I feel like if I am going to be spending a lot of time in my home office, then it might as well be filled with the kind of things that make it feel more like home.  After all, after years of following corporate policy as to what I could or could not do with my space, I now answer to no one else but myself.  So if I can make a comfortable space in which to write and manage to get my work done, there are really not a lot of other things for me to have to worry about.

And it's all hardly a 9-5, Monday thru Friday thing, of course.  As I report this, it's 5:30 PM on a Sunday afternoon, but it could as well have been 2:30 AM on a Tuesday morning.  As a writer, I simply write; and as it turns out, that's often quite a lot.  Sometimes the urge to write strikes me at rather odd times.  And you might have noticed that I have a clock on the wall, too, but for the most part, it's there solely for decoration.

You'll see also that not only am I surrounded by a couple of computers, printers and all of the necessary work tools and office supplies, but I also have equipped my office with a gumball machine filled with M&M's  and an electric keyboard.  And yes, I've been known to play my keyboard during "office hours" while on break - or anytime really whenever I want. The M&M's, well, they are there for when the grand kids visit me (sure they are).

You can only begin to see a hint of the frames in the far left side of my picture, but I also have the requisite "vanity" wall, where all my certificates, etc. are displayed for - well, mostly for me to see. Why bother, you might ask?  Don't I already know the extent of my own education and accomplishments?  Do I really need to be reminded of any of that?

Well, yes, I do know, but I believe that whatever I've managed to become over the years I need to remember and be grateful for the privilege of having learned more about the world outside my office door.  Oh, yes, and of having learned much more about myself.

My feeling is that if we truly know who we are, life just somehow seems a lot more comfortable and laid-back.  And a relaxed, functional well-thought out office space is as enjoyable to me as is rich comfort food, absent all the fat and calories, of course.

Wouldn't you agree?