30 Days Journal - Day 6

I am a terrible journal-er. As an exercise to become better, I decided to do a 30 day journal challenge for myself. Just like during my quarantine, I am using Isolation Journals for daily journal prompt.

Prompt: Picture the chairs that you sit in on a regular basis—at home, in public, comfortable or uncomfortable. Now pick one of those chairs, and write an ode to it, considering the physical and emotional sensations it evokes. Does the lumbar support ease strain on your lower back? Does the chair remind you of a beloved grandparent? Does it have a great view? Try to make visible the dynamics of sitting you’ve gotten so used to that they’re currently invisible.

I have many kind of chairs and is quite obsessed with finding great chairs. My priorities are aesthetics and comfort. When I moved into my current place, to find chairs that would match my beloved dinning room table I literally sat on every chair that I think would go nicely for at least 5 mins. It was a pain in the butt (literally and figuratively) to go furniture shopping with me. I am one of those people who really values sitting and if I can’t find chairs that my bottom would be satisfied for a few hours then that is a hard pass. Despite my favourite chairs in my apartment, I will talk about the blue plastic chair that came with my student residence during my Masters.

It is exactly as I described, blue, economically friendly and plastic. And best of all, whoever had it before me left a BIG melted area on the sitting place, probably because they put something hot on the plastic. When I first saw it, the first thing that went through my head was “I need to go to Ikea.” I was logical enough to just buy a seat cushion and not buy an entirely new chair. (Probably because I couldn’t get it back). That cushion has saved my bottom for the whole year I lived in the residence. I had learn to sit in very many different positions to get more comfortable. I had to throw away the cushion when I left Paris as I had no room in the 4 big luggages I planned to check in to my flight to Singapore. The reasons I want to talk about this chair is it reminded me of my roots. I grew up in modest means and as I begin to accumulate more disposable income from working I forgot how to live a simple life. The things I would buy during that time no longer serve me any purpose today. The blue plastic chair is my reminder to live a more humble and modest life.