Do you need a creative space to work well?

From creating a tranquil space out of Ikea furniture in my childhood bedroom after moving home from college to going from loving to loathing my LA apartment after the transition from office jobs to work-at-home, I’ve always tried to work my way around environmental circumstances beyond my control. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent scouring Craigslist hoping to even come across a dream creative studio—no matter that I’d never be able to afford one—or the time logged on Pinterest searching terms like “exposed brick” and “light space”, “white walls”, etc.

With all the disappointing sighs, the rearranging, the thrifting décor, the trying to transform a space that just doesn’t have good bones, I’ve often thought, can I really work like this?

DO YOU NEED A CREATIVE SPACE TO WORK WELL?

Well, work I’ve done. And work I’ve done well, so far anyway.

The truth is, we’re adaptive creatures. It’s easy to say there’s a reason we can’t do this or that. Sometimes we simply have to wait it out, and work just as we would if we had that dream space or circumstance. But I see both sides of the story. Working in an uninspiring or dark or secluded space can bring on a lack of motivation, restlessness, and even depression. It’s real. Personally, I must make sure I am always conscious of this. I’ve toured cafes and wifi-blessed bakeries and made points to get out as much as possible.

I remember in college, I struggled a little internally because I often didn’t feel inspired to write as much as I needed to as an English major. I figured once I got out in the real world (which, I would later find out, meant my hometown), the inspiration would knock down (my dad’s) door. Not even a little. Somehow an office assistant living with her parents didn’t quite inspire. And when when I got to Los Angeles, and had this apartment—with its own tiny deck space, that eternal sun (and the eternal shade it left my apartment in)—those leaves that often fell on my notebook from the tree next to me as I wrote—did I quickly and passionately become the writer I’d always wanted to be? Just guess. Only through forcing myself to meditate in the morning, then go on a walk with my journal, and relaunch this blog so it could perhaps, if I really try, become a space I could share, did I even start the process. A slow, sometimes undetectable process, but still a process.

Even if I do snag my *dream studio* in a vintage building with big windows and white walls and brick accents (BTW in LA, that ain’t cheap!), I’ll still struggle with inspiration and motivation and progress. Creating a dream space, a productive space, is really important, and very worth it. In 2015, I plan to get there. But you don’t need that to be a writer or blogger or artist.

What kind of spaces have you worked from before and what do you think you need to keep creating?

PS: After writing this, I came across a review of Amy Poehler’s Yes Please (which I am not quite finished with) on Braid Creative. Her point, and quote from the author that the doing is the thing, and it’s another take on this whole idea of creativity and work.