Definition 1a of the Oxford English Dictionary holds “Precious” as something “Of great moral, spiritual, or other non-material value; beloved, held in high esteem.” The emphasis on non-material is obviously my own, though my personal choice of precious surface reflects only the second clause of definition 1a. It was easy to ignore definition 2, “Of great monetary value; expensive, costly,” which counters the first with heavy material consequence.

Those who know me well know I treasure trash. My idea of cleaning my room is taping what I find on the floor to my walls. I have accumulated a box solely containing scraps (mostly of paper) that have graced the walls in one of my many bedrooms (seven in the last two years?). With each move, I begin decorating with pieces from the box, and add slowly as I begin to live in the room – my walls and this box became the obvious first places to seek a precious surface on which to compose.

To keep this short, I will let a wall talk. This is a small section from my first apartment:

Things attached to the wall include (sweeping from left to right): library announcements, a dog biscuit, list of movies to see, newspaper clippings, museum brochures, love notes, postcards, bookmarks, a sponge in a ziplock bag, and more. Each arrives on my wall with its own story, but as the room becomes lived in, the items often become more precious to me.

Choosing one item to compose on was difficult — deciding what is worth composing on it is even more so.