Inner Sanctum

There exists a little room in my basement--actually it's a little less than a "room,"--maybe more like a cubby. There's barely enough room for a desk and chair, which is exactly what I've intended for it for quite a while. It has hitherto been used for the storage of things we really didn't need anyway: an unused washer and dryer, baby clothes my son has grown out of, my old suitcase of maternity clothes, etc. But let me go back a little.

I saw on Oprah a long time ago that a person's home reflects their inner psyche. (I know, I know.) A cluttered house is equated with a mind in turmoil. I was a little skeptical, as I've trained myself to be of daytime talk shows that I usually abhor (though I enjoy Oprah), but after considering my own house, I became somewhat of a believer. When you walk into my living room, a place I straighten every day, you'd believe I was a type-A personality, clean and a bit obsessive-compulsive about it. But I do have secrets, and they begin with "Don't look in the basement." So Oprah's gurus would probably say that on the surface, what people see of me is a complete picture of order and harmony, while digging a little deeper, one finds a complete mess of excess baggage. Anyway, long story short, I've been cleaning up my baggage and painting the walls red all around it. It is truly a room of my own, away from the rest of the house where I can escape from interruption and experience (if imperfect) solitude. (There is still, after all, a three-year old in the house who is just as in love with it as I am.)

What's resulted is quite beautiful and has been dubbed by me as the "Inner Sanctum." If my house were a body, my little room would be the brain. The little nerve center that holds the circuit breakers, and up until now, the spiderwebs (along with the consequential spiders) that originate from ugly, ugly neglect. I've carved out a little piece of heaven from the mess, and it will be here where I'll descend daily to create whatever it is that I'm going to create. Good or bad, success or failure, it will come from this little room.

Not finished painting/cleaning yet, but here's a preview: