Postcard: The State of My Room

Having grown up with two younger brothers, gone to boarding school all four years of high school, and living in a double in the apartments last year, I have never had a room all to myself. This year, living in Lunt dorm, I have been faced with both the luxury and challenge of life in a single. Mostly, the extra space and time to myself has been appreciated in ways that I was not even aware I found valuable. I had no idea that I derived great benefits from being able to close my door and recharge with some alone time. I also had no idea how easy it would be for a simple recharge to extend and become a center for procrastination and general time wasting. Having a room to myself has come with its obvious benefits, but I have also realized, as a result, that I have relied on others to keep me responsible in a number of different ways. Most physically apparent, having a roommate fuels me to be much more aware of the state I keep my space. This year, I have undoubtedly kept my room much more dishevelled than ever before. Over the course of the year, my room has constantly fluctuated from being sneakily clean on a very surface level, to looking as if it had been utterly abandoned after some sort of natural disaster. Sadly, no such natural disaster ever hit my room. Rather, it was a very human-centric disaster, revolving around my deprioritization of cleanliness.

As I have reflected on my disappointing room tidiness performance this year, I can not help but also acknowledge that this year has, without a doubt, been the busiest, and generally most chaotic year of my life. Many moments of chaos have actually been, in my eyes, very positive experiences that I certainly would label as some of the highlights of my year. However, in the face of such a crammed schedule, it has occurred to me that the first thing that I de-prioritize is the state of my room. (Followed closely behind by sleep) Coming to this realization has benefitted me in a number of ways. Knowing now how important time to myself in my room is, I realize that the space that I spend the least amount of time in and the least amount of time caring for is my room. Seeing my room in a dishevelled state only adds to my list of things to do and consequent pressures, so, I am coming to terms with the fact that I may have to spend a little more time on the space that takes care of me if I want to be able to better take care of myself. Identifying the things that benefit me the most has been critical to my enjoyment and feelings of fulfillment this year, and I believe all students and learners must identify these types of things on their way towards fulfillment.