An Extraordinary Room of Your Own

A group of women I know have recently begun discussing creating a special room of their own. A place that inspires and uplifts them, that supports them in the lives they are trying to create for themselves, as well as others such as their loved ones. It’s a topic that I’ve been pondering myself for quite some time. I too desire to create within my own environment a space that supports, nurtures, and uplifts me rather than dragging me down. I am becoming more thoughtful about each item in my room. Do I really love it? Is it possible that if I surround myself only with what I love that it can effect me positively in ways I do not know? Sort of a subtle symbolic affirmation, rather than of positive statement taped to the bathroom mirror?

Just recently I found this passage in Marilyn Paul’s book on organizing called It’s Hard to Make a Difference When You Can’t Find Your Keys that speaks of this sort of idea beautifully.

"Slowly over time, you can fill your spaces with things that have special meaning for you. These items help tell your story. In Hebrew, the word for ‘thing’ and ‘word’ is the same. Thus, our things could be our words, and our words are part of our story. Loving your things helps you tell your story. Your special treasures then contribute to a place to live that is alive with meaning for you. Your things contribute to what we could call your landscape, and your personal landscape influences how you experience life. If your environment is meager in meaning, you’ll experience that meagerness in your soul. When your environment is rich in meaning, not overfull of possessions, you’ll feel that richness in your soul as well."

And if maybe at the moment we don’t have a room of our own yet, we can start smaller. Maybe make do with a little nook or corner. Or even maybe even have to start smaller than that until you can expand...perhaps with a single precious object, a photograph, a locket on a necklace, a vase of flowers, or such. Something, anything that calls to you and reminds you, inspires and uplifts, that when you look at it you find it pulls you towards the direction of the life you dream of.