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Dear guest,
Welcome. Thank you for coming. This is a room that I drew for you and me to space out a bit on the web.
For what reason are you usually on the web? I'm mostly there to work, read and write. I think I spend most of my time in front of my computer screen.
And how have you been feeling about websites today? I don't think I'm bothered when using them. Most of them are designed in a way to efficiently support users' behaviours. Grid-based layouts and clean backgrounds keep indicating to me:“You must click here to see the info you want.”They are kind, helping me to recognize their contents and react as quickly as possible. I'm not any kind of design expert but this is exactly a point that I find pitiful in the web culture though. It seems that 'good' quality of websites is proved only when they serve productive user's performance. They have a firm premise that users must have something particular to do or achieve. Thus satisfying their purpose-driven desires is almost equal with drawing good user experience. Well, it's true that users mostly have something in mind to search with an aim. But I must confess that sometimes I want to put down the idea that I must do something specific and act quickly for that.
I'm supposed to be awake all the time, but sometimes I stare at my monitor, without doing anything. A few tabs of useful articles are already opened but I'm not really looking at them. I tend to turn on my laptop as if it's a daily ritual, but I often space out with it. I need those moments for sure, but I often denied them, feeling as if I'm wasting time.
With an idea that I should be productive, letting time just flow on the web seemed extravagant to me. But now I finally have to claim that it's fair to space out on the web too. It’s a bit off-topic but a while ago I had a conversation with someone about reading books. I told him I feel bad that I don’t end up fully reading a book I had bought. But then he said that holding a book and even fidgeting with it is a part of reading.
He is quite right, indeed. Not doing anything doesn't necessarily mean not doing anything. It can be a part of processes. It's totally okay to stare at the screen for a moment. Thus I've made this room to space out. It's a celebration of my (self) emancipation from the fantasy of productivity on the web browser. And hereby I share it with you, in case you want to do the same too.
I hope this simple room to be a space for you to take a momentary rest or zone out. You don’t get to do anything special or efficient here. There are some elements to click in the room, but you won't achieve something special or particular. It might even be a pointless experience but it'd be also pointful at the same time, in that your click doesn't bring achievements. I hope you could let your stress a bit down here.
We often value achievements but not subtle moments and processes in them. Now I want to say that we should justify and cherish every small moment and step. Bye, see you later.
1st May 2022
Nami