7. The Shift in Perspective Continues

I really want to enjoy my outside space. I am a bookworm at heart. I’d like to get more comfortable spending time outside. The begonias and hanging basket have already made the backyard feel more appealing.

I remember something a friend said to me as she looked out my window on a gray February day two years ago. “Julie, move that wood pile someplace else. That alone will help the look of things.”

I looked around my shed and realized it needs to be reclaimed as my space. I took things off the shelf and discovered it is usable space taken up by a mower bag for a mower we haven’t had for six-plus years. I moved things around, swept up dirt and cleared away cob webs. I carried things to the trash container.

Having taken inventory of the shed that used to be ours and is now only mine, I realized I have space for the wood pile inside the shed. I spent my outdoor time moving the pile of wood wagon-load-by-little-red-wagon-load.

My friend was right! The hill looks less cluttered. I look at it with less contempt than I have in the past. I have begun to see it as a canvas on which I can create something beautiful. It sounds weird to apply this to a physical space, but loving my backyard exactly as it is rather than as I wish it to be is having a transforming effect on my attitude and my desire to work to make it better. Love Rules. Even when it comes to an ugly backyard.

My head and heart feel clearer too as the wood pile is relocated and the outdoor space finds a little bit more order. I have mental space, more and more of it, actually, to face this mess head on.