It’s a known and proven fact that “unoccupied space” will be filled and put to use before a person can say “cheezit!” I know.  I have searched for space (takes eons), found it (at long last) and filled it in less time than it takes to peel an apple, eat it and yes, say cheezit at the same time.

I know people who are space gurus. Who’s that, you say? Well, they are creative humans who cleverly maximize small spaces by incorporating fold-away furniture, built-in cabinetry and lots of camouflaged drawers and bins that can hide or hold a heck of a lot of “stuff.”

At one of our previous homes, I made good use of a bedroom that had a narrow alcove by a window. This alcove was just big enough to tuck a sturdy table that held the various pieces of my desktop computer plus a small bin that held pens, stapler, paperclips. As I got use to my space, more and more stuff appeared on the rare, bare surface of my table. After a few months, it was very clear I needed much more space for my writing. At our next “forever” home, I had the use of the dining room table for writing, but a make-shift space in the bedroom for computer, etc. I did get my exercise moving stuff from one room to  another and variety in working at different locations.

Fast forward to now. This “forever” home has a den. It is a separate tiny room that initially looked enormous for my needs. Hubby generously declared it was all mine. There was even a small closet that could hold bins of files. But as I moved my stuff in, it was obvious Hubby needed space too. Our previous home had a large garage that was roomy enough for our car plus a decent size workshop for Hubby. We decided to share the den’s small closet and some of the den’s space for his chest of tools as well as the bits and pieces of his various projects. Ikea shelving was installed  and two book cases found a home. It seemed I now had loads of room for all my reference books, research files, notebooks and anything else I wanted to keep.

Today, I looked at my desk with piles of correspondence and manuscripts stacked on its surface. A tray meant to hold current work is overflowing with material for editing. And yes, I need more space. Now that we are more than halfway through February, I contemplate purging some out-of-date news clippings, magazines and books to create some new space. . . or maybe not.  How can I be sure that whatever gets tossed in the paper garbage and/or shredder won’t be needed the next day?

Theoretically, there should now be more space on top of my desk, cupboards, closet, shelves and bookcases as more room is made for new stuff in the approximate 10.5 months left of 2019. . . .And knowing that there’s 10.5 months to fill all that luxurious space again before we start tossing out more old stuff.   . . .Sigh.

Wait, it all depends which calendar is used. The Chinese calendar just began its Year of the Pig and that gives an extra month to fill any vacant space. . . .that’s a good thing, right?