Having my own office is still sort of a novelty. Over my last few years of mobility I got used to working out of coffee shops and my laptop bag… and strangely, some afternoons I still find myself needing a hubbub of conversation in my surroundings to be able to focus. Most days, however, I’m ecstatically happy in the morning to walk down to my kitchen, make a real breakfast and my own cup of coffee, and commute one flight of stairs to my office with my hand-me-down desk and my new chair and an old-fashioned window that catches the morning light just so…

During this uncharacteristically warm week of April I’ve had the window sash thrown up to catch the breeze, catching the sounds of the neighborhood as well… There’s the little girl calling goodbye to her daddy every morning, dog-walkers conversing on the corner, the postman making his rounds, and lest you think it’s all too idyllic, there’s also the deafening trash truck, the annoying yippy dog down the block, the regular sirens from the firehouse one street over, and of course the choppers. Always the choppers – sometimes at pane-rattling decibels. I like to tell myself it’s the president on his way home, but more likely it’s an ordinary hospital chopper.

I look forward to meetings because they’re a change of pace and scene, and a chance to mingle with the cubicle and commuter crowd – and a reminder of how glad I am that’s not my life. Some days when I’m feeling melancholy about my choice, I make myself leave the house and metro to a downtown Starbucks just for that perspective.

The best part of my job is definitely the freedom. But I’ve also found freedom to be hard-earned and elusive. I can run my own schedule but I can also lose my shirt. And if I’m sick or tired or just need a mental health day, there’s no one else to pick up the slack and make the deadlines. There’s no sales department or accounting department or anyone else to blame things on… there’s just me. Above all I miss collaboration – such a necessary part of creativity – and have to reach out for unique ways to find it.

That’s why I’m thankful to live in a city, steps away from activity, thankful for the people I live with who fill back up my house every evening, and most of all, thankful that I just so happen to live with another freelancer who keeps my office from being lonely and my days from being too quiet.

Here’s to the home office.

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is a nobler art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials. – Lin Yutang

Lately I’ve been slightly obsessed with organizing photos. Maybe it’s spring… maybe it’s the new iPhoto… maybe I’ve just found a constructive new way to procrastinate. Whatever the case, grouping memories into nice tidy little “events” feels sort of like I’m organizing my life… or my past lives. It’s very satisfying.

Along with my digital closet-cleaning, I’m feeling a rebirth of possibility in the air. Like maybe I actually can do some of the things I’ve let apathy talk me out of in the last year. Like perhaps I can commit to some goals (two scary words) and more than that, I might actually be able to accomplish them:

Like this blog. In my past lives I used to post on Tuesdays — why not do that again? So henceforth on most if not every Tuesday, I am committing to take the time to pull at least one of my random thoughts on life/creativity/beauty and put it here in this space. For myself, more than anyone else.

Like painting. I don’t even know how many years it’s been, but the other day I finally picked up a paintbrush and tentatively knocked out a portrait… and it wasn’t half bad. This is a scarier place to commit, but if I don’t, I have the distinct feeling that I will be very sorry. So I’m committing to employ my paintbrushes at least once a month – preferably while painting in some lovely, peaceful setting and capturing something beautiful.

Like running. There’s two times in my life I’ve actually run consistently – once for a coach and once for coping. Nothing else has been enough motivation. But it’s currently the perfect running weather, and I’m finally going to set an actual goal I can’t get out of, and commit to running my first 5k in May.

I guess spring is as good a time as any to set goals… Well past overly optimistic January, with most of the year still left to meet your commitments. Kind of like a Tuesday.

Meanwhile, back to today. I have a very long list of loose ends of projects and an even longer list of potential new ones… I’m organizing my life on paper and breathing in spring and telling myself it is actually possible…

“The achievement of your goal is assured the moment you commit yourself to it.” – Mack R. Douglas