My Mission Field

My cubicle is in the barest back corner of a large office. No one sits back further than me. In fact the next cubicle holds the recycle bin. Then comes the back corner where you find office supplies.

Recently I read where a woman strung a mini-clothesline from one corner of her office to another. She hung cards by clothes pins as visuals to stimulate her writing. (I’m thinking about this idea to stimulate my life in medical billing.) However, her story triggered a memory about several years ago when my husband's illness dictated a move.

First we lived in a 24 ft travel trailer while we regrouped and later, we inherited a 10 x 55 mobile home with a tip out living room. We were thrilled to have space once more. I converted the one miniature bedroom into an office. Space enough for my desk and a file cabinet.

I'd just read Barbara Johnson's book, "Stick a Geranium in your hat and be Happy." She talked about her “joy room” where she collected all kinds of fun reminders and inspirational thoughts. My office became my joy room and like the woman with the clothesline, I decided to paste visual reminders of happier times around me.

I immediately wrote to everyone I knew and said, "Send me happy cards and jokes, this world of illness feels like gloom and doom." When the cards arrived, I “stapled” them to the ceiling. Can you imagine my mother's horror when we needed to paint the room? I left for work and she pulled staples.

I didn't produce publishable material back then, but my "joy office" brought tons of inspiration for church dramas, newsletters, and cards to others. That ceiling plastered with those gifts of laughter brought lots of smiles to my face then and now.

Still smiling, Kat