It’s really tempting to become overwhelmed by the enormity of the mess and the amount of work that remains to be done in the coming weeks to make this a livable place. But I’m reminding myself to be grateful for this moment as it is instead of wishing to fast forward through each step of the process, to a point where everything is perfectly put together and comfortable. Because that moment? Is never going to happen. Yes, there will come a day when everything is clean and freshly painted, when there’s enough furniture and open space to invite people over. But even then, there will always be something that isn’t perfectly in order—or something else in my life that feels like a mess, some other problem that distracts me from the good things that are there—and that’s okay. It’s okay to be constantly in progress toward ever-changing goals, with new ones in sight after we’ve stretched ourselves to reach the old ones. Sometimes it’s even okay to invite people right into our messes. Right now, I might be living in the midst of a mess, but I’m closer to where I need to be. There are areas of my life that used to be in disarray but now have cleaned up quite nicely, and I’m really grateful for the new challenges I face that keep me reaching further up.

So yes, I might live in a mess, but it’s a mess with great subway access and an awesome chandelier. And it won’t be a mess forever.