Space

My family bought that surprise at an Antique Mall we visited recently. So great and cute!

How's everyone doing? I love summer, not always the season but I love the space of doing more of what I love. So, today I thought I would talk about this idea of S P A C E.

One part of the move across the country that I haven't spoken about as openly is the space that this move created for us financially. Mark and I knew that wherever we landed; we wanted to have a little more financial space. Meaning that we wanted to be able to buy a house without needing a mortgage. One of the reasons we picked Columbia aside from it's cuteness, college, size, and proximity to great new travels was that we could afford to buy a house without having a mortgage. Which is really a lovely thing. This financial space means that Mark and I don't sweat our jobs; we've talked about living somewhere more expensive but both of us agree that having this space is more important. It's a mental shift and a great one. It's funny how when you don't have pressure about something like the need to keep your job how it shifts your outlook and helps you appreciate the current situation.

This shift has also allowed us to really start happily anticipating our retirement. We have years before that happens but the vision is starting to bubble up to the surface more. This week during our plein air outing we visited a horse farm and they had kids there as part of a camp and I was talking to all of the kids. They were very curious and excited to see all of these artists painting and kept thinking how grateful I was about being there that morning. It was so beautiful - the farm, the horses, having these young kids there, everything. I was thinking how fun it would be to teach students art in such a great environment. So, that's what I mean about the future bubbling up - I can picture myself transitioning from working full time to working part time teaching a variety of classes in a variety of environments. I imagine myself teaching small groups of students who are curious and excited about learning. Maybe at a horse farm, retirement home, community center, parks and rec building, who knows?

One of the elements of art is space, the eye loves a place to rest, a place to have a little breather.

Music needs that space too, that little pause before the lyrics start again.

I also try to find space from routines like Netflix, I love watching TV at the end of the day but sometimes you hit what I like to call a drought with something. When that happens I know it's time to pickup a good book and then I will feast on books for a while.

We can think about this space with so many things. How much more enjoyable is a meal when you're hungry? What about the week you've prepped most of the meals or you ordered an online meal service and that pressure is lifted.

How much better is that band you love if you've taken a break for a while?

So, here's to finding a little space, the room to breath and roam and maybe the most important part, recognizing and appreciating that

S P A C E (not in all caps as a yell but as a whisper).