27 Dec Workspaces – What oh what should they be…
Tonight, I look at my Te Waka Toi Ngā Karahipi award from many moons ago. It sits on the wall to the right of me. It was a surprise for me to be awarded this emerging artist award. I felt so much that I was only at the beginning of my journey as a writer, and I was already recognised in my infancy. It scared me to think what others would want or need from me through it. It played on my mind, and still does, that I had this great vision, but was I disciplined enough to fill it…
It has sat there on the wall since I set up my home office 3 years ago. Most days or nights I look at it. Mostly a combination of nonchalance and gratitude, diametrically opposed. It’s an insight and a reminder that I’m a storyteller. It tells me 12 years later, from receiving the award, that being great is a journey if you ever get there. To where is there? Here. There. Over there. Kōnei, Kōna, Kōra. To a non-specific place – that is the greatness you want to be. I changed tac, maybe by my choosing, but definitely by choosing to honour the voice of our tūpuna to go on the adventure to find it, be it, understand it, fail and succeed.
I am reminded with this space that I am in, that I am a writer. I remember my goal to write playscripts, film scripts, poetry, deep stories, haiku, and even more importantly, to write these things in te reo Māori like I can in te reo Pākehā. Sometimes my mind and body would prefer to be more than my star sign, apparent says I am. Practical. Reliable. Driven. And maybe a little obtuse. I prefer a combination of my star and an my rising, which both contradict each other. Of course. To get back on track, today is not about my writing or star signs it’s about the whole space and environment that I work in. My workspace and workspaces in general. My go to every single day and your go to. My at-home-office. You’re at-home-office. Our sanctuary of creation; work, life, and play.
It could be banal to think I’m writing about workspaces and not delving into writing. But there feels a more important story to tell today, more than my writing, and that is my workspace is so precious. It is merged into my family life, my work life, my personal, my pleasure. Goodness and pain.
I look around my space that I work in. It is chaotic from some people’s standard. I prefer to keep everything in sight in-mind. My office is like my mind. My way of coping in the world.
What does your office look like? Is it an extension of your world or a moment in your life? Do you have a multi-layered sit-down desk like me? Or do you have an ironing board stand up desk with the basics to do your job well? What books are on your desk or are there none, because they sit in a tight and neat shelf? I must confess I’m looking at tight and neat for myself for the future. I’m not sure I’ll win in that moment.
This is not a piece about what you should or shouldn’t do in your office space. As I’m not a guru of working spaces. My dear friend Phoebe Quinlavin is that person, “If not on display put it away”. And I love her so for this philosophy. Within that idea, and I miss her direct influence so an office space, I believe is an extension of ourselves.
Photo Credit: Lotus Morgan-Mangakāhia