An Ode To Undecorated Walls

Why do some of us decorate our walls, and why do others not?

BY YVE SPENGLER

Jonny, who was it that said, “A white wall may seem empty, but it’s ready to be filled, and in its readiness needs nothing. It stands complete.” Was it you? – Faye Webster

Unfamiliar college dorm, it’s the first space that’s ever fully been yours. Signs of previous owners appearing in their scuffled walls. Someday posters cover them, When will this ever feel like home? Will it ever feel like home?

Polaroids hanging on lights with images of people we love, soft fairy lights twinkling, and handmade posters filling walls of our first college dorms to make our spaces represent something – a vibe, or a feeling of “home” telling others or ourselves who we are. Decorating makes us feel comfortable and confident in a place we spend most of our time.

But what about those of us who are continually moving? Those living in transitory spaces, or those who don’t decorate their rooms? Their walls stand without using material objects, because they accept their abode is temporary, the space evoking enough on its own.

Each space is a new moment for them.

We too can choose to not decorate our rooms, just like we chose to not hold onto people. Letting them go does not always sit easy within us. Our choices cause us to drown under our sinking guilt, like Ophelia’s weighed down skirts, constantly hesitating, incessantly wondering if we made a mistake. Yet, when we move from space to space, from person to person, we can yield beautiful results. We learn to embrace these people for temporary places they had, rather than getting caught up in sorrowful waves of losing them. Acknowledging their passing gives us permission to appreciate new white walls of our life, the present moment. Leaving room to live in more of these ready moments widens our capacities to make additional connections to cherish. Eventually we reach shore, like a bottle carried in coursing waves of the ocean. Our space starts to feel stable, our vertigo subsides. Reaching that feeling of home, we express ourselves in decorations displayed. We begin new, permanent bonds. And finally, we find harbor.