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Rearranging Furniture
Sometimes a single change can make all the difference
As I rearrange our furniture to accommodate the holiday decorations and make room for the holiday spirit to flourish at home, I recall a time years ago when the stakes were higher. In my early thirties, in a budding relationship, I was finding challenges I didn’t see coming. Small but significant to my growing self.
My friend Kate, a self-proclaimed interior designer, had stopped by my apartment and commented again on how much she liked my couch. I didn’t have the courage to tell her I was considering looking for a new couch. Kate and I had spent many hours the year before shopping for a couch with just the right blend of colors and textures and something else I couldn’t define.
It had soon become clear that I was shopping for an anchor to my new life, for a center point and a bit of style to help me live up to this return to my hometown. I had needed a haven of peace and reflection that year, amid ongoing family chaos and the move from San Francisco’s daunting challenges and glorious beauties to the new context of a smaller city and the surprising comforts of home. I had learned how much having my own space meant to me.
When she left, I stood in my living room and watched the bright afternoon light dance in rainbows on the wall. I sat on…
