Why I Will Never Have an Office (but I get it when people do)

I am not the SEE ME girl. At all.

I wanted to elope so I wouldn’t be the center of attention on my wedding day. 

I know, I know. What does this have to do with a home office?

I can’t imagine taking up space in my home that’s just mine. I already have a bedroom, closet and bathroom. If I need quiet work time, I can shut the door to my bedroom and work. If that doesn’t work, I can sneak into my bathroom or my closet (yes, I’ve written in both places)

Having a room dedicated to ME feels… I don’t know… Pretentious?

I want my family to be a part of what I do. I don’t want my life partitioned off that way. The books I’ve written are on a shelf underneath a counter upstairs underneath my desktop computer. Mike wants to frame each of them and put them on the wall.

I do not. At all.

Am I proud of what I’ve accomplished?

Of course.

Do I want to do better?

Of course.

But I could say this about every part of my life. 

I want to edit at the kitchen counter while my kids are laughing in the dining room. I want to write on the couch downstairs while my kids run through the house.

I remember reading Stephen King’s book, On Writing, and he talked about how he got this massive desk that took over this space in his house because HE WAS A WRITER. HE NEEDED SERIOUS WORKSPACE.

And then he got a reality check and turned that big desk into a smaller desk and turned the space into an area where his family could hang with him while he worked.

Do I understand the loveliness that a space dedicated ALL TO ME would be? Yep. Do I get that even an office could be “open door” ? Yep. But it still puts a divide in my house that I don’t want there. Something I’d be uncomfortable with.

I know a TON of authors who love that writing space. Who work it so that when the door is closed, they’re to be left alone, and when the door is open, anyone is invited.

But I think I already sometimes cheat my family of time with me because I’m half thinking about a story. Or because I just want to get another 1000 words in… I never want to feel so self-important that I’m shutting out my family. And for ME, that’s what would happen. For a lot of people, I think it probably helps them turn off when they’re no longer in their writing space.

Anyway. I know. This is totally random.

I’m curious, though. Do you long for that private space? Or are you like me and just want to be in the middle of EVERYONE’S space? lol.

~ Jo

P.S. Suzi at The Literary Engineer asked for more high school pics, but I thought I’d start younger, just for fun 😉 I still remember those red tights, BTW. They ROCKED.