Murray: A 180-degree pivot might be just what you need | Columnists | globegazette.com

Sometimes, when you feel "stuck", stop to think and do the opposite of usual. This is the method I have been following lately, and this is just the right advice for such a strange year like ours.

Suddenly, normal... not. To rise is to fall. Right is wrong. We live in a world full of willpower and weirdness, so instead of lamenting what we have lost, we should look for something to gain.

What I have done recently is very small, too small, very simple... It has a huge impact on my life. It involves the bar table in my basement, some decorations from my youngest son's high school graduation ceremony two years ago, and a new location. I am used to park my laptop on the table facing our huge backyard, it feels a bit like outside, partly because of my three side windows, partly because the cold air seems to seep in like between the outdoors and me There is nothing on my swivel chair.

I like my writing location. There are so many things to see, and there is enough space for my task leader (my three dogs) to lie next to me and lock me in a chair until my words flow onto the screen. At about the same time every day, I think: "Hint the deer!" Like clockwork, they solemnly pass through our yard. The birds flew around and regularly found a landing spot on the deck on the other side of the window in front of us. Sometimes, a crazy little fox soars in our driveway, shows up in the thin air, and disappears, and then I pick up the phone to capture his photo. Things are so beautiful...I can sit at my desk, organize columns, and teach online courses in a purely comfortable environment.

Michelle Spratt Murray

Then about a month ago, I was in trouble. I don't like my chair. The lighting is poor at night. My dog ​​started to get too close to me, pressing his head under my left arm (even when I was typing), and breathing in my face that was not fresh. The wildlife parade I used to love distracted me. I decided that I needed to make changes, so I followed the advice I read to do the opposite. It doesn't make any sense... Therefore, it may have all meaning in the world at the same time.

I chose a location that I fell in love with when I moved home a long time ago. I still parked in front of the window, but I faced our front yard instead of our back yard. I'm at a table, but when I choose a bar table that is not used as it should, the table is a bit higher. I have some great decorations that can be viewed in different ways. What used to be part of the red and black school color decoration of the graduation party has now become a lively and interesting decoration in my little writing corner.

It is a simple action to move down the stairs in another "table" facing the opposite direction... Yes, this is the opposite of what I have done for many years. I feel like I have moved to another continent.

My "New World" also contains some new sounds. I used to be completely silent when working and writing. My thoughts are not disturbed in any way. I can't let anyone talk to me, or God forbid, or even watch TV in rooms on different floors. I write letters late at night or early morning when no one else is at home, so I can remain completely silent.

Entering my "distressed stage", I was crazy. I asked Alexa to play a little bit of Michael Buble... or better yet, my favorite "Hangover Jazz". Now, the music roared from the floor above me, wafting from the open stairs as I typed these last words. My husband just came home from get off work and wondered if he walked into the coffee shop.

In this upside-down chaos, the next time you feel trapped, embrace the opposite. You just never know where it will take you.

Michelle Sprout Murray is a writer living in Mason City. She might be

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