Inside the Flame by Christina Waters

Author:Christina Waters
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Parallax Press
Published: 2016-11-21T16:00:00+00:00

Making a Home Away from Home

In Sartre’s early existentialist novel, Nausea, his protagonist Roquentin reminisces about a quirky tendency of his old sweetheart Annie, who never traveled without a trunk full of treasured pillows, pictures, and sentimental household objects. As soon as she moved into a new hotel room, Annie would open her trunk and place her personal items around the room, transforming it into a recognizable, reassuring environment, very much like home. Annie loved to travel. She wanted to leave home while bringing it with her. Adorning her new environment was her way of controlling the unfamiliar world.

On a trip to the East Coast, I found myself settling into two new temporary residences: the first, a hotel room in the bustle of Greenwich Village at the edge of Washington Square; the second, a retro seaside motel on the Jersey Shore. In each case I was presented with a small practical space containing a bed, desk, closet, and bathroom.

On my first evening in Greenwich Village, I unpacked, putting clothing into drawers in some semblance of order: underwear in the top drawer along with jewelry and other accessories; pharmaceuticals and makeup in the bathroom; shoes at the bottom of the closet. I emptied out the suitcases and put them away, out of sight. The sight of suitcases can make a room feel transient and temporary. The minute the suitcases disappeared, the room felt less like a camp and more like a residence. Things placed inside drawers created an instant sense of order and calm—and this is crucial, as all travelers know, when dealing with a small space.

Once my shampoo and toothbrush occupy the sink counter in the bathroom, I feel I have begun the invisible process of transforming a generic space into something that has a familiar look and feel. My own blue toothbrush, my favorite brand of toothpaste, these are the everyday attendants of my life. Almost never do I pay attention to these items except when they’re missing. In hotel rooms, I find it soothing and necessary to bring the accessories of my daily life along with me. As the days went by, I accumulated a few shopping bags from local stores, each of which added their own bit of color and brand-name character. My favorite notebook by the side of the bed awaited my attention, next to my earrings, watch, and glass of sparkling water. It was beginning to feel right.

The following week, checking into a motel on the Jersey Shore with a large living room and kitchen facilities, I had even more opportunities to reshape essential basic furniture—bed, desk, couch, sink—into a suite of accomplices for my needs and intended activities. A beach chair was stashed in the spacious open closet. Books and notebooks stacked themselves up by the TV remote control. Wineglasses purchased at a local beach mercantile waited on the kitchen counter for the red wine I had bought at a nearby grocery. I was becoming a local.

Within a few days, I had spread out

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