The Electrician in Me

I put up a new light fixture in our dining area today. Benedicta is now doing the clean up as I played the electrician role and left the scene as soon as all the wires and screws were securely in place. The fixture I replaced provided nothing but a dim shadow of light for ten years and then went completely dead about three years ago. Yes, I said three years. We've been puttering around in the dark all that time. We actually bought the new fixture on a trip to IKEA in Red Hook 9 months ago. Let's just say I'm a reluctant fixer-upper.

Day after day after month after month I said, "I'm going to put that fixture up next week."But next week the mood didn't strike quite right or I worked too much or I was out of town. Until today. Before breakfast I said, "I'm going to put that fixture up today." And after fortifying myself with leftover chinese, Benedicta got the ladder out and I went to work.

I love the action of handyman's chores: the physicality of putting something together; the achievement of improving functionality; the rush of possible danger lurking in those exposed wires. It feels like real work, getting something tangibly done as opposed to pushing papers or cooking or cleaning which has to be redone day after day. With a home improvement project you immerse yourself in the task and emerge with a lasting accomplishment. I can slap myself on the back and say, "Look what I did." Bragging rights extend for the life of the project.

But I think those bragging rights are part of the hold up in getting to home improvement projects. It goes like this. 1) Bragging: Wow, that ceiling still looks pretty good, I don't think we'll have to repaint that for years. 2) Acknowledge need for new project: I really need to touch up the paint in the bathroom though. 3) Procrastination: I'll get to that after I install the new light fixture. 4) Avoidance: I can't install the light fixture this week because ... 5) Action: Install the light fixture. 6) Admire: Wow, look at all the light in this space, this is amazing. How handy I am! The bragging will continue because when it stops I'll have to move on to stage 2. And that will mean several years of contemplating that wall in the bathroom before I get back to stage 6. But when I'm in the middle of the action phase I will love how handy I feel. Too bad it's going to take years to get there. But until then, at least I'll have light.