Lisa Call

Home #3
©2008
10.5" x 8"
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Organization and Energy

When people ask me about having a lot of energy, one of the common threads is to ask how I have the energy to stay so organized with everything I do. I think the answer is that because I stay organized, I have energy for other things.

I find that clutter is a huge energy drain. Be it clutter in my mind or the more concrete piles of junk all over the house. If I let things get into too much disarray, all of my energy is spent thinking about what I have to do or hunting for stuff I can’t find and there is little energy left for doing anything. Staying organized frees up a ton of energy for other projects.

Mental Clutter

When my mind is full of unresolved issues with people or events or projects I tend to be low on energy. Or maybe more accurately, all of my energy ends up going towards ruminating about these situations.

Yesterday when I got home from work I ended up doing very little. Watched old episodes of The Office online. I never watch TV and I had 5 hours that could have been spent on studio time but something was off.

When I find myself stalled like I was last night I don’t beat myself, instead I look around and try to figure out what is draining my energy. I made a list of the things that were nagging at me and will spend today cleaning up those lose ends so I can get back to focusing my energy on making art, not worrying about stuff.

Getting the jumble out of my head and down onto paper, including my thoughts on how I feel about some of these things, is a huge help in plugging up the energy drain. Just recognizing all of the things that are pulling me into different directions is very freeing. Now I can prioritize the list and deal with the issues in a sane manner, instead of freaking out and shutting down.

Physical Organization

It’s not just my brain that need to stay organized for me to think clearly and have the energy to get things done. I also work better in an organized environment.

I’m a big believer in "a place for everything and everything in it’s place". When I don’t have that my things end up in random spots and I spend too much time looking for them, which is a complete waste of energy.

Just because I know a piece of paper is in a huge pile doesn’t mean it’s a good use of my time to dig through that pile every time I need it. Getting and staying organized is a way better use of my energy, so when I need something it is easily found. No distractions about clutter need enter my head when I’m in search of papers. I was able to pull together all the documents I needed for my construction loan in about 10 minutes because my files are so organized.

I had to buy an new quick release thing to attach my camera to my tripod as the old one disappeared. In my old house that thing had a home, if it wasn’t on my camera it was in it’s home. It had no home in this house so it apparently felt neglected and went on vacation. I spent over a month hunting for that thing, worring about taking pictures without and in general letting it annoy me. All of which was a huge waste of energy. The new one just arrived and first thing I did was decide where it will live in my house during the remodel. Energy drain plugged by a bit of organization.

This might sound like a silly example, but when a huge number of silly little things like lost quick release plates pile up together, I end up with a life that is only about distraction, not about making progress.

Home #3

These thoughts about clutter and organization tie in nicely with my thoughts about what makes a home. One thing I ask myself is why I crave so much space in a house. Why is my 900 sq ft house so in need of being made bigger for me to live here?

One of the answers I came to is that in 900 sq ft it is really really hard to be organized and uncluttered. There is simply not enough space to put things. Or to be more precise, given the things I own, there is not enough space to get organized. If I were told I had to live in 900 sq ft I could do it. But I would get rid of a lot more stuff. A huge roll top desk is not something that fits into a house of this size.

Fortunately I do not have to live in 900 sq ft and it turns out with the addition my house will be closer to 2300 sq ft. I’m pretty excited about that as I love big clear open spaces with minimal stuff. So while the frugal, virtous part of me feels like a big american pig for wanting such a big house, the efficient, productive artist in me is excited that in a few months I’ll be able to get really organized again and hence have more energy for making art. My energy is not best spent riffling through a cabinet crammed full of pots and pans to find the right one.

I’m ignoring the voices in my head that tell me there is some virtue in living small. I’m listening to the voices that say there is virtue in living large and honoring my desire for space for making art.

I completed Home #3 this morning and find it interesting how this piece of art, which I subtitle in my head Big House, Little House, and this posting came together at the same time. Rather serendipitous. And it’s the first photo I’ve taken in about 2 months with my tripod. Woohoo.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum

Recently someone mentioned that they had a theory that when you clean stuff out of your life it creates a vacuum which will then suck stuff back in to fill the empty space.

I think it’s an interesting question as to what happens in our lives when we make some space. Be it time or physical stuff or even emotional crap. Do we just junk up the new space with the same old crap?

It’s certainly our nature to keep doing the same thing we’ve always done. I think if we live unconsciously within a short matter of time we just go back to old patterns and fill up our lives and homes and space with the same stuff.

Changing Habits

In the past 9 months I’ve gotten rid of close to 1/2 of my possessions and I’ve said no to a huge number of things – including some relationships that were not positive for me. I can see the tendency to just do the same thing as before – it’s easy – it’s well known – these are my habits.

I’ve been putting a lot of intention into not doing that. It’s uncomfortable at first – to have all that space – shelves and rooms that aren’t cluttered – spending only quality time with friends that support me – slowing down – cherishing the space.

It’s a big question – what do we do when we decide not to do the habitual thing?

There’s a lot of things that can rattle around in all that space. I’ve found that by just sitting with it and letting it be that I learn to grow comfortable with it. It was a challenge at first and I’m getting better at it each day.

I love my open uncluttered house, life and all the extra time I have. So I’m doing everything I can to stay aware of how wonderful it is so I don’t clutter it up again.

Home Repair Report

My hardwood floors are done. Now I’m having my house painted, inside and out. Moving things off the hardwood floor was a lot of work. Moving everything away from every wall so it can be painted. That’s really big work.

The result is there will unlikely be pictures on my blog over the next few weeks as I’m in the home stretch for getting the house on the market. My goal – June 3rd.