While shopping for supplies for my first year of college I came across many things I would need such as notebooks, pencils, note cards, a laptop, Etc. Throughout my shopping experience with my family it never fully hit me that I would be leaving home to travel an hour and a half away to an area I knew little about to be living with and around people I did not know. It wasn’t until I went looking for bedroom furniture and bathroom utilities that I realized how different things were going to be. As a child I always loved helping my mother and family decorate the house for different seasons and holidays. It created warm memories that imprinted my heart. On my first day at college, I had many family members drive to school with me to help bring all of the things I decided to bring with me on my journey to college.
I admit I might have gone a little overboard on how much I bought, but I was excited, a little nervous, and didn’t want to not have anything I would potentially need and I wanted to really make myself feel at home. It took hours to unpack, but when I was finished I felt all of my precious memories go through my mind and warm my heart. I had pictures hung up on my wall, a tapestry with my favorite colors near my bed, colorful and fuzzy rugs, posters of people who inspired me, and quotes from people I admired. I also had tiny decorations that people have given me over the years ranging from stuffed animals to cards. When walking into my room, it screamed my name, it showed my personality and it had the emotional atmosphere of being “home”. As they say, “home is where the heart is” and being able to decorate my room made me feel at home.
Throughout each semester, I went through hard times as well as good times. Whether the time was good or bad, what helped me through was my rooms atmosphere. When I felt sad, I looked at good pictures of people I loved hung above me. When I felt great, I continued to appreciate all of what I had in my room to make my time there special. When it comes down to it, having no decorations at all can even speak volumes for who a person is.
One other thing that comes to mind when I think of decor is the Egyptians. When a king had passed on, they essentially decorated the walls of their tomb with paintings that were beautiful. The intent was that only the king and the Egyptian gods would be able to see the paintings in the afterlife. They were meant for the deceased to be able to take all of the images of their life with them. To me, that shows in itself how powerful decor can be.