A Little Corner of Your Own

Before All the Labels

Somewhere underneath all the roles we collect — parent, partner, executive, caretaker, homemaker, friend — there is still the person you were before anyone told you who you needed to be.

One of the exercises that inspired me in The Artist’s Way is the idea of creating a small space devoted to your creative self. It doesn’t need to be elaborate, spiritual, or even particularly artistic. Think of it simply as a tiny corner of your home that reminds you of the things that make you you.

Start by thinking back to childhood. What did you love before you worried whether you were good at it, whether it was productive, or whether anyone else approved? Maybe you loved drawing, collecting shells, dancing, horses, old books, making things, climbing trees, writing stories, looking at the stars, or wandering outside for hours.

Find the Things You Forgot

Write those things down.

Then look around your home for a few objects that connect you to them. An old photograph. A stone from the beach. A book you loved. A feather. A postcard. A little drawing. A flower clipped from the garden. A poem written on a scrap of paper.

You don’t need to buy anything. In fact, part of the beauty of this little project is discovering that the things that mean something to us are often already there.

Arrange a few of them together on a shelf, a windowsill, the corner of your desk, or even a tiny tray beside your bed. There are no rules about what belongs there. The only requirement is that when you look at it, something in you recognizes itself.

A Daily Reminder

Then leave it there.

You don’t need to meditate in front of it, journal about it, or turn it into another habit you have to maintain. Just allow yourself to see it as you move through your day.

We spend so much of our lives responding to what other people need from us that it can become surprisingly easy to forget what we love.

This little corner is simply a reminder.

Before the responsibilities, expectations, accomplishments, and labels, there was you. That person is still there.

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