Vignettes from my Room

My room is a box that holds memories and feelings, celebrations and sadness. It’s where I always come home to after good news, where I always run into after a bad day. It’s where I’ve cried, laughed, moped, smiled. It’s the place I say goodbye to before a long journey, the place that wishes me luck and gives me a warm hug before I embark on a hard day.

My closet holds the garments of my past, present, and future. The dress I wore to my first communion, the dress I’ll wear today, the dress I’ll wear to my engagement party. It holds the fabrics of the women in my family, a colorful pastel sweater from my grandma, a tailored suit from my mom, a vintage top from my aunt, and the collection of jeans I’ve built up. 

The memories are preserved in garment bags, my plans folded over the shelves, my dreams draped on the hangers. The linen top I wore when I first met my best friend is hung right next to the blouse I wore to my last orchestra concert. The dress I wore to perform a solo piece for the first time is hung next to the last dress I wore to my family reunion. In these clothes, I’ve felt the highs of life - the rush of serotonin I feel when I make music with my friends. In these clothes, I’ve felt the underbelly of depression on a particularly overwhelming day of school. In these clothes, I’ll cross the bridge to my destiny. 

The wish doll I handmade in Korea stands enclosed in her jar on my desk - she helped me to achieve the childhood wish I had made when I made her. A little rubber duckie sits on a desk shelf - it reminds me of my friend, who gifted me the duck because it was her school mascot as she was going away for college. A little frame of my two childhood friends and I at a Girl Scouts event is displayed at the top of my desk - it holds the best memories of my childhood friendships. A photo strip of my long-distance friends and I is tacked to my corkboard, constantly making me look forward to our reunion. Such chotchkies of different colors and textures fill the empty spaces of my desk, each one holding the souvenirs of my childhood and excitement for my future.