I can have a whole row for my Harry Potter books! *giggles of delight*
My wife, setting up our bookshelf, 4 September 2022
Decaf coffee in hand, we sat on the floor in our study and started sorting through our books. Even though we had moved into our townhouse in March (six months ago now) one of the things left to unpack was the boxes of books we had bought with us. Granted, we didn’t bring a bookcase with us (one thing I can do is make excuses). So once we moved two bookcases up the stairs into the office over the weekend, we made a decaf, put some country music on, and got to work.
I had decided the top shelf, which was at eye level and would therefore act as a constant nudge, was to house my books on philosophy and personal development. Adjusting the height layers so it just fit the tallest book, I almost filled up the entire row. There are some real gems in there that I am excited to go back and revisit. The row below was for professional development books. Then I sat down on the chair, country music playing in the background, took a few sips of my coffee and watched as my wife then sat on the floor and excitedly went through her books, placing them in various sections.
This is life, I thought to myself. Focused time with my wife, a hot drink, music in the background, giggles between us as we rediscovered some of the books that we had. This is life. My smile widens. Sometimes all you need is time with loved ones, a cuppa, music, laughter, and realising you have a whole shelf you can dedicate to Harry Potter books.
Whilst simple living was a staple of growing up, once I did finish school and university, I forgot about this. It’s easy to get sucked back into the hustle. The terminology, the culture, the pressure, it’s everywhere in our modern lives. For a while, on my return back to Australia, I went back to hustling. Thankfully, I quickly switched gears. I slowed down by enjoying time in our home, taking the time to watch the sunset, and to write and read.
I’ve put some thoughts into the basics of what a good life should entail, with one of them being having a well maintained household. This doesn’t mean that everything in order, well maintained, and dust free. Rather, it means we are taking direct responsibility for something that belongs to us, and giving ourselves an environment where we can both relax and achieve great things.
For me, it means putting my philosophy books at eye level, so I do have that constant nudge to return to them, to seek further wisdom and interpretation from others. It means having a place where I can sit and relax whilst curled up reading. It means cushions available so I can sit on the floor to improve my posture, and a place to stretch out. It means having reminders in my phone so the rubbish bin goes out onto the road each week for collection and regularly attending to these tasks. It means mopping downstairs once a week.
It means having pictures on display that remind you of the experiences had. You can either add more, or can rotate and replace each quarter. It’s time on the patio to relax. It’s about having rooms where you can invite stillness. It’s also about having laundry on the floor and things a bit unordered.
It’s putting books on the bookshelf whilst music plays, coffee in hand, doing the work with your wive and enjoying everyone second along the way.