T- Shaped Living
I have this swing/ hammock thing hanging in my sitting room, it’s fixed to the roof. It gives me anxiety. Let me explain. I have probably said this in a previous post but I get bored easily so I try as much as possible and within my control to keep things fresh.
To achieve this at home, I’m constantly rearranging furniture, almost every quarter at this point. I would walk into my children’s room for something and the next thing I’m moving bed position.
That’s why I’m a bit weary of having things permanently fixed to a wall or in this case, a roof. But the hammock was cute when I saw it in the store so I brought it home and got it set up.
Anyway, after it had hung in a particular spot for months and I couldn’t move it when I wanted to rearrange the sitting room, I called the guy who fixed it to come and relocate it to another spot. He did but I have holes in my roof from where it was that I need to call a painter to seal and paint over. While I have to deal with those holes staring at me, I’m happier with the fresh look of the sitting room
It's only a matter of time before I remove it completely from the sitting room.
I like things to be modular where I have the freedom to embrace flexibility. The freedom to change things around, my needs, routines, preferences etc.
I’m probably not the only one because furniture companies are choosing to make and people to buy furniture that doesn't have a specific way it should be arranged. They come in single units and people can decide to arrange and rearrange the pieces in whatever way they want. A four-piece set can be used by one customer as a four-sitter and by another as a 2-sitter and 2 single-sitters. Flexibility is the name of the game.
I was having a conversation with a new friend and she said the same thing but mentioned that it’s important to also be grounded and I said absolutely. Having the freedom to change up things in your life while also retaining your core sense of self. To have deep-rooted values that ground you while then having the freedom to experiment.
I remembered the letter T which is often used to describe someone who has in-depth knowledge of a subject or skill but also has enough breadth of knowledge of others. They are called T-shaped people.
This can be applied to life too where the vertical part of the T tethers us to the ground (not physically obviously) these are things like our values, beliefs, and relationships. They provide us with a sense of stability, security, comfort and meaning.
The Horizontal part of the T gives us the freedom to adapt, be open to change, learn, explore new circumstances and opportunities, switch up our routines etc.
Striking a balance of both might just be the recipe to live a life that allows us to be ourselves, and make the most of life without getting “lost”
By the way, The Zigzag was 3 years old on Monday. Happy birthday to us!!!
Keep going,
Ije