Hi! I am a middle-aged, middle-class woman and I have yearnings. Is it wrong to want to look at things I would like to have? To imagine things I would like to do? To dream of a life fuller and richer than my own? I don’t think so. 

Luckily, I have found a sort of release in a book. It is only pictures but it has focused my fantasies in a wonderfully satisfying way. This book brings me a great deal of pleasure, just to look, to imagine. Such variety! Solutions for the all the ways in which my life has been lacking. 

There are times when I feel guilty about my cravings but should I? What I am reading is not illegal. My dreaming does not injure my family or anyone else. I even know for a fact that, with enough money, I could easily — and very legally — acquire what I crave.

Still, I try to keep my fantasy sessions secret. I have been hiding the book in my dresser, under my sweaters, just to keep it safe, lest someone else think it is just a piece of trash and fit for the recycle bin. Not everyone understands the joy of an organized kitchen cabinet or color-coded file folders. I am not letting anyone take my Container Store catalogue away from me.