The writer's cabin I hope to have one day
As writers, I believe we should be able to write anywhere and everywhere. However, I've long wished for a secluded place where I could concentrate solely on writing (the importance of solitude for idea generation and creative work deserves its own post). This idea came back to me last week as I was reading Mary Oliver's Upstream and came across the following passage:
“Once, in fact, I built a house. It was a minuscule house, a one-room, one-floored affair set in the ivies and vincas of the backyard, and made almost entirely of salvaged materials. Still, it had a door. And four windows. And, miraculously, a peaked roof, so I could stand easily inside, and walk around. After it was done, and a door hung, I strung a line from the house so that I could set a lamp upon the built-in table, under one of the windows. Across the yard, in the evening with the lamplight shining outward, it looked very sweet, and it gave me much satisfaction. It seemed a thing of great accomplishment, as indeed, for me, it was. It was the house I had built. There would be no other”.
Here's how I envision this house:
I loved that part because I've been wanting to have a place like that for a long time. I remember catching the bug of wanting to spend more solitary time in nature after reading Call Newport's Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World and on the importance of getting away from digital distractions and the negative impacts of solitude deprivation. When reading Walden, I dreamt about changing places with Henry David Thoreau and writing away in a modest hut in the woods, even if only for a week.
I have a folder dedicated to the project of designing my future writer's cabin. It will take a few years for me to realize it and build it on my own piece of land, but when that time comes, I will be prepared. Meanwhile, I return to these resources of inspiration anytime I need a break from the busyness of today’s world. Then I watch Kirsten Dirksen's video, which features a writer's backyard cabin or Beau Miles' lovely idea for a junk office, which he made for his wife out of salvaged materials. Alternatively, there's the fearless Girl in the Woods who built her beautiful A-frame cabin entirely on her own, which is closer to what I have in mind. For now, I'd have to resort to renting remote cabins for writing retreats. Nathaniel Drew's video of a Think Week modeled after Bill Gates' routine is the one I most frequently watch to get a sense of what an upgraded week spent in the woods could look like.
My future cabin
Last year, I discovered another gem. Adrienne Raphel in her book Thinking Inside the Box: Adventures with Crosswords and the Perplexing People Who Can't Live Without Them recounts her time in the Mastheads, where she was working on a section of the book. The Mastheads is a Pittsfield, MA-based project that provides writers with residencies in unique mobile writing studios. Essentially, you get to spend time creating in those little cabins with only a structure and a built-in desk and seat. And yes, going there and documenting the experience is on my bucket list.
The Mastheads’ writing studio, source: Berkshire County Historical Society
If you so desire, I hope this piece inspired you to find such a temporary or permanent sanctuary for yourself.
