This place has a safe atmosphere. When you walk in, the bittersweet smell of incense hits your nose. You see the burst of colors and busyness of the walls. Towards the corner of the room, there’s a bed- snug between two large windows that are cloaked with colorful tapestries- and it’s covered in various comfortably textured blankets and pillows. The walls barely even show the paint anymore; each picture, random trinket, sticker, and the owner's own artwork is covering some portion of the room. Each of these little aspects has meaning to the owner of the room, though. 

There are vines covering the ceiling like a make-shift jungle. A calming orange glow slightly lights up the room from the salt lamp sitting in the corner. Around it, there are crystals of all different shapes and sizes, plus a glass incense holder with a bit of day-old ash sitting on the surface. Oddly enough, despite all of the chaos, this place is organized. It’s busy, but still tidy. Everything has a specific place that it goes, there’s just a large amount of everything. The atmosphere feels very safe and peaceful because of all the calming scents, cozy blankets, pleasant lighting, and the colorfulness of the room itself. This room is special to the owner because they put it all together themself over the years. It’s where they grew up, found themself, had friends over, created memories. This place being described is my room. 

My mom has said various things about my room in the past. “There’s too much going on,” she mutters. “Why don’t you put your curtains back up?” she says to me with some passive aggression. I choose to ignore these comments, and she’s chosen to give up making them. I like the uniqueness of my room, the individuality, the invigorating feeling it gives off.

Sometimes I have a hard time expressing myself to people, so I do this in the form of the way I decorate. The boards, various skate brand magazines on the walls, and shoe types showcase my skateboarding interest. The shelves of various books showcase my interest in reading. The carefully organized succulents showcase my interest in plants and nature. The walls with random paintings and drawings showcase my interest in artwork. With just one look at my room, you’d probably come to the conclusion that I am artistic or creative, but also into various types of hobbies as well.  

My room is important to me because it represents me, is my safe place, shows what I’m interested in, a place where I’ve had the best memories, etc. while also keeping aspects of me that I don’t want people to see- safe. I’m grateful to have such a pleasant place where I can really show my inner, hidden self.