Pussyfooting around the Obvious
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I’m not the only person who works in Studio Joy. Which is saying something, because it’s not a big office. The space is set for me and the dozens of people I teach on Zoom weekly. Thousands if you count YouTube.
Studio Joy is small. It’s a cozy 12’X10’ room. For two co-workers. Technically, fourteen green leafy affiliates vibe here too, but they don’t share my keyboard.
Sharing a keyboard is intimate. To be honest, I don’t do it by choice. My orange tabby cat Miru likely feels the same way and wonders why I don’t make his keyboard available more often.
I don’t think Miru means to type the messages that scroll out beneath his squat bottom on days I leave my laptop open. He's got other designs when climbing up to the highest peak. He seeks a vantage point. Perhaps a throne.
It’s a reminder for me that we all see things, like laptops, in different ways. We see situations from different vantage points. When I walk into the room and find MIru on the keyboard again, I gasp. He flinches, knowing he’ll be unseated.
I’m transforming as I write this, y’all. I’m realizing that my cat sees his work in Studio Joy as being equally important to mine—he’s tending to me, after all. Caring for and keeping me warm. And yet, the space doesn’t well reflect his needs. I neglected to design him a perch that’s easy and safe to scale up to.
I appreciate Miru’s presence here. My workday is richer with him in it. I feel chagrined as I awaken to my sweet cat’s needs. I want us to belong here together in Studio Joy. I've set the plants where light falls optimally for their needs. How have I not thought of Miru’s before?
A re-design is in action. I’m not the only person who works in Studio Joy. It’s time for the space to reflect that. I’ll admit that this is not the easy path. Working in Studio Joy is simpler when I only think of my own needs and those of my clients. But life is more fun when I fully see all of the beautiful beings around me and commit to co-creating with them.
I’ll build you a vantage point, Miru. A place on high. It is your joy and in your nature to see the world from above. I get it now.
When have you discovered that a space you share with someone addresses your needs more than theirs? How do you feel about reshaping the space together with this new understanding?