Building a Nest

“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.”

Jane Austen

Every summer, my friend Chris and her husband Peter spend the month of July at the same lakeside cottage in Maine. They read, play on the lake, take walks and naps and just relax. They take a cell phone, but no computer.

As soon as they arrive from their home in New Jersey, they set about changing the house (as tiny as a dollhouse, according to Chris) from a generic, tacky summer cottage into their home. They remove the furniture, pictures, knickknacks and dishes to a storage facility and replace everything with their own stuff. This takes about five hours.

At the end of their vacation, they reverse the process, replacing the original furnishings and putting their belongings into the storage unit. They do this because their surroundings are very important to their state of mind.

The way we decorate and live in our houses, studios and offices affects our mental states more than we may realize. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t get much done in a beige room. I need color, plus lots of books and paper and (colorful) pens and music and natural light and my computer. My cats are also a nice addition, although I frequently have to shoo them off the desktop.

When I ask my students to design their ideal learning space, they always include music and elements of nature such as plants or aquariums or windows facing trees and gardens.

Think about the kind of environment that makes you feel most creative and productive. Start by imagining what you would like if money were no object. Then see which of the elements you can incorporate into your work space, now.

According to Pregnancy Weekly, the nesting instinct kicks in at about 5 months, with “an uncontrollable urge . . . to prepare a nest for the new baby, to tie up loose ends of old projects and to organize your world.” Since many people refer to creative projects of all sorts as their babies, it isn’t too far fetched to think about designing a nurturing nest where your creativity can thrive.

© Copyright 2007 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Animal Dreams

"If you don't take a chance now and then, you stand still -- and then you begin to slide backward." Gregory Peck

This is a story for people who think learning is only for young people. Lee, a woman in her mid-fifties, has been cutting my hair for several years. A self-employed stylist, she also helps her husband train greyhounds for the race track. She loves working with the dogs and puts her heart and soul into finding good homes for those who can no longer race.

Last month she told me she was going back to school to become a veterinarian’s assistant. When I saw her Friday, she was so excited she could barely contain herself. She had started school and completed four classes.

After working on her feet all day, she attends class from 5-10:30 Monday through Thursday, then goes home to do her homework until 2 in the morning. She’s exhausted, and says she sometimes cries herself to sleep at night, but she is also more alive than I have ever seen her.

Why? Because she’s learning something new, and it is leading her toward a new career working with the animals she loves. She works hard and earns top grades, which is typical of people in her age range who go to school. Simply put, they know why they are there: because the want to be there. Not because anybody is forcing them. Frequently, in fact, people are telling them they are crazy to go back to school at that age. Who, they wonder, will hire someone her age who is just starting out? Anybody who wants an assistant who is interested and vital and excited about the job and who also, by the way, has an outstanding work ethic.

If I were a veterinarian, I’d be lining up to hire her.

© Copyright 2007 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved