Welcome to the Sunday Scaries
Among the book launches, events, and client meetings, Jim and I managed to start a small DIY project over the holidays.
The basement.
Or, as Jim’s family lovingly refers to it: the murder basement.
By our standards, this project is more of a hefty organization than what we would even consider a light remodel. Use of power tools is minimal. 😆
Regardless, the goal is to take what is otherwise an unfinished, crypt-y-feeling space and make it less like “Dateline special” and more “ welcome, please stay.”
That seems especially important since Jim’s entire family will be visiting (invading?) in a month, and I’d rather the sleeping arrangements at Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Angie’s not be the reason three young children need therapy later in life. 😀
👉 As usual, here’s what you can learn about the week thanks to our basement project.
1️⃣ What Happens When You Finally Use the Space You’ve Been Ignoring
For years, this basement wasn’t really used – it was tolerated (by me). And each time we needed the makeshift space for Jim’s family, we’d have to clean up the dumping ground of tools, wine, outdoor gear, garden experiments, and other half-baked ideas to make space.
Not only was that an efficient use of time, but it’s only possible to ignore untapped potential for so long. At least for this person, that’s the case. This project is both a way to make all the uses coexist and to give Angie’s OCD a little less heartburn.
Instead of waiting for the day we could afford to do “the full” renovation and finish it off completely, we decided it was time to stop ignoring, avoiding, or waiting for the perfect time to improve the functionality and get to work.
💡 Lesson: What you keep stepping around eventually starts taking up more space than it should.
2️⃣ Catalysts Create Capacity (Whether You’re Ready or Not)
Here’s the truth: we didn’t suddenly find time, energy, or motivation to deal with the basement.
We got a catalyst.
Jim’s family, which has grown since their last visit two years ago, created just enough urgency to force the decision to do what we could. Sure, it’s no Pinterest-worthy renovation (although I did pick out a kickass wallpaper I’m kind of obsessed with), but it will serve us so much better going forward.
💡 Lesson: Many meaningful changes don’t start with inspiration or means — they start with necessity.
3️⃣ Sunday Scaries Love Dumping Grounds
Unfinished spaces have a way of living rent-free in your head. And not-so rent-free anytime you go downstairs to do laundry or need a simple screwdriver lost in the pile in the corner.
👀 An unfinished basement, a conversation, an unresolved career question, or some other temporary situation causing anxiety, it won’t go away if you don’t do something about it.
Sound familiar?
💡 Lesson: Anxiety has a funny way of hanging out where decisions haven’t been made.
4️⃣ You Don’t Need a Full Renovation to Change How Something Feels
We’re not gutting the basement. No sledgehammers. Very limited power tools, but we are drastically changing how it feels.
🦌 A little paint, a peel-n-stick wallpaper or two, and some intentional storage have helped to delineate spaces for intentional use, add ambiance, and make it feel less…murdery.
Removing the coal room that has been here since the house was built in 1936 also helped (but we kept the coal shoot in the foundation. #oldhouselove).
Small changes. Big shift.
💡 Lesson: Maybe all you need is a new coat of paint. 😉
5️⃣ Capacity Was Always There — We Just Weren’t Using It
Our house was basically made for two people, which is why it was the perfect match for this no-kids, DIY loving couple. That said, shoe-horning 11 additional humans, including three kids five and under, will suddenly make you find capacity you didn’t really think existed.
👏Necessity really is the mother of all invention.
Where can you get creative with the career you’ve outgrown, the skills you wish you could gain, or the “fleeting” idea in your head that wouldn’t be so unfeasible if you sat down and started executing upon it?
💡 Lesson: You usually find capacity the moment you stop saying “we can’t.”
6️⃣ In-Progress Still Counts
Right now, the basement isn’t done. There is no insulation on the ceiling, and if you’re a light sleeper, you'd better hope no one on the main floor gets up to pee in the middle of the night.
As of today, there are also bins everywhere. Wallpaper waiting to be installed. Gear temporarily stacked in a corner, carpets rolled up, and a half-painted concrete floor.
But it’s moving, and sometimes that matters more than being finished.
💡 Lesson: Progress requires just as much (if not more) commitment than completion.
7️⃣ Some Things Get Better Once You Stop Calling Them “Temporary”
We’ve looked at that basement as a temporary eyesore that would get a full renovation “one day” for three-and-a-half years.
So was the way it felt to walk down there.
Calling something temporary is a great way to avoid responsibility until you’re forced to make a decision about it.
Sure, I’ve been talking about some ridiculous basement renovation that includes wallpaper with deer on it, but there is a lot to learn from turning four 100-year-old concrete walls into a space you’d actually want to spend time in.
💡 Lesson: If you treat something like a placeholder, that’s all it’ll ever be.
If you've read Scary Good: Discovering Life Beyond the Sunday Scaries (#shamelessplug 🔌), you know I fully believe that the Sunday Scaries don’t always show up as dread about Monday.
Sometimes they show up as a quiet indicator that it’s time to start paying attention to a part of your life you’ve been ignoring.
We may not be talking about a total overhaul here, but a decision. A reorganization. A coat of paint.
🍻Here’s to noticing what you’ve been stepping around…and deciding what to do with it.
Your Friend and Coach,
Angie
