Virginia Woolf once wrote that in order for a woman to write fiction, she must have money and a room of her own. And while the world has changed since she penned that line, the truth underneath it hasn’t moved nearly as much as we like to pretend.
Because yes — a room helps. A door that closes helps. But what Woolf didn’t say (or maybe didn’t have the space to say) is that women don’t just need a room. They need room. Mental room. Emotional room. The kind of room that isn’t constantly interrupted by laundry cycles, grocery lists, school forms, aging parents, dinner plans, work deadlines, and the invisible weight of keeping everyone else’s life stitched together.
It’s hard to be creative when your brain is a browser with 47 tabs open. It’s hard to write when you’re the keeper of everyone else’s needs. It’s hard to make art when you’re the one holding the household scaffolding in place.
So yes — Woolf was right. But the modern version is this: Women don’t just need a room of their own. They need a life that makes space for their imagination to breathe.
NOW, if I had an unlimited budget for even a short 24-hour period, I would build a glorious room of my own off the far side of the house … a room where I wouldn’t hear the knock at the front door, the neighbor’s dog, the construction across the street, nor the buzzer reminding me to switch the laundry (then again, if I could afford to build that room I’d probably pay someone else to switch the laundry too).
Ah, well, I might not have a room of my own, yet, but that’s OK … for now. Because if I didn’t have the people around me, both near and far, to share these walls with, well, then I really wouldn’t have anything to write about anyway : ) So, I’m curious, where do you produce your best writing—at your desk, on your phone, at a noisy café? How does the environment affect your creativity?
Penned by Woolf after delivering two lectures in 1928, A Room of One’s Own is a brilliant look at the history of women writers and the culture that surrounds their ability—or lack thereof—to create. Not, however, from lack of ideas, but more so their surroundings. Filled with metaphors and references to both real and fictitious persons, it is, I think, a very pensive read that should be on every woman’s bookshelf, writer or not.
Today’s post semi-inspired by the WordPress daily prompt: If you had an unlimited budget for 24 hours, what would you do? Cover image is me, deep in thought about something marvelous, I’m sure.
DISCLAIMER: These are my personal experiences and opinions. Nothing here is medical, nutritional, or therapeutic advice. Also, I’m a writer and an editor. And I try my best to make sure every post is articulate and free from errors. However, being that I edit my own work—and it’s next to impossible to properly edit your own work—I admit, occasionally there may be an error or two I miss. But doing so doesn’t make me an idiot so don’t be mean. Just smile, pat yourself on the back for finding an error and be glad you’re not the only one who makes mistakes sometimes … xoxox
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