When I come into my room, it is every time with a different feeling. Sometimes I will just jump in to do something quickly- pick up things, change into different clothes, or put the bag down. Often I will retreat into my den to have a rest after a busy day and simply lie on my bed, enjoying the nice look of the room interior. At other times, I will bring guests to sit together chatting, laughing and enjoying the quiet evening together. Every time, I pay attention to the focus of my room – the huge window with exquisite curtains that flutter and shake in the light wind. It is my window to the world, stimulating my eyes and my mind to see into the vista, dreaming of new spaces to visit.
The window is right opposite the door. Actually, this makes a little draught, especially in winter time, so that when we first bought this house, I felt somewhat uneasy about this feature and the huge size of the window. Then, my mother took me to the store to pick the fanciest and most exclusive curtains I wanted to compensate me for the perceived drawback of the room. I picked my current ones, beige with a yellow has pattern, something that will replace the matter-of-fact jalousie that become trite in our practical age. Since that time, the curtain twist and flutter in the air like a colourful butterfly, making a beautiful spectacle and reminding me of what is happening outdoors. They seem like living beings with a life of their own, complementing the functional style of the rest of my room.
The reason why I think my window is an opening to the world is that it faces a vast space of the green lawn bordering on a small river as the house stands on the edge of the town. Running across the lawn I can see sometimes a squirrel or a hedgehog, and the look of this large space reminds me of other places where I have not yet been but long to be. This window is a way to life, to broad expanses of nature, vibrating with the smell of the earth and the sound of flying bees. Propping myself on the windowsill, I will often sit and watch the view from my window after a long, exhausting day, and this seemingly senseless occupation will give me a chance to relax and absorb tiny details of the world around me.
Climbing back into the room from the window sill, I return into the practical atmosphere of my place combining a study and a bedroom. Here is the light beige desk, mostly cluttered with all kinds of things, textbooks, papers, CDs, pens, diskettes, pens, and all the stuff that takes so much time to put away in various drawers that I often like to have it ready at hand right on the top of my desk. This often raises my mom’s protests, and we have had quite a few discussions about my habit of piling things on the desk in one huge clutter so that it looks like an Egyptian pyramid. At one point, I finally convinced her that it is my room, I am the one who spends most time in it, and I happen to be quite happy with the pyramid on my desk, so for now on I keep leaving things as they are. From time to time, surely, I make a catastrophic plunge into this clutter, strewing things around and shoving this and that into the bookshelves and drawers.
The only thing that is always on the desk, like a lonely sentinel and a symbol of modern times, is my laptop. A little HP piece, it is simple and functional, not too fancy in style, but at the same time with an elegant and modern look. This is another window into the world, a more advanced and technological one, and the one that is connected to the rest of the globe through small, invisible ties in the form of an Internet connection. Each time I want to hook up with any point of the globe, retrieve any information I want to find, all I need to do is to sit into the small leather chair in front of my long desk, plug in my little greyish laptop into the network, and I can for hours surf the vast spaces of the web. Common as it has now become, to me this is each time a little miracle, being in the midst of everything right here in my room, surrounded by all kinds of childish knickknacks, little things that have been with me for ages.
I do not like to keep many old-time souvenirs or pieces to clutter my shelves and turn them into the same large heap my desk already is. At the same time, there are a couple of things that are always on the shelves. One is a little bronze statuette of a woman, twisting her body in some outlandish dance, a present from a friend that stayed on my shelf as a memory to add an artistic flavour to my surroundings. Another is a large mauve shell, reminding me of a trip to the sea a few years ago. I actually did find it myself, carefully guarded against breaking on the way back, and still view with pride, planted there on the shelf, right near the books that I use for my classes. These books are so many that I sometimes wonder whether I am really that knowledgeable at this point in my life, after doing so many classes and learning so many new things. I still keep there my high school books, alternating with college coursework, for reference on things that I may forget and need to look up. The books are standing there like a bastion of knowledge, a solid foundation from which to move on into my future professional life.
Right next to the serious bulk of the bookshelves is something for rest and relaxation – my stereo and CD player. I do not really like to play music loudly, but at times when we have parties, we will play it to capacity, shaking the fragile house walls, or so it seems to be. My CD is a small piece, black on color. I chose this color on purpose as it seemed more modern and interesting. It stands perched on a chair, with a large array of different CDs around it, some placed in stacks, and some just lying around. My friends and I love to exchange them so that in the end we even lose track of who is listening to what.
Finally, near the CD player is my bed. This is really a pile of mattresses that makes a cosy and warm space for rest. Covered with a light-blue, sky-colored cover, it occupies a large part of the room, inviting me to lie down and enjoy the quietness and leisure. Now that we have made a circle around the room, the bed is located right in front of the window, and if I lie with the back to the wall, I can see the beautiful view, the main attraction of my cosy, functional and well-planned room setting.
