Personal Space

Lately, it has donned on me that I am barely home. I have a full time job, a serious boyfriend, and a steady freelancing career. If I'm home, I'm showering, eating, petting my cat, and working for a client. It made me wonder where I happen to have my personal space. It is certainly not home. By default, I cannot claim the comfort of my boyfriend's house is it either, and I would be admitting to some serious priority issues if I found it at work.

My assessment of personal space led me to look at people around me. Who is an ace at personal space? My friends and family all have different ways of prioritizing their daily routines to make time for the more desired moments of their lives. I often feel I do the same, but an outsider's perspective may accurately analyze that my personal space is fragmented. It belongs in bits throughout the rest of my ongoing responsibilities. As of today, I have decided to embark on some type of self-prioritzing philosophy. I need to make time for "me."

Making personal space:
1. I truly love the time spent with my cat, curled up in a ball next to me, when I am at home. She seems to take comfort in my presence, too, and there is a purity to her needing me. I will make a note of how much time I dedicate to this simple pleasure.
2. My friends and I have all grown up and do not have time to make plans every weeknight and weekend. A simple form of contact, like an email or real letter may grant me enough time to myself to think about the blessings in my life I find in people of my past and present.
3. Although my family can be impossible at times, I have to include them in my spare time. Special events are great, but a simple spur of the moment coffee or conversation is probably more meaningful.
4. I love to read, and yet, I find myself taking weeks and months to finish a book. No amount of sleepiness will deprive me from reading at the end of the day.
5. My dusty piano calls for me. I need to play more, even if it keeps the neighbors awake.

In essence, personal space is not about "your home." It is about the time you devote to yourself and the items of your personal life. Life is not work, and it is certainly not just one person. Life is a delicate balance of commitments, passions, and routines.