In college, my bedroom was a collage of personal identity. The walls were designed to immediately scream out to visitors, "THIS IS ME!" Posters of my favorite bands, clippings from magazines, ticket stubs from concerts and games — every inch chronicled my interests, influences, and obsessions. It wasn't about aesthetic; it was about passion.
During my sophomore year, the centerpiece of this self-expression was our fridge. My roommates and I painted it black and covered it with the logos of our favorite bands. It was bold and personal, like everything else in our room.
Not only is my decorating taste a bit more refined than it was during my college days, but social media — rather than beat up posters and pages ripped out of music journals — has become our main platform for self expression. There's no need for magazine clippings when pop culture in the form of ads, articles, videos, and pictures is at our fingertips online at all times. There are no ticket stubs when concerts are just QR codes. But lately, I've been approaching my social media feed with that same obsessiveness. For the first time in a long time, I'm curating something again, carefully shaping a space that says, "this is me." And I love it.