Packing My Room

I spent the whole of yesterday packing my room.

And ended up throwing away more than half my room.

It was almost like watching my whole life flash before my eyes. I strongly recommend this trip down memory lane for all. But for it to be most effective you must not have packed your room for the past 5 years. And you must have the whole day free and sprawling before you.

Of all the things that I packed, these are some of the more memorable ones..

1) I threw away 4 big fat black garbage bags worth of notes. When I was going through the pile I was genuinely amazed. Did I really read these? Every single page? Did I really know what on earth I was reading? It's amazing. Education must be one of the greatest reasons why we're chopping down all the trees out there.

2) I came across these essays that I'd written when I was in University. There was this one about whether Singapore should join the International Criminal Court and ratify the treaty. The implications it would have on Singapore's international legal relations and diplomacy. It was a 15 paged essay and it was most clever! Got an A+ and a comment from lecturer Simon Tay (former NMP) saying 'top of the pile!' I think I used to be alot cleverer than I am today.

3) There was also this article that I'd written and it was published in the Australian Law Student's Association magazine. I did not even remember writing such a thing. But it's pretty amazing to think I was a contributor to an Australian Law Students' magazine. And an Australian friend, whom I do not remember knowing, actually took the trouble to post the magazine to me. I was telling my mom about it and she was saying I have to keep it to show my children next time. Haha.

4) I had bags and bags of cards and letters my friends had sent me through the years. Birthday cards, christmas cards, letters from friends who were studying overseas and memories of friends who have since drifted away just overwhelmed me. Wow this person actually depended on me emotionally for support and found it many years ago. Wow there's this friend who faithfully sent me birthday cards, christmas cards and even all the best for exams cards regularly for several years. Was I as faithful a friend? Doubt it. There was this other friend who regularly wrote letters to me and I suppose I wrote back. Even though we could just pick up the phone and call each other. But writing was so much more fun. Memories, memories, memories...

5) I had this huge box of accessories, comprising earrings, rings, more earrings more rings. All fashion faux pas. Things I would never wear today. Big chunky loops. This purple fairy ring which I once thought was very cute. Titanium dolphin earrings. This green rock like ring. Strange how our tastes change when we grow older. These days, I've one pair of diamond earrings, a pair of Japanese earrings and one diamond ring. And that's about all the accessories I wear.

6) Neoprints!! Geez. I have neoprints from like Secondary 3! Way back in 1995. Taken with my 2 best friends then. The Soong sisters we called ourselves. I think I was the one who loved money. A neoprint taken with my lawschool dipsing (people who read law overseas) friends. Neoprints taken in taiwan with my dear friend Ruth and this model/artiste named Engra. I don't even like photos. But I quite like these neoprints. I remember the taiwan neoprint machine had this airbrush function, where it can remove all your zits and make your skin fairer than it really is. I suppose now Singapore has these machines too.

7) Heaps and heaps of stuff toys. Geez. I cannot imagine anyone thinking that I'd like soft toys!! There were these forever friends bears (the rage then) that spelt my name: E-V-A-N only. Not my full name otherwise my friend would have gone quite broke. This sasha bear which I distinctly remember sleeping with for a period of time. But I cannot for the life of me remember who gave it to me. It's called long john sleepyhead bear. I kinda liked that bear. Of all the toys, I only kept one, this green tortoise with eyes rolling and a tuft of hair on the forehead. Most cute. I've kept that.

8) This ginormous patchwork of winnie the pooh which I painstakingly 'stitched'. I cannot remember what this type of patchwork is called. But I think it took me close to 48 hours to finish the piece of work. And it has been rotting in my cupboard for the past 5-6 years? I'm not even very sure why I did it or who it's for. One conclusion: I used to have alot of time!

9) Stacks and stacks of CDs! From Belinda Carlisle to Megahit to Abba to Bee Gees to Sandy Lam to Wang Jie to Michael Jackson to The Carpenters. Very mainstream taste I think. But where did I find the money as a student to buy all these CDs??

10) Books! Ok this is quite astounding. I cannot believe I've so many books in my cupboard. I believe I've more than a 100 story books. Fiction. And these are books that I bought. Probably from my trips to London where I'm a sucker for those Waterstone/Borders 3 books for the price of 2 deals. I remember lugging 20 books back each time. I'd spend all my pounds on books. The secret is: I've not read them all. Those I've not read they probably have very nice covers but not very good content. Haha.

So there you have it! The stuff previously in my room. Most of which I've since disposed or dispensed with. But that's my life for the past 5 years or so.

I think the one conclusion that I can draw is that I've had a very eventful, fruitful life. With little regrets but heaps of beautiful memories.

Last night I was feeling a little depressed because my life used to be so much more fun and fulfilling than today. Or so I think.

But perhaps a better way of looking at it is to forget what is behind and pressing on towards what is ahead. To create more beautiful memories which I can cling on to and relish the next time I pack my room. 5 years later that is.