Where I talk about the value of your own space. Just yours.

Your space really makes a huge impact on you. Your mind, your mood, your clarity. I remember when I was a teenager in high school my mom used to complain about the messy sight of my room. So we compromised by keeping the door closed. I can’t imagine having my space be that messy now. I mean sure there are times (like right now) when my home space is messier than I’d like it to be. But it’s not my standard.

I’ve lived in all kinds of unimaginable and unlivable places in my late twenties in Hawai`i and in my thirties in NYC. I lived in a trailer in Hawai`i, in a van, crashed with folks I just met from work who were kind enough to take me in. In NYC, I lived in a railroad apartment and a 5th floor walk up; in the living room; in my friend’s studio.

Now finally for the first time in my life I have my own apartment to myself. When I first moved in two years ago I’d hear noises and think someone was coming in. Because I had always had a roommate and never had a whole place to myself before. There was always someone just outside the door. At my last place I would come home dreading to see the light under my roommate’s door. I vowed to never live like that again. Whether it was other people walking through my bedroom or the other way around or other people’s (crazy) rules I had to follow, I said no more.

Now after the ex moved out I have my space back again. It’s quite spacious. And I always wish it was cleaner and neater than it is. But it’s my space. It’s my mess. There’s a calmness and serenity and I love to come home. There’s nothing else like it.