Bedroom walls = Life declarations

Hi, it’s Kate. We hope you’ve been enjoying an extra dose of the newsletter. As we get closer to September, I’m excited for that “first” Vermont fall breeze to hit. It’s a slight dip in the morning that tells me “season’s changing.” You’re reading The Bright Side, weekly a dose of calm and clarity in a noisy world.

Your bedroom walls were the canvas.

Back then, your bedroom walls were the canvas.

A Jimi Hendrix poster thumbtacked above the bed. A magazine clipping of an athlete taped to the door. Movie stubs tucked into the mirror’s edge, surrounded by Polaroids of your best friends.

That was identity: loud and unfiltered. There was no algorithm or audience except a select few who got invited (definitely not Mom and Dad.)

Just you choosing what deserved to be in your “space.” 

And those walls said everything: who you admired, what you believed in, who you wanted to become.

As your identity shifted, the walls shifted too. Some posters came down, others went up. Eventually, you left home, maybe went to college…and then came that strange moment: walking back into your room, knowing it was yours, but feeling like a guest. 

Eventually, once you moved out, they slowly disappeared. Until they were gone for good.

Limited real estate raised the stakes

I sometimes wonder what today’s version is. Maybe it’s our phone’s home screen. The stickers (or lack thereof) on our laptop. Or the bookshelf behind us on Zoom. 

Either way, do we show it off like we once did? Do we blur our backgrounds or leave them visible, hoping someone notices that one title we love? Do we curate Instagram grids the way we once curated our walls?

Limited space forced clarity. A bedroom wall could only hold so much, so you chose carefully. You saw that picture in a magazine, grabbed scissors and cut with intention. Knowing you had one chance to make it your own.

Today, the infinite sprawl of digital feeds make our choices less important. But the same truth still applies: the spaces we shape, shape us back.

So, what story is your space telling now?

What story is your space telling?

One of the unexpected benefits of the work-from-home revolution?

We all let our guard down. We unblurred backgrounds. We collectively laughed when a kid burst through the door mid-Zoom or when a dog barked through the board meeting. For a moment, our spaces told more truth about us.

And maybe that’s the point.

Until next time,

P.S. We all had that one poster, that one item that defined an era.

For me back in college? A poster of U2’s War…I’d love to hear yours 😉