Currently I am living with my parents during a global pandemic. This has colored my thoughts about many things and given me gratitude for things that I might not have thought about in the past. Things that were afterthoughts have become much more important. One of those things is my garage fort. In this fort I do the things I do, and it’s a great escape. I am grateful that I have carved out a few square feet to do my work.
For me these days, my “work” mostly consists of writing. I could do this any number of places around the house. I have found the garage storage room to be the best place to do this. In this storage room, I have a reasonable amount of quiet, and there are not a lot of distractions. This is a good place for me to hide away. It is a modest hideout but it suits me. I have a table, I have a chair, I have an old TV, I have a loveseat, I have a ceiling fan, I have a space heater, I have a lamp, that’s about all I have in there. Still I am grateful. I have what I need out here in this little hideaway. It’s not fancy, it’s not much, but I kind of like it that way.
I treat this table and chair as a place to do work. What else does a man doing the things I do need? The truth is not much. In the past I have enjoyed working from fancy offices and coworking spaces. These were luxuries. Luxuries are nice. Now I am grateful to have just a modest workspace in a garage. I feel like this is the kind of workspace that the Roman Stoics would have enjoyed. I am grateful to have enough of what I need to do my work.
I have always felt that modest surroundings connect me in a way to my work or pursuit. A gym with just the basic weights connects me to my training more than a fancy gym for fancy people. Food shared with friends sitting on a tailgate, that tastes better than a fancy restaurant. Modesty can connect us to what matters. A modest office connects us to the work we are doing in the moment. I am grateful to have that modest workspace right now that is no more and no less than what I want. In some of my more luxurious work surroundings I have in the past been caught up in the lifestyle and routine of it all.
The lifestyle and routine of workplaces can be poison. Small talk becomes a creeping vine that pollutes the garden of the mine. Playing with coffee and other perks becomes a focus and a crutch. Water from a tap is good enough for my thirst, I don’t need a purified office water machine that is just clutter. I am grateful to have a workspace free from all this.
This garage fort of mine is just freedom. It frees me to do my work, and removes hinderances to productivity. I am grateful to have a little spot out there that I have carved out to do my writing. A simple spot is all I need, more would be nice, but I’m grateful to have a spot that checks all the boxes. In this space I can write and do great things, its not the greatest place to work. This is good thing, because it tests my resolve to move forward. It tests the purity of my soul and my pursuits, and every time I sit here in 95 degree heat sweating, I learn something more about myself. Mostly though it’s just a nice little garage fort to hangout in and write.