It has been a crazy and tumultuous year. About this June 2018, I started getting ready to launch my own counseling business. The owner of the business where I had worked for several years was getting ready to retire.
I rented an office location in August. The office was in a 100 year old building which used to be a theater. Before I rented it, it had been empty-ish for a bit. The previous business had been a thrift store and food pantry. There were lots of things left in the building, so it took us several weeks to clean it out.
The office is HUGE. There is a main area which is where all the desks are. Also in the main area is the library of resources. Eight bookcases and a huge filing cabinet of resources are available to anyone who wants to access them. There is a children's area with dollhouses, car tracks and cars, Lego blocks, bionicles, sand (gravel) tray, beads, and coloring pens/markers/crayons and coloring books (for children and for adults).
There are also several display cases with collectibles and knick knacks. Sea shells, rocks, and miniatures grace the top of the cases.
The long space of the main area displays all sorts of artwork. Some has been drawn by family children, by community members, and various other people. Some is antique, some is modern. There are pieces from all over the world and from local artists. Fantasy and birds are frequent topics for the wall art.
There are reading benches that are wooden and in rustic style. There are two sets of old theater chairs made of wood. Much of the furnishings are wooden.
The counseling room is bright blue. There is also art work and tapestries up in the counseling room. There are 3 client chairs and my chair in the counseling room. Inky, the office dog, has a plump pillow, but often elects to snooze through sessions on one of the 3 chairs.
I think what I like most about the office is how comfortable the people who come into the office seem to feel. I enjoy that people find lovely and interesting things at which to look... that they share about the different memories evoked by the things in the office. It is important to me that people who come into my office feel at home.
