I’d been getting frustrated trying to find a sofa and other things for my house. Then, last week, I realized I was pretty much confining myself to a space not much larger than my tiny apartment in California. It reminded me of the story of the zoo animal who got a larger living space and still kept his movements confined to an area the size of his previous cage. So I decided it was time to really push to find what I needed. And I did find a sofa. A very nice guy from San Marcos brought it to my house, along with a white bookcase, and set both inside. It’s not new, but it’s the right style for this house and for me and I’ve covered the seat with fabric from my fabric stash. Today I found a small mobile cart to put my small TV on and it’s also white so it matches the bookcase.
That one piece of furniture meant that now I was using much more of my house. I’ve got the folding chairs out in the room that will be my classroom and the sofa in the living room and I moved my folding tray table and folding chair out to where the formal dining room would be so that I could use that space to work on my computer (which fits on the tray table top). Then someone on Craigslist (wonderful website with specific pages for lots and lots of cities around the country) offered a desk—a richly colored wood desk with drawers. Even better, he was willing to deliver and I jumped at the chance.
So now I had a sofa and a desk and was frustrated by the folding chair and how uncomfortable it was becoming to use it. Then it struck me—I have four padded chairs on wheels for the kitchen table! They are surprisingly comfortable and when I wheeled one over to the desk, I discovered it would work perfectly.
Then I got a Christmas tree. It’s artificial because I couldn’t manage a real one on my own. But it’s six and a half feet tall and was on special at Sears. It turns out it doesn’t seem nearly as big as I expected when I saw it in the store, but that says more about the size of my living room than the size of the tree. In any event, I could afford it and I can have it up NOW.
So I’m pleased. Now I’m using much more of my house and I no longer feel like that zoo animal who stayed confined to a small space when there was much more available. It seems symbolic of the way my life continues to expand here in all kinds of ways. I am, for example, in the process of arranging to give a workshop and then a class at the local Unity center.
Wishing for all of you that you are always expanding the space in which you live—if not physically then emotionally or intellectually.
April
