"Virginia Woolf, in her book, A Room of One's Own, wrote that in order for a woman to write fiction she must have two things, certainly: a room of her own (with key and lock) and enough money to support herself" (Walker, In Search of Our Mother's Garden).
I find myself in the same position. In order to find myself and write progressively in my field, I must find my own room that has a lock and key with enough money to support myself. As I continue to move in my career, this quote continues to provide meaningful impact. First, I think it is the figurative notion that I must "find my own room." This is not a literal statement but figurative. Personally, I find this room housed in the walls of education and in particular, higher education. Second, this room must have a lock and key. I must be able to find, enter, close the door and lock myself away until I have perfected my craft. It is more than just work. Working hard for something we don't care about is called stress; working towards something we love is called passion. I must find, enter, close the door and lock myself away with my passion. If I were examine the historical and traditional stories of Jesus, often times he "stole away to meditate." He knew that he needed to find a figurative and literal place to gather his thoughts, restore his mind, and rejuvenate his passion. At the moment, I find myself stealing away so that I can focus on my craft and perfect my passion.
It is a journey of self-discovery. I often rely on Chickering's Seven Vectors of Student Development to examine myself. "For Chickering, development involves differentiation and integration as students encounter increasing complexity in ideas, values, and other people and struggle to reconcile these new positions with their own ideas, values, and beliefs (Pascerella & Terenzini, 2005)." There are seven vectors or major highways that an individual journeys to discovery and refinement. The seven factors are as follows:
1. Achieving Competence
2. Managing Emotions
3. Moving Through Autonomy toward Interdependence
4. Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships
5. Establishing Identity
6. Developing Purpose
7. Developing Integrity
I personally like vectors 5 and 6. They discuss issues that I constantly deal with. I am always trying to establish a solid identity and develop purpose within that identity. Chickering stated, "A solid sense of self emerged (at this vector), and it becomes more apparent that there is an 'I' who coordinates the facets of personality, who 'owns' the house of self an is comfortable in all of its rooms" (1993). Hence, I must find my own room. In developing purpose, clarifying your identity requires a sense of direction. Some questions that I always ask of myself: (1) Who am I? (2) Who am I going to be? (3) Where am I? and (4) Where am I going to be? Growth requires intentionality.
The space in my own room is a place where I can ask the tough questions to myself. I can develop who I am without the influence of others. Who I am is not based on the perception of what others may think of me. But who I am is based on who I think I should be at this present time. I wrote before in a previous blog, I am in a space where I am authoring my life and professional career. Right now, I need to gain skill sets so that I can use them to get to the next level. I need to figure out who I am and who I want to be as a professional. I need to figure out what I want to do and what skills I need to become what I desire. Lastly, I need to identify opportunities that I think I need and areas where I can grow and find ways to make that happen.
This is what I believe Virginia Woolfe means when she says that authors need a room of their own with a lock and key.
