Inventory of mindfulness.
a photographic essay of a cultural exploration of a classmate’s house
YQ (as we will call her for privacy), is a graduate student studying Information Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is originally from Chengdu, China and moved to Austin, TX for graduate school. She currently lives in a neighborhood in north-west Austin with one roommate. In this project, I explored her home to create a cultural inventory of her home/life.
In our conversation, we discussed whether her lifestyle is greatly influenced by the culture in Chengdu. Although YQ doesn’t believe there is a causation, there definitely seemed to be a correlation at the least. YQ explained to me that Chengdu’s culture is very relaxed and slow paced, and has a saying that says “the young leave, and the old stay, in Chengdu”. Through more revealing of the culture and lifestyle hidden in the nooks of the house, I discovered a few themes that seemed to correlate: an attitude of MINDFULNESS, a value of HOMEYNESS, and a preference for PRIVACY.
Findings
- Our living environment is extremely responsive to our lifestyle, spacial and social values, and attitudes. In YQ’s home, each and every choice of aesthetics, usage, placement, etc, correlated with her lifestyle and showed a great deal about who she is as a person.
- The key to self-care is consistency. YQ’s activities of self-care, however small, seemed to have a significance in her life even to the point that removal of that object/activity would seem detrimental to the living space. This is most evident in the self-care activities that were done most consistently.
Personal Discoveries
- Instead of creating rituals out of daily mundane tasks, intentionally creating self-care rituals may be beneficial. Simply adding an activity like watering plants to each day can add to the mindfulness of all other tasks that are necessary anyway.
what is MINDFULNESS?
noun. “the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.”
an attitude of Travel…
YQ is at heart, a traveler. She has explored Cambodia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines, USA, and dreams of going to Spain sometime in the near future. Although she enjoys traveling with others, she explained that traveling alone makes her more “mindful of the place” she is exploring. She told of a time when she was in Indonesia scuba diving (which is one of her favorite hobbies), and met other scuba divers. Through this story she explained that during her travels she is able to “more mindfully learn about the person” she is meeting, compared to when at school.
Although most of the magnets on her fridge are from her roommate, there is one in particular that is significant to her. When travelling, YQ likes to visit museums. In a museum, YQ feels she is “surrounded by stories, with so much to explore!”. In L.A., at the Getty Museum, she bought this magnet as well as a mixed colored pencil. YQ also mentioned how museums are opportunities to learn the history of the place.
The mindset and appreciation she has for people, stories, and history while travelling was an insight into her mindful lifestyle.
a daily Diary…
In elementary school, YQ and her peers were assigned daily diary entries. However, when she got to middle school she decided to continue this on her own efforts. She has now been writing in diaries consistently for 16 years, filling 5~6 books with thoughts, lessons, planning, days, boys, etc. Before going to bed, YQ will look back on her day and make two lists: 3 good things that happened or that she did, 3 things she could improve.
In her entries are drawings, paragraphs, scheduling, and more. For this reason, she now prefers blank pages instead of ruled or dotted.
Her entries were both in Mandarin and English, and very well mixed at that. She explained that because she has more emotional connection to her native language her more emotionally charged entries tend to be in Mandarin.
Among other benefits, this ritual has helped her to be more mindful of how she is spending her time, as well as acting as another creative outlet.
what is HOMEYNESS?
adj. “like or suggestive of home; familiar; warmly comfortable”
a curated atmosphere…
In YQ’s room, where she spends most of her time, there were a few key examples of mindful rituals and atmosphere enhancements: the humidifier, the windowsill plants, the flowers, and pink.
The Humidifier…
There are two main settings that YQ uses on the humidifier: the lemon scent with blue light, and the lavender scent with purple light. The humidifier acts as a “ceremony to start an activity”. Before studying, the lemon scent + blue light is used to inspire focus. When her boyfriend is over or before going to sleep, the lavender scent with the purple light is used for relaxation.
The Windowsill Plants…
The presence of the plants on the windowsill make YQ feel “more close to nature” and “more connected to the outside world”. The routine watering also makes her feel more organized.
The Flowers…
On one bad day, stopping by HEB, YQ decided to purchase these flowers. As a small act of self-care, the flowers made her feel better on that day, and are now placed in a recycled glass bottle in the center of the room. The flowers add warmth and flamboyance to the room.
Pink…
When YQ was living in west campus, she had a very brown-colored room design. Inspired by her friend’s room, she began buying light colored furniture combined with pink to enhance her room. Her current room has a very well collected color scheme, with browns accenting the whites and pinks.
he humidifier ritual, the presence of the plants, the beautiful flowers, and the unified color scheme all contribute to making an at-home, warm feel for YQ’s room.
an intentional Layout…
When I asked why the bed was placed where it is, YQ explained to me a very interesting cultural importance. In Chinese culture, it is uncommon and shameful to have the first view through the doorway be the bed. This is why when the door to YQ’s room is opened, the first view is the small desk on the floor and the study desk.
Another interesting pattern was that YQ has always had this same layout all of her life. The positioning of the doorway, window, desk, and bed has followed her from China all the way to west campus and now to this apartment. This is definitely a major contribution to how she feels at home in this space. The familiar layout may have even been subconscious, leaving no other choice.
what is PRIVACY?
noun. the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people.
a healthy division…
YQ’s value of privacy is displayed in her relationship with her roommate and where she spends her time and effort.
the living room
YQ usually never studies in the living room, unless she has big sketches she needs the table for. The only other occasion she uses this room is when she has guests over to study with her. The reason for this, as she explained, is that she prefers to have natural light in the room, but because the corridor is directly outside the living room window, she feels uncomfortable opening it.
The living room has clearly not been invested in as much as YQ’s personal room. The mattress against the wall is a temporary mattress that YQ forgot to sell. The boxes in the back are her roommate’s. The vacuum cleaner is left out for convenience. Although not as aesthetic, the living room seems to serve its purpose fully: not to contribute to mindfulness or homeyness, but as a functional working space.
the kitchen
YQ only sees her roommate when they happen to be cooking together because they both spend most of their time in their own rooms. However, they have a healthy relationship and respect each others privacy. This can be seen visually by the way they organize their possessions.
In the refrigerator each roommate claimed a shelf alternating from top to bottom, splitting the bottom shelf vertically. Each roommate also has a door-shelf assigned to herself.
Splitting down the middle, the two right side burners are YQ’s while the two left side burners are her roommates.
While YQ uses the dishwasher, her roommate always uses hand-washing and the drying rack.
In this way, the individualization of items and spaces in the living room and kitchen shows the preference of privacy that both YQ and her roommate have.
Conclusion
Our living environment is extremely responsive to our lifestyle, spacial and social values, and attitudes. In YQ’s home, each and every choice of aesthetics, usage, placement, etc, correlated with her lifestyle and showed a great deal about who she is as a person. With this, as well as the activities that YQ does for self-care, the way I use my own apartment may need to be reevaluated.
