Mess en Place

I used to keep a tidy desk. I wanted it to look like those desks that people fawn over and write blog posts about. Calm, beautiful, and sparse.

These days, I aim for roughly the opposite. I want a pile of books, scraps of paper, and things that I can use to make marks. I want them in my field of view and within arms reach so that I’m compelled to make.

I’d call this “mise en place”, but I don’t think I could do so with a straight face. Mise en place feels organized and calculated to me, but my system is more… chaotic. Let’s call it… “mess en place”.

On my desk right now is a Time Timer, a desk fan, my AirPods, 2 sketchbooks, a pile of pencils and wax pastels, a Ricoh GRIII and (dead) battery, some washi tape, 5 books, a copy of The Paris Review, some incense, a pile of Post-It Notes, 2 notebooks and… more (in addition to my keyboard, trackpad, audio interface, headphones, mic and Mac Mini).

There’s barely any desk to see, and I love it.

I’m building a daily art practice, and my current tools are inches away from my hand. I immediately take a photo to share it with others and my camera is right there. I like to start my day by reading a poem, and Frank O’Hara’s Lunch Poems is 3 books down in the pile.

I want to be surrounded by things that inspire me and enable me to make. I want to put as little friction as possible between my body and the work I want to consume or create. I want mess… en place.