Small spaces and excitement

Downsizing a home and moving is one of life's most stressful events, but buried deep in the chaos of the move, is a spark of excitement about where I'm going.

I've learnt an interesting life lesson about dreams, settling and patience in the last month.

Ever since I started watching George Clarke's "Small Spaces" series many years ago, I've dreamed of living in a small space. I had loads of ideas but never a fixed plan for how to achieve them. Regardless, I put my dreams out into the Universe.

In the summer of 2022, I decided to buy a flat rather than renting, and because of an extremely disruptive neighbour. It wasn't really the home of my dreams, but it was OK.

But the Universe obviously had other plans for me, not wanting me to settle for something that was just "OK".

After 6 months of the most frustrating delays with various parties involved, there was no completion date in sight. My solicitor said I was within my rights to pull out of the sale. So I did.

I had a validating conversation with a friend about options, but I was still left wondering where I would live, as my financial situation is far from robust! Overwhelm set in.

But, then things began to happen that I would not have anticipated. The decision to pull out of the sale and the conversation with my friend was like a cork pulled out of a bottle (the place I’d become stuck in).

Within the course of a week, I'd found a brand new park home that I fell in love with, in a fully residential park where I can live all year round. And compared to the flat I was going to buy, there are so many positive lifestyle pluses.

• It's a 5-minute drive to the sea and beach, so I can swim more often in the sea.

• I can finally have a cat.

• It has an on-site swimming pool for the summer.

• I do not have to climb 2 flights of stairs with my grocery shopping.

• I have some outside space for a table and chairs and some lavender.

• And, it’s a small space!

As I write this, I am sitting in my new small space home, in my newly appointed "art room" (which doubles as a workspace for a few more months). I would not have been able to do it so quickly without my sister's help, support and fantastic organisation and packing skills.

I wonder if something like this has ever happened to you.

The card art

As the card text reads, I am “excited for where I'm going” and how this next phase of my life will pan out. I must admit that I haven't felt like this for a long time, so I think this massive downsize / decluttering and move will be good for me in so many ways.

This is one of the few cards in my pack that has no collage elements. When I made these marks in my favourite colours, they had no particular meaning, but as I look at them now, I see some energy in them - a sense of forward motion and flow. And of course, it is significant that I have chosen them to illustrate this story!

Now that I’m feeling a little more positive about my future, I hope to be back here writing regularly again soon.

If you want to find out a bit more about the project and a little bit of backstory, head to the About page.