Foundation:
Some changes arrive like a sledgehammer. Others are just the quiet scrape of a chair’s legs against the floor, moving it a little closer to the window.
Whether it’s the one or the other, the room changes – and you change with it.
We speak of transformation as if it begins in the mind ( – and in some cases it does!), but equally often, change starts with the body.
The mind may sketch the plan, but the body lays the foundation.
We grow older – our bodies change. We get new teeth, our skin changes, we gain or loose weight – we change.
Now, I’ve never been pregnant, but there are few things that sre able to illustrate thew co-operation and transformation between the body and the mind as well as that of a pregnant person.
«The space within becomes the reality of the building»
– Frank Lloyd Wright
In truth – the same is true of our lives – as the inner reality is built on the outer structure.
Framework:
A lowered shelf.
A better lamp.
A desk rearranged so the path towards it smooth and steady, as opposed to a minefield of small obstacles.
In the words of Virginia Wolf:
«One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well».
In the consept of architectural aspects of the body, Wolf’s word may seem pointless or asinine, but for anyone interested in litterature, it’s obvious that she knew that comfort and clarity of thought require a sound framework – both literal and figurative.
For disabled bodies, this framework is not just about aesthetics. It’s about its structural integrity, which decides our survival.
Like lowering kettles just so they can be lifted up without risk. Or removing a lapm from a two-lamp light to make my space darker and less risky (I did this myself) given my light -sensitivity. Similarly, when my mother came home after her last chemotherapy-session, she was so weak and frail that my dad build large steel-hooks all around the house, so she could stand up/ or hold herself whenever she got too tired. Furthermore, I’ve positioned my bed (and myself) so that any seizure I have while in it, will (in most cases) prevent me from falling on the floor. In fact last year I had a huge discussion with my dad about potentially laying a rubbery floor on my bedroom for safety. I chose not to do so due to the difficulties this leads to in terms of cleaning – but had I not been such a clean-freak It might have been the best choice.
Openings:
Despite seeming like small transformations at first, these choices are not «small». Instead, they are blueprints – deliberate designs for how a body can inhabit the world around it.
As the architect Christopher Alexander once wrote:
«Every building, every room, every garden is better when it is shaped by the people who use it».
And here’s the gift; when you change the structure, the mind moves differently within it. A clear path between a chair and a bookshelf becomes a reason to read more. A brighter workspace makes you think braver thoughts. A door that no longer squeaks, feels like permission to enter.
Finishing touches:
«The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned».
– Maya Angelou
Changing your physical space is an act of claiming that safety – and, in turn, claiming yourself.
So of something feels stuck, don’t just sit and think harder – pick up a metaphorical hammer. Move something. Lower something. Remove something. Build a ramp, change a lightbulb, rearrange the shelves.
Because the bluepring of a body and the blueprint of a life are never seperated. They are drawn on the same page.
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At last, a task for you, reader:
Pick one physical change to your own environment that could open a door (litteral or methaphorical) for you. Then make it happen, no matter how small – and watch whatever else shifts.
– Silje
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Furter reading: 
“The Poetics of Space” by Gaston Bachelard – a meditative exploration of how rooms, corners and thresholds shape our inner lives.
“A Pattern Language” by Christopher Alexander – a classic on designing spaces that truly work for human bodies and minds. “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up” by Marie Kondo – about shaping surroundings to support joy – not just reducing clutter.