Footprint Friday–Bellisima Green Challenge: Creating Spaces!

At the beginning of this week, I had a revelation about my business. In order for it to grow and thrive, I must create more space for it. “But how exactly do I do that?” I thought. “I’m not at a point in time to rent office space nor do I really want to work outside my home while I have two homeschooling teenagers here at home.” Over the next couple of days, I began to ponder how I could create more space for my business energetically and physically.

I began to look around and discovered an area in our basement where the lonely pingpong table stands in readiness for a match, any match. But when was the last time anyone in our family played pingpong? Well, the last time I could remember was over a month ago while I was out of town–my husband and one of our daughters played. Before that, it had been many, many months since anyone pulled out the paddles and balls. Recently, the table had become the place I would lay out my piles in order to organize my work, knowing that this was a temporary fix for me. So, I started wondering, “Could this be the area to use for my own ‘office?’ Could I take this little area and claim it for myself and what I’m creating?” At first, the Saboteur came in and told me I could NOT. How could I take this area of fun away from my children? What kind of a mother was I, after all?

At the same time, there was another voice saying to go for it! It’s time to stake out an area that shows me and my family I am serious about what I’m doing and the business I’m building. Now, the challenge I gave myself was how to do this without spending much, if any, money. Could I find what I needed right here in our home? If I needed to go outside, could I do it without spending money?

I am happy to report that my new “office” cost me less than $65. I did have to buy an office chair because the others in our home are all being used on a continual basis. My daughters each have a chair for their work area where they do their daily schooling. We also have an office chair at the main family desktop computer. So…I did have to purchase a chair, but I was able to find a comfortable leather chair on sale for under $65!

Here’s how my space came together… I put up the pingpong table and rolled it to the side of the room. I placed the cloth fabric over it–this had previously served to keep the table covered when not being used (that was most of the time, as I’ve already explained). It now looks like a beautiful mural against the wall. My neighbor had offered me a beautiful solid wood table some time ago which I hadn’t yet taken. I decided that instead of having it replace our family eating table, I would use it as my desk (which is how she’d previously used it). Since it didn’t have matching chairs, I was going to need to buy new chairs so by turning it into my desk, my outlay of money was significantly reduced. I then looked around for what needed to be on my desk: Something to hold files that are currently being worked on. CHECK. I had a file rack stored away. Bookends to hold all my green books on my desk. CHECK. Again, I had a set stored away. Plants and water fountains to bring flow and success to my work. CHECK. We had a couple of table water fountains that weren’t currently being used as well as a few small live plants–including bamboo–in various rooms of our house. Items that make me happy and bring a smile to my face. CHECK. Cards from my daughters, husband and friends, a sign which says “Relax,” a beautiful plate to hold business cards and other supplies, a card file box which my daughters and I made when they were small, and an essential oil soy-based candle as well as some stones with inspirational words and sayings on them. Lastly, I put my current vision board on the right side of my desk and propped my vision board from 2009 on the ground to my left. Behind me, I placed a sign with the name of my business to let everyone know when my office is “open.”

So, how am I feeling now? Well, first, I feel pleased that I’ve now given myself permission and a space in which to work on a daily basis, free from the hustle and bustle of the household daily activity. Second, I feel proud that I was able to create this space with minimal cost and waste. Purchasing an office chair was a minimal act of consumerism and cost. I was able to reuse items and therefore reduced my consumption of more “stuff.” Thirdly, I feel peaceful as I sit here writing this post. My space is calming yet energizing, which allows me to to be creative in my writing and my business planning. Lastly, I feel grateful and very blessed that I had a space with which to work and the support of my family as I moved forward with my dream.

My Bellisima Green Challenge today is that each of us look for ways to work with what we have or what we can acquire with little or no cost in order to manifest that which we desire in our lives.

FOR TODAY…I will continue to look for items within our own home to create a fully functional workspace for Bellisima Living, LLC.

DID YOU KNOW…
*The US has the resources to sustain less than half of its current population of 300 million. If all 6 billion people were to share the world’s resources equally, Americans would have to reduce consumption by 80%, according to www.50simplethings.com.
*Reuse is often confused with recycling, but they are really quite different. To reuse means to engage in an activity that lengthens the life of an item. Recycling is the reprocessing of an item into a new raw material for use in a new product–for example, grinding the tire and incorporating it into a road-surfacing compound. Recycling takes additional energy. Reuse has been around forever; however, the need for us to reuse is becoming more important.
*There are many compelling reasons to reuse rather than recycle. A few of the most significant are that reuse creates less air and water pollution than making a new item or recycling, results in less hazardous waste, and saves money in purchases and disposal costs. Reuse also creates an affordable supply of goods that are often of excellent quality (as is the case with the beautiful wood desk I was given).