How-To Information for Modern Life
Whatever the motivation — change of season, change of relationship, change of aesthetic — when you NEED to alter your living space, boy, do you know. I had lived with a charming assortment of found objects/junk for years, to the point that I was starting to identify with my ages-old, five boyfriends-ago, stained and burdened-with-memories couch. Until one recent day when I thought, ENOUGH! and single-handedly muscled that eight foot long albatross into my apartment building hallway. Granted, the initial exhilaration was balanced by the realization that I now had no real place to sit – plus a quizzical stare from my building’s super, Pablo.
But whatever. It’s progress.
At some point you look at the space you inhabit, that influences your every day and mood, and think, gee, I spend more effort on my coffee than the overall mood around here. I never thought that I was old enough to invest real money in my environment (the assumption being, hey, this all only temporary, right? That was eight years ago). So, with no place to sit and just enough of a hangover to ease my inhibitions, I hit the flea market with open eyes and pocketbook. Hello. Possibilities were all around. I could have refurnished the entire apartment for the price of a pair of new boots.
What I came home with was odd, but ripe with potential. Admittedly my new couch (the perfect shape and size I’d coveted and never shelled for) is, in fact, currently upholstered in, well, faux lizard skin – which is a look, not mine – but it won’t stay that way for long. And as I say, it’s progress. If I placed an hourly value on Time Spent Obsessing On Making Changes instead of actually just coughing up the money and doing it, I bet I’d come out ahead.
Moral of the Story: Make money by spending some.