Quarantine Journals - Day 12

So I am back in Canada but have to sustain self-quarantine in a hotel for 14 days. That being said, what a great day to start a daily journal. I signed up to Isolation Journals where everyday it sends out a journal prompt. I decided to give it a try and I am writing these not in any order that was sent to me but based on random.

Prompt: Think about a memory attached to a specific room in your childhood home. Write about the feelings and/or lessons you extracted from it that anchor you even in the present day.

So my favourite room in my childhood home is my parents’ room. Why? Because growing up, that is where the computer is located in. Yes, I grew up in the 90s, where internet was very much a landline concept. When I was in high school, where internet has developed into broadband, I often spend all time time on the internet and in front of the computer. Thinking back, that was probably the reason why my parents placed the computer in their room, so I can focus on my studies and limit my internet usage.

I often remember spending my summers in that room, coding from daylight to late at night. If my parents weren’t home, I often forget to eat and sit in front of the computer until the early morning. It is not at all healthy and I was probably in the worst shape of my life during those years. However, that was how I spent my days. I learned how to code, photoshop, open source, and all the internet goodness and badness during those days in my parents room. I still remember watching the Grudge for the first time in that room by myself … not a good idea. I remember listen to Yahoo! Music (that was the online stream music of the day) while either playing Neopets or self-teaching myself Illustrator and Photoshop. I will admit that my eyesight has also graduated from healthy to passed midway toward legally blind. That’s why I said both my mental and physical health was not at it’s best during those years of my life. It might sound sad more than anything, but it has gotten my more confident in computer science skills that does give me a competitive edge with my professional endeavours. Lastly, the self-taught methodology really help me throughout my life as it pushes my curiosity with a lot of programs and apps these days and made me more skilled in this department than my peers.

Also reflecting on this memory, I realize my quarantine experience should be at Expert level. 😅 But lastly, I want to finish this by saying I was a proud Otaku and will remain a part of my persona in the past and the present.