Corner Brick House Alice Collumbell
Introduction Did you ever imagine the things you would miss. Of course not, nobody prepares for the world to stand still, and nobody plans to miss putting on their shoes. But I do, I miss putting on my shoes, and walking out the door, and sleeping through the night. I miss all of these things; and its because I miss them, I have realised that they are something that we all take advantage of. For the months spent in a corner brick house, I have missed, I have clapped, I have panicked, and I have opened my eyes to the change we are facing.
One Corner Brick House at a time.
Before, when I looked at my front door, I saw a door. Just somewhere you walk through and lock at night. Now, when I look at my front door, I don’t just see the wood, or the lock, or the windows that lead outside. I see my friends, waiting to be let in for game night, and my roommate shouting at the bottom of the stairs that we were running late. I see myself putting on my shoes, without doing the laces and my friends laughing at my yellow rain coat. I see my mum dropping of my stuff when we first moved in, and I see a future where I will eventually have to leave.
I know that I will never see catching a train as a chore again. I know that I will never take eating in a restaurants as something less than a privilege. And I will walk in shoes that hurt and no longer complain. I will put my make-up on like a badge of honor and when I finally leave the house, I won’t allow myself to feel nothing less than amazing.
The change in routine affects our bodies in strange ways. Insomnia isn’t something that I have ever experienced until now. It’s the constant need for a sleep that doesn’t come. An exhaustion that lulls in the back of your mind. You know that you need to sleep, you understand the basic biology behind the bodies need for rest, but you just can’t quite get there. Comparatively this is a small problem but is something that I hadn’t have expected to become affected.
On Thursdays we clap. We create a chaos of noise to praise the people who sacrifice themselves to help us. On Thursdays we forget our own pain and we praise them in theirs. On Thursday, it isn’t about where you are, or who you are with. It isn’t about you. It’s about them.
It’s the small things that make an experience and it is the small things that change everything. Who you are with, what challenges you face, and how you cope. This book may correspond with many or none. We all deal with things differently and we are all affected in more ways than one. If you miss your friends, or family or your life, this book serves as proof than you aren't alone in that feeling.