It’s not an understatement to say that I may have an adult version of separation anxiety. I hate leaving the places I love. Stepping out of my comfort zone is a daily struggle — in the seven or eight years I’ve been going to Starbucks, I have never once gotten anything other than a chai tea latte. I am overly loyal, sometimes to the point where my fascination with things or places is obsessive. Somewhat incapable of just liking things, I usually either love or hate.
I’ve grown up as sort of a “third culture kid,” moving around every two or three years with no real ties to any one place, which could be why I cling on to the things I love and stubbornly refuse to budge. Self-analysis aside, despite how hard it was to constantly pick myself up and start fresh just when I’d begun to feel comfortable somewhere, there are a lot of things I loved about moving around.
Besides the big things like meeting interesting people and being lucky enough to explore the world, one of my favorite things about moving was, and still is, being able to experience so many different rooms.
The first thing I would always do when I found out that we were moving was to draw plans of my new room. But since I never knew what my room was actually going to look like, there was an endless number of different configurations. Pages and pages of notebooks would be filled with childish scribbles of beds and desks arranged in various ways. To this day, it’s still something that I do.
Wherever I was in the world, my room was always my own space, my hub of comfort and quiet. The world outside may have been foreign to me, but by keeping all of my favorite things in one place, I was able to build homes wherever I went. That said, I do believe strongly in the Fight Club mentality that as a society we overvalue our belongings to such an extent that they eventually begin to own us. So in all the rooms I’ve had – and there have been many – I’ve always attempted to own things that matter to me and nothing else.
The “A Look Inside” feature that I started doing for STITCH late last year is testament to my obsession with rooms. So if you have pimped out an unimpressive dorm room or generally think you have a well-decorated hang-out spot, send us an email at stitchblog@gmail.com. I would love to feature you!
Since I’m featuring your rooms, it’s only fair that I share mine, so here are some snaps of my current room:
