Every now and then while watching
television I look around where I am sitting and I think, “I should rearrange my
furniture.” And this thought plays out
little by little as I walk past or sit again in my living room watching
television, reading a book, or reading the mail.
In the mail there is a magazine. In the magazine there is an advertisement for
furniture. I look at the way it is
arranged, clip it out, hold it up against my vision of my living room and think,
“Yes, this is the way it should be.” I
pin the clipping to my bulletin board. As I sit, I eyeball my living room filling in
the spaces with where I would move my furniture, and then resume reading my
mail, reading a book, or watching television.
Every now and then I study that clipping
making mental notes of the sofa and chairs and the accessory furniture that
surrounds them. Then I go to my living
room and watch television, read a book, or read the mail. There is a magazine. It has an advertisement for furniture. I
continue to study the clipping on my bulletin board.
I rearrange my furniture. It looks nothing like the picture pinned on
my bulletin board. Five thousand dollars and three new pieces
later, my living room arrangement still looks nothing like the one in the
advertisement.
I search the worldwide web for pictures
of living rooms in small spaces and nod at the ones I like. I find a picture of a beautiful tiny mobile
house that can be hitched to the back of a car.
I wondered if I moved out would it help, that is, to start from scratch.
Back in my living room I am remembering the tiny houses while watching television, reading a book, or reading the mail. Then I think about rearranging the furniture.
