18 Comments
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Jami Attenberg's avatar

Sorry for all the run-on sentences but I wrote this with a hangover.

Love,

Me

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Joanna Rakoff's avatar

I love the urgency with which you wrote this installment, honestly! More run-on sentences!

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Olivia Barry's avatar

😂😂😂

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Jennifer Silva Redmond's avatar

Yes, I laughed too--forever ten pounds heavier, yes, me too, and it's okay but still funny how we are all so similar and so human. I live on a small boat with my hubby but I don't need more physical space, I just need the mental space to work. That's all. But getting that mental space decluttered...well, sometimes it is hard. Onward!

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Catherine Boase's avatar

🥰I love this piece. Having a little uncluttered space is so freeing and healthy. You made me laugh about the peleton haha. Walks are way more fun and interesting. I like your thinking and sharing about such things that most people don’t articulate.

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Maureen O’Connor Saringer's avatar

Oh my god. I have a really nice office space/guest space, and I was always convinced that once I bought a sleeper sofa and hung stuff on the wall, nicely, the writing would just pour out of me. Guess what didn't happen. Anyway, it's a great space for doing some journaling and maybe sometimes some writing. I reserve the right to change my mind and next week it might be perfect, all the fucking time. But what I have discovered in the meantime is the lobby of the Embassy Suites hotel which is less than a mile from my house. I mean, during the daytime, no one is there. And I sort of feel like I'm at a conference, so the work-brain mind is engaged. And they have a little snack shop so I can get an iced tea and just take up one of their many tables, and no one even notices me. I think it's genius.

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Jami Attenberg's avatar

I love writing in a hotel lobby!

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Mary Robinson's avatar

Love this and needed to be asked this question today. I recently had to put my dog down unexpectedly and in that grief my home hasn’t felt like a home anymore. I’m trying to piece myself back together again and find my way back to the page, and thinking about what I need from my space right now is important for my healing and for my writing. Thank you

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Jami Attenberg's avatar

I'm so sorry about your dog, Mary. My heart goes out to you. Give yourself the time you need.

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Mary Robinson's avatar

Thank you, Jami ❤️

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Amanda G's avatar

Hi Mary—

Just seeing this and want to add my condolences. I’ve been there, too. Thinking of you!

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Mary Robinson's avatar

Thank you, Amanda. I appreciate it.

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Olivia Barry's avatar

It always hurts so much. Sending love.

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Amanda G's avatar

Love this! Been thinking about it a lot this week, too. I need zero clutter, quiet, and a large circle of nothing around me that might distract, including my husband. Went to a friend’s studio this week and was amazed that she had this space just for herself and her creativity. It’s lovely, and a great idea. More than I can afford, sadly, but I’m now looking at little studio spaces that I might be able to afford. It’s a good idea, I think!

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Nneka Kelly's avatar

I love this SO much!!!!

I recently moved into a 3000 square foot house just to have space and now I don't feel so crazy. I have 2 completely empty rooms!!! I don't want to put anything in them. My parents live with me and my mother just can't grasp why I wouldn't want to put a bed for a guest room or something else. The truth is, I don't want guests. I want space! At least for now.

I thought I was going crazy because I once lived quite contentedly in a 600 square foot carriage house that was so wonderful for me in that season.

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Lynn Sikkink's avatar

Wonderful piece! I need quiet, but maybe a little background music that I can’t quite hear. Absolutely no lyrics. I like a window to look out. Luckily for me, my desk is in a bay window and I can see the aspen trees in the yard, study the angle of the sun, watch kids coming and going from school, and spy birds at a feeder. When the quiet does its work, my brainwaves lengthen and I can “hear myself think,” as my mother used to say.

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Laura Eppinger's avatar

Loving these ideas! So fun to learn about what other writers need -- hustle and bustle vs quiet, etc.

I love that the Peloton is Jami's personal metaphor for space, priorities, home, and more. I swear I'm not just being dense but I did want to share: I had access to my partner's Peloton throughout lockdown. I gained 10 pounds of muscle in my legs, thighs, and glutes. I am totally cool with this, but this raised my BMI and my doctor was on my case to lose weight. All other metrics healthy. She just harped on this one indicator and I didn't want to lose my mind trying to argue, "PUT YOUR CALIPERS ON MY ASS AND THEN WE'LL TALK!"

I think I am trying to say that the Doctor interaction plays with how I understand the metaphor, too. Your home/mind is yours, but folks will still pass judgement. Part of my journey with my body and how I spend my time [A LOT of it reading, writing, thinking, walking, getting swole in ways that society doesn't find attractive for the gender I was assigned at birth] is accepting that some people just won't get it. And be suuuuuper vocal in not getting it. I won't fit into the box others seem to have assigned. And just knowing to anticipate crappy comments is also liberating!

(The Peloton also broke twice and isn't currently operational. There are a million good reasons not to buy one!)

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Timothy Deer's avatar

My husband bought a Peloton in 2021, used it for two months, and then abandoned it entirely the moment his gym reopened. So now I have a Peloton? I have indeed been known to read and write on it, which feels vaguely dystopian, but I try not to overthink it.

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