Ft. Nonsense

"Dwelling on negative thoughts is like fertilizing weeds. "

-Norman Vincent Peale

Here in New Jersey, there are 4 sights that make up The Morristown National Park.One of the sights is Ft. Nonsense.

The often cited story is that to keep his troops engaged and out of trouble, General Washington had his army construct this fort.A more factual analysis shows that often a smaller fort would be built near a larger encampment in case a retreat became necessary.

In response to my quandary of functional vs. purposeful, I enlisted my troops yesterday to help with my version of Ft. Nonsense.

With the help of a small army of 4, I spent the better part of the afternoon into evening rearranging our family room.Everything on the left side of the room is now on the right side of the room and everything that once was on the right side of the room has been moved to the left side of the room.

To be honest, I had been contemplating a change for a while now. After the first year of living with the post renovation room format,I had grown increasingly uncomfortable with the flow of the set up.

With the addition of 2 new pet guinea pigs and the enormously oversized cage that I bought for them, it was time for a change.

The project was a huge success. The great room looks even greater.

Without losing any of the furniture or fixtures,the room is feels much more spacious .

In this case, both function and purpose were addressed, which makes me very happy.

There are of course some challenges with the new setup. For instance, for the last 25 years or so, when entering my desk area,I have always approached my chair from the right. In the new configuration , I now enter from the left. After a few more episodes of banging my knee, I am sure I will get the hang of it.

Functional and purposeful.

It's grand when my life has meaning!