Greetings and many thanks for visiting Space Improvement! Here, we explore how to best manage our environmental and inner/personal space.
I created Space Improvement for a couple of reasons. One is to share what I have learned and continue to learn about creating a pleasant home atmosphere. This is especially important when your current life circumstances have you spending a significant portion of your time at home. You may be caring for a young child or working from home, for instance. As a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) and an artist, I have always crafted my environment in ways to feel the most comfortable, uplifted, and inspired. For me, this typically involves as much color, plants, natural light, seashells, and nice music as possible. I find that the quality of the space I am in considerably affects my mood, and others I know have found the same to be true. We notice when we are in a depressing and uninspiring environment. While there isn’t much we can do to change the environment of our city, neighbourhood, or workplace, we can hopefully have some control over our own living or personal working space, however small or shared that may be.
Another reason I created this site is to share my individual journey of raising my baby, now toddler. As many parents can attest, it can be very challenging to find the time to take care of your inner space – that is, to nurture yourself and your own unique needs. We are told that it is crucial to carve time for ourselves. I wholeheartedly agree, but how exactly are we to do that? This is especially difficult if you are a single parent who is working full time, or if you do not have family nearby to readily help. I don’t have an easy answer, but over time, I have been able to take steps to attain some self-care time. There will never be time to do everything you want to do, but it is possible to confidently choose how to spend your time so that you at least feel satisfied and fulfilled with the one or two actions that you did choose to take!
In addition, I have struggled to find advice or examples of alternative parenting practices that don’t fit into popular or mainstream (or extreme) paradigms, and that has been frustrating since some characteristics of my son or our circumstances create unique situations. I hardly believe we are the only ones facing any life challenge, so I am here to voice what I am learning through my own adventure so that readers can discover fresh perspectives and choices that may differ from those more readily found.
In addition to every joy and challenge that raising a child entails, I also enjoy being outside, being physically active, having great conversation with others over delicious food or drink, creating things, exploring cities with my husband, hearing live music, going out with friends, traveling, being in the sun (and being in perpetual summer for that matter), going to the beach as often as feasible, and singing ‘Les Mis’ songs to my son before he is old enough to object. None of these except the last are activities I have much time for at this life stage, but to sum up a brief bio, I love to have fun and enjoy everything at each of life’s seasons and stages!
Cheers,
Rachel