bedroom – hannah ananas

Moving on up

And so it is that the bedroom feels much more like a bedroom now. Not that it didn’t before feel like a bedroom, but that it now feels like a bedroom that could be my bedroom… one in which I actually could want to live and sleep and dress and all. No, it certainly isn’t complete, of course, but the bulky furniture is swapped out for things that fit much better and leave loads more space around the bed; the dark shag rug is gone; and the floors and baseboards have all been wonderfully cleaned. It is an awesome move for today, and I am incredibly grateful to have gotten it all done. Now, I am absurdly wiped and must sleep. Asap. Goodnight.

Post-a-day 2022

Slightly a mess

I don’t do well with “storing things”. Winter sweaters or not-so-often-used items that usually are stored away, perhaps in a closet or the back of a shelf, usually end up staying in the back of that closet or shelf for me. Even when I need them, want them, the hassle of pulling them out and finding a new, daily use spot for them is usually too great for me to make the effort. Plus, I tend to forget about them. I meander around my clothes, bummed and uncomprehending why I cannot seem to find clothes that I love for the current weather. I notice that I need the heavy sweater as I am on my way out. at that point in time, I am ready to leave, and do not mentally or physically want to spend the time to pull out the big sweaters. So, I find the easiest-to-reach one that will get me by in the day, and head out the door. If I remember later – and that’s a big “if” – when I am back home and not busy, I might rearrange to put the heavy sweater box into an easily accessed spot. But it usually takes me a couple months of needing them consistently to do that.

I know, I know: it is rather ridiculous. But I’m not doing it intentionally, necessarily. It kind of just happens that way, and I am noticing it right now as I contemplate why I never seem to wear all my cool sweaters in Fall and Winter (aside from the fact that our temperatures change constantly from cold to hot to cool, even on a single day, here in Houston).

But I also notice it with other things. If my guitar is in a case, I will pull it out rarely. If it is sitting out on a stand, I will grab it and play it regularly, and often. Basically, I guess I just use what is out, easily accessed. If it is put away or hard to reach, I tend not to use it unless using it is a necessity.

Keeping that in mind, I think a sort of room organization overhaul is coming soon…

Especially considering that I will be getting back an awesome chair and ottoman that I had lent to my cousin year ago, when I moved to Japan for a while. I would like to have a functional space that includes the chair and ottoman, anyway, so some rearranging needs to happen for that already. And the sewing machine and its table… forgot about that again… haha

Post-a-day 2020

Room servicing…?

I started really taking on making my room functional lately. Just yesterday, I had a massive reorganization take place, in which everything went to what looked like – and was – total chaos for a while, during which time I sweat boatloads while shoving and shifting and shoving and shifting some more…, and then everything kind of found a place out of the way, leaving so much open space that I love hanging out in my room now. A lot of stuff is not in a real, semi-permanent place yet, but the big stuff has found its locations, I think.

My bed has only moved a few inches, but boy did that totally shift things in my sleep last night! I think I have resolved the issue of the air blowing directly over my mouth (and thereby practically choking me in my sleep with dryness), which was the main issue. So, I expect to sleep loads better tonight than last night. Perhaps, when I wake up, I’ll even be in the mood for making myself some tea.* 🙂 That’d be great. 🙂

*For those who do not know, I tend to make tea for myself when the world just feels right, and I feel at great ease in the space around me. So, it would be a sign that things are going very well with my room organization, and that I slept well and have woken up refreshed and ready for the day fully.

P.S. Okay, all that stuff about tea is true…, but I also will make tea when it is super cold out… but that still falls into the same reasoning, because life just kind of feels right when it is really cold outdoors. 🙂

Post-a-day 2020

Nasty creatures and decay

Well, they exploded all over again today – by the time I went up after lunch, there were about forty of the disgusting things up in my room, doing their odd version of mixing and mingling with one another.

I still didn’t cry, but I definitely felt the panic within me.

However, I acted as was necessary to move things forward with clearing them out of there, hanging several flypaper ribbons around the room, covering my clothes with blankets, and getting the **** out of there myself.

I prepared myself mentally for the possibility of not sleeping in there tonight, as they were kind of all over, and, though I wasn’t seeming to be freaking out at the time, I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle staying in the room without cleaning it… and I knew that they might not all be gone yet, too.

This was a fortunate mental preparation, as I am currently sitting on a pallet on the floor of the yoga room, getting ready to go to sleep, feeling oddly exposed out in the open, likely to be found by the first teacher tomorrow morning.

Nonetheless, I am rolling with it… this is what I can afford right now, and this is the neighborhood in which I want to be living right now, so this is where I live… sucks and all…

Anyway… sweet dreams and restful sleep unto us all tonight. 😉

Post-a-day 2019

Ick!! Aah!! Run away!!

An unspeakable creature, one of monster descent, that I utterly dislike and, even, ever so slightly fear, and which is utterly disgusting appeared in a lower room just now…
I captured it in a cleaned out cottage cheese tub with a yogurt tub lid, both of which I quickly found in the kitchen cabinets of the shared section of the kitchen.

I set it all outside the back door, and quickly stepped away, leaving it to the wolves (so to speak, anyway, since we don’t exactly have wolves living freely around here).

Now, I am diffusing peppermint oil in my room like no other, because we need to keep my room, especially, clean and free for me – only I, Hannah, live here right now… you get that, World?

Okay, good.

Anyway, hopefully the person in charge of managing this sort of thing will act first thing tomorrow morning, after seeing my message tonight… I want this handled, you know?

😛

Ugh… eew.

They just freak me out.

Uuhhhhh… ::shudders subtly yet somewhat violently::

Post-a-day 2019

I promise, we’re adults

I guess it is because people once had little kids living in this house, that my bedroom door has the lock on the outside, but that doesn’t change the fact that my friend and I got locked in my room this evening while moving my furniture and stuff out of my mom’s house. 😛

So much for feeling like grown-ups after our brief scheduling chit-chat in my room. 🙂

Post-a-day 2018

Creating my space

Today’s first step was to create this vision. It was rather easy to create, really. And I can see it all quite clearly. I am really struggling with what will come next, though, and I don’t know why I’m bothering resisting it. I think the feeling is that it will be difficult to do, and that I will mess it all up somehow. I guess I could just bracket the concerns, and go into it full-heartedly and consciously, with intention. Otherwise, I’ll just keep resisting and getting nothing useful, happy, or good accomplished at all. 😛

I wake in the morning happy, have some tea or hot chocolate, and do some yoga, stretching, and meditation. I dress easily in clothes selected last night. As I check my reflection in the mirror, I am delighted in what I see all around. On the days I want it, I sit down at a large mirror and put on some makeup. Otherwise, I just brush my hair.

I have a work space with a sewing machine, and clothes rack behind it with my current and most recent work hanging. There is an asel in the corner with beautiful and happy painting supplies. An art box is near it, filled with the art supplies I use, and a small arrangement of blank canvases. There is lots of white in the rooms, but a warmth from different home-y pieces around… mostly shades of blue and wood-brown. I have a place to set my laptop on a desk (after pulling it out from a shelf or drawer, where it was put away) to work using it, with a notebook next to it for thoughts and notes. My woven stool sits in the corner for sitting, reading, meditating, with my sheepskin partly atop it. There is a large rug or two on the floor, with a few feather throw pillows around casually. I make bracelets and malas on the floor, and always pick up everything when I finish a session. I have a creative collage happening on one wall – a dream board. I see it and admire it every day, and add to it occasionally, as I find new pieces I want to have be part of it. My work room is a haven of peace, giddy delight, and the creativity of God and Woman.

Sometimes, I sit with tea while music plays on the record player. I do my art – sewing, painting, or making my stone bead art (bracelets and malas, mostly) – and usually have music playing, often on the record player. It sits to the side, with a small set of albums by it.

My bedroom is calm and cozy and inviting. It is very clean-feeling. I spend my time here mostly only after I have recently showered. My essential oils and incense are set up in here. When I get ready for bed, I have a set place to put my dirty clothes, and it is small – just large enough for a load or two of washing, and always slightly empty. I select between two or three beloved shampoos and conditioners when I shower, and I wrap myself in towels that I love when I finish. It is easy to pull out my floss, toothbrush, toothpaste and return them to their easy places. The same with the rubbing alcohol and Q-tips. Sometimes I have another tea after my shower and before brushing my teeth. I brush my hair and meditate, before doing my bedtime reading, all in the light of fairy lights and maybe a standing lamp in the corner with similar light. I pull out my clothes for the next day after I check the expected weather. I fall asleep happily.

In all of this, I did not see my own clothing. It is all put away, except for the outfit I have selected for the day, which is laying out, waiting for me. I have a small section of “Memory Materials” in, I think, my room, for my future partner and/or child/ren to peruse with and without me.

I read, but I didn’t notice any books in the vision I created. (Just about four of them.) I also noticed no movies…

I had to talk with my brother about the book part. He thinks I’ve hit upon something profound about the way I want to live and the relationship I have with books. I have them all documented as “Read” and “Want to read” on GoodReads, anyway, so why do I need to keep a physical record? I’m not 100% convinced that I’d be happy down the road if I didn’t keep a handful of my sought-out books from my youth, but I do believe that I am fine letting even more go than I had ever anticipated… I mean, I already went through them briefly today, just to see how I felt when I looked at them from this new perspective, and pulled out about a sixth of the books… with ease and comfort. So, yeah… This will be an adventure. I am certain of it.

Post-a-day 2018

Tasty Ice and Salt

Do you know what a salt lamp is? Well, I just realized that I have one. And it’s in my room. And I’m quite excited about it all of a sudden. And, naturally, feel a silliness rising, too. You see, with salt lamps, just like with ice sculptures, I have an urge to lick them whenever I see them illuminated. Okay, the illuminated part isn’t exactly the same with ice sculptures, but the licking desire is.

I remember my brothers’ dad’s wedding over a decade ago (I think that was the occasion, anyway), and how there was an ice sculpture there at the reception. My cousin commented how she wanted to lick it – perhaps it was a swan, if I remember correctly? – when we were standing in front of it. ‘So, lick it,’ was approximately my response.

Sure enough, she licked it. We both did, actually, because her desire rubbed off onto me somehow. (It actually started a trend for me, for whenever parties have ice sculptures. I remember shocking a few classmates, when I casually passed by and licked a huge ice sculpture at a school event.) We were still kids, but we knew well enough that it was not a normal behavior, and so were stealthy about it. But we totally licked the ice sculpture.

Now, I have a similar situation with salt lamps. Though, since they aren’t something that will melt away in a matter of hours, and they’ll stick around for quite some time afterward, and have been around for a while, I don’t lick them. Usually, though, I just touch it gently with a finger or two, and then smoothly lick the salt off my fingers.

Of course, now you know about my sneaky – and somewhat weird, really – habits at parties and salt-lamp-containing spaces. Just don’t give me away, okay? If anything, give the ice sculpture thing a go yourself. It’s surprisingly rewarding, the whole affair. ;D

Post-a-day 2018

Nighttime Window

I open my window at night… late, late at night, when I am awakened to heat by the sounds of someone climbing the stairs to go to bed in the middle of the night, though I never know it at the time, and neither does the stair-climber. My room is hot, too hot for comfort, especially in the middle of winter, even though it is Houston. I crawl to the edge and climb out of my bed, down to my shoes, and stumble to the bathroom to relieve my suddenly compressed bladder. When I return, the heat hits me like a physical wall of warm fabric floating just inside my doorway. I stumble back to my bed, letting my shoes fall as I climb into it. I sit for a moment, considering… The lights are off, so it is all right.

I lean forward on my hands and knees, and I slide open the large window a few inches, before sitting back and relaxing, waiting for the cool air to stream firmly into my room. I always consider going to sleep with the window left open. I always close it after only a minute or few, so that I may go back to sleep, at ease. I want the cooling air, but nothing else is welcome. In Houston, many a thing might aim to make itself welcome through an open window at night. And I really don’t want to wake to a rat diving between a stack of boxes. I want to keep this room clean, please. And so, I shut the window every time, even though I’m never quite cooled off enough for good rest. Each night, I silently wish for a screen for the window, while disregarding the wish, because I wasn’t to see the world clearly through the window, whether closed or open, just free of screening… so it cannot be.

So, I open my window at night, out of practical reasons, but silently wish to experience the magic I feel is waiting just outside, waiting in that cool, crisp, winter wonder air.

Post-a-day 2017

Missing…

I miss my bed in Japan. My bedroom, especially, is one thing I miss most these days. It was a haven for me. No matter what kind of chaos or boredom lurked in my life, every night, my bedroom awaited me in calm, open, and empty space… in beauty. I shut my doors, and was safe in my retreat from everything else. Only love and blessings were ever allowed into my bedroom. I wasn’t even allowed to walk in it if I hadn’t recently showered. Clean clothes, my ukulele and ukulele music, my nighttime books, and water and tissues were just about all that ever went in there, aside from a clean me and my bed.

My bedroom now is slightly larger, but filled with boxes and stuff… a sentimentality to which I am not so sure I still want to cling. I think I am afraid that I will forget the memories, if I get rid of the objects. I do not, for the most part, want the objects, but the memories and the ways I felt. Without the objects, what will remind me?

Post-a-day 2017