The Right Space

I am in Vermont right now on a month-long writing retreat. It feels so spacious to have this time, and that’s partly because I have an open, airy and quiet space to work in.

This is a corner of my brother’s house.

At home, space is more complicated. There are no spaces that are just for creative work. All spaces in the house have to serve more than one purpose, so the room I write books in is the same room I teach in, which means that often when I go into that space, I end up working, not writing. The work is there. It needs to be done. And so I do it.

But writing needs to happen too. And this year, I am not working. So a few weeks ago, I said to my son that I was going to go and tidy up my room. “Transform it from a work space to a creative space?” he asked. I had not thought of that, but as soon as he said it, I realized that was exactly what I had to do. This is a year for writing, and my space has to reflect that.

I went into the room and took out all the books related to work. I replaced a shelf with a table and pulled out all my colourful papers and stacked them on the table. I found baskets to put fabric in and a spot for my sewing machine. And best of all, I made a wall of photos and fabric images. Now the room feels creative. It calls me to write, not to work. The space makes me happy.

This is my home studio, as I now call it. My creative space.