# 109 Living Light

Some weeks ago I was watching 'Up In The Air'. In a nutshell it's about a guy named Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) who lives for his work, moving between projects right across America, never settling, living out of a suitcase, keeping things short and sweet. As a result not only was his material life light, so was his list of friends.

Moving around has pretty much done the same thing to me. I pick up with new people when I move into a place and invariably leave them behind when I go purely because of geographical practicalities. I often move long distances.

There is one person in my life apart from family who has always been there. My best friend of 23 years. We've both floated around, moved cities, jobs, friend groups but we've always hooked up again somewhere along the line. And since I moved to Lincoln in 2008 we've lived only an hour apart. We still only manage to see each other a handful of times a year due in part to money, in part to her role as mother of two small children - my godsons. We've always said we were the sisters neither of us had so I guess we are family.

As for the physical stuff, well that's gone through a sudden and unexpected change I wouldn't have dreamed of a few weeks ago. For the last couple of months I've been trying to reduce the amount of physical clutter in my 'Ryan Bingham' back pack. But because I work from home, clutter is the one thing that over rides everything about my existence. But last week I was given an amazing opportunity and in less than 24 hours I move my clothing design business into an artists studio space in the centre of town.

I started to pack yesterday. And I've been quite horrified at how much is leaving the house for pastures new.  The place where I live is, for the first time since I left home, about to become a place to live rather than a place to work. Frankly, I'm sick of the disarray in my home. I yearn for clean surfaces, easy to hoover floors and not having to pick my way through hanging rails and boxes - watching dust gather in the corners at an alarming rate.

And as I've begun sorting through everything, I've realised I do travel light. Most of the furniture in my house belongs to the house. I have possibly enough furniture for two rooms, not enough for a one bedroom apartment (I am proud of this).  I've discovered I don't really own very much of anything. Yay!
 

George Clooney and his metaphorical back pack (source)

Once everything has gone from the house, I am looking forward to turning the space back into somewhere I go when work finishes for the day. My studio will be my office and my full time job and I know it will make me more productive. Being at home will feel like being at home. This is an exciting prospect.