, you will have it!

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  15. Your writing space is so so Bloomsbury darling (without the crazy people) and the chair needs to be comfy first and foremost and that black chair does look comfy. we sprung for some Aerons which are great, they are silver steely. My chair and desk is out in the open in the kitchen where I can hear all the kids fighting and am thinking now, I should really have a closed office.

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    1. Well, we do have our share of crazy...while the sound of children fighting can be quite lulling at times, I do like this new space!

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  16. That looks like a perfect space! Such great photos of all your relatives too.

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    1. thanks MW! They sure provide inspiration! We used to go visit my mother's grandfather and my great-aunt every year in Boston - they lived on Mass Avenue!

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  17. Thanks SO much for sharing these gorgeous pictures!!! I think that it's SO important to have a "room of one's own." I LOVE it!

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  18. That's a lovely space to work in. I'm going to slink back to my disastrous house now...

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    1. Ha! If it makes you feel any better - you should see the rest of the house! I don't have a clean towel to my name today!!!!

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  19. What a lovely space! My study is adjacent to the dining room (we have an open concept kitchen/dining/living room) so it's sometimes hard to focus. I would love a space like that with natural light. It is just the place to cultivate all these ideas on your path to fame!

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    1. Hi AB - that's what I found in my old space - this is much easier, although it can get lonelier! I guess I need speakers for my iPod in here!

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Kindness is a virtue...