The Desk, The Floor, and a Realisation

Some decisions feel right when we make them. Thoughtful. Researched. Justified.
And then, slowly, life starts proving them wrong.

I made my morning coffee today with a lot of passion, and as I mostly do, there was some experimentation. I realised that I have not written my analog (handwritten) journal for a few days now. So I wanted to sit at my desk and chair and write as I sip coffee, bit by bit.

But these days I prefer to sit on the floor, at least the first thing in the day. We sleep for several hours with the body mostly stretched and with minimal movement. As we do our morning chores, we get some movement in the body. But all that weightlessness in the calf and thighs, aside from movement generating localized heat, needs some tight compression too.

When I sit on the floor cross-legged, the body weight and the rigid floor force compression on calf and thigh muscles. It is like massaging. The feel is great. When I get up after several minutes savoring my coffee, the entire body feels relaxed and fit to start the day.

Now this step hinders my journal writing activity, which is that part of the day that I look forward to every day. The question is not about how to write while sitting on the floor in a cross-legged posture. Yes, I know I can figure it out. Rather, the question is what will I do with this beautiful IKEA desk and chair I bought?

I even upgraded the style and comfort recently by adding a layer of large writing pad. Now, in retrospect, it feels like the decision to have a stylish and comfortable desk and swivel chair was a bad idea—a bad decision.

Yes, there are things that I do other than writing my morning journal at the desk. But all those could find alternate ways too. The desk and chair not only make floor cleaning difficult but also add a task—to keep the desk clean and organized.

Sitting on the floor inherently is not comfortable for very long hours. It forces us to constantly change positions and postures. It also forces us to get up and take a short walk every once in a while. This is exactly how the human body was designed. We are not designed to sit on a couch and watch TV endlessly for hours at a time. I tried it and know.

Sitting and even lying on the floor once in a while keeps the body fitter. Part of that paunch may have come from long hours on the sofa. So this means my well-researched, thought-out decision to buy the desk and chair, the idea of putting a TV in front of the sofa, are all utterly bad—as I think about it.

Several decisions I took when purchasing objects for my minimalistic lifestyle were all bad or not optimal. These days, it is easier to justify and purchase things than to justify disposing of things we already possess.

I am wondering if I may have made several mistakes in my life in pursuit of happiness. The latter comes hard and warrants deeper thinking, before a decision is made—or by becoming a yogi and attaining happiness both when things exist and don’t!