Sometimes I forget that the universe already knows what I need before I do.
I’m sitting in this beautiful home. It is not mine, but it is entrusted to me. There’s this stillness that feels like permission. The only heartbeat in the room besides mine belongs to a dog curled at my feet. A cat watches quietly from the corner. And suddenly I realize:
This is space to breathe.
This is space to think.
This is space to create.
It reminds me of something Terry McMillan once shared. She would retreat to cabins in the woods to write. She did this to think clearly and to let the quiet sharpen her creativity. And I see it now: these house-sits have become my “cabins in the woods“. Temporary sanctuaries. Creative residencies in disguise.
But this morning, another thought came to me. Maybe the creativity isn’t just about the quiet — maybe it’s about the shift itself.
When you enter a new environment, your mind has to re-orient. You need to find new ways to connect the dots. This continues until the space starts to feel familiar. That process — of adapting, noticing, and creating comfort — wakes something up inside you.
Each home becomes a subtle exercise in curiosity.
Each new environment stretches the way I see.
Combined with my walking and reflection practices, house-sitting has become another quiet tool for creativity. It serves as a moving meditation that blends solitude, observation, and discovery. Maybe it’s not the house itself that inspires me. Instead, each borrowed space gives me a new lens to think through.
And maybe that’s the real gift. Realizing that creativity doesn’t always need to be forced. Sometimes it just needs a change of scenery.
Reflection Prompt
Where do you feel most creatively free? How can you give yourself more of that space, even in everyday life?
Author’s Note
This reflection was inspired during a recent house-sit. I realized that each new environment invites a new way of thinking. Like Terry McMillan’s cabin retreats, these borrowed spaces have quietly become my creative classrooms. They have taught me that clarity and creativity often meet where stillness and change overlap.
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By Tonia Tyler | #ConfidentStrides | Sweet N Social
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