If you’ve ever planted a raspberry bush, you know that by the next year or so they’ll take over your yard. Their prickly stalks pop up even in the most unlikely places, bestowing their wonderful, juicy bits of berry goodness upon you. That’s sort of how my idea grew, minus the prickles (mostly), and more the speed of a time-lapse film. Before I knew it, it went from a couple studios and a small gallery, to a full bodied stew: a for-profit community art center with studios, a gallery/store, art classes, a darkroom, and programs for all kids. The gallery would double as an event space for music jams, film showings, game nights, and more.
This luscious stew needed a name. With a little help from my friends, I decided on the made-up word Crespaço. The “cr” comes from “crio,” the Portuguese word for create. The rest, espaço, means space. Create space, or creative space. It can be taken literally, or play off the many meanings of “space.” Perfect!
So, I had my West, and the mode of transportation I wanted to get there. What now?
At this point I had been in Portugal for less than two months, filling my days with online Portuguese classes, playing bass, making friends, cafe-ing (yes, that’s a verb here!) and shopping for everything from furniture to doctors. In other words, settling in. I reveled in having a wide open schedule after 50 years living at the harried, stressful speed of American life. Luna and I took long naps and spent hours walking, exploring.
I was excited about Crespaço, but didn’t feel like it needed to happen in a hurry. Obviously, there would need to be a place for the space. “I’ll just look at buildings for sale for funsies,” I told myself. “Just to see what’s out there and for how much. You know, research.” I figured it would take at least four or five months to find what I was looking for within my budget.
I was wrong.
I looked at a couple places that were definite “no’s,” along with one or two “maybe’s.” But life is too short to waste time on a “maybe” of any kind. I then fell in love with a spectacular place which, aside from being a MAJOR renovation situation, ticked ALL the boxes on my wish list. That never happens!
Yup. It didn’t- it was already under contract. The sensible part of me heaved a sigh of relief at not getting into such a massive, and probably budget-busting, project. The less sensible part of me was heartbroken at losing this Perfect Place. But I kept looking anyway.
If you’ve ever shopped for property before, you know what a difference there can be between what a property seems like in the listing and the reality. I went to a couple more showings not expecting much.
One listing in particular seemed promising, although I wasn’t super excited by the photos, and it didn’t have any outdoor space. Still, it looked like it was in good condition. This is rare unless you’re at a crazy high price point, and even then many of the buildings have trees happily growing in their midst under roofless eaves. Although, I have to admit I kind of love the idea of buying a roofless ruin and putting a building within it…But as Mick Jagger croons, “you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.” Turns out it was a good size, in a great location, budget happy, and could be ready to go with a few mostly minor changes.
“I’ll take it,” I said, without hesitation. I was under contract that week, with a stipulated closing date of within thirty days.
Was I ready to jump into a business venture? Hell no!
But when an opportunity comes along, I’ve learned it’s usually best to trust yourself and take the leap. Worst case scenario, it’s a brilliant disaster. Then you just dust yourself off, give thanks for the ride, and do something else. So long leisurely life, I hope we meet again before too long. Carpe diem!
I love your writing style Hobit! Can’t wait to see how Crespaco blossoms. XO