By Our Bedsides, Vol. 13: Mishka Hoosen
By Our Bedsides is The Attic on Eighth’s evening series, sharing the methods and products we use to unwind. In a time when the world feels unstable, The Attic on Eighth Perfume Columnist Mishka Hoosen gives us a glimpse at his nightstand as a place of healing and comfort.
All photos courtesy of Mishka Hoosen.
The past few months have, truthfully, been among the strangest and worst of my life. I had a really bad mental health episode some time ago that meant a stay in the hospital, which put a spanner in the works of a lot of my plans and ambitions. Still, I’ve been reexamining my relationship with work, and by extension, rest, and have been finding solace in making my bedside a place that supports my mental health. Here in South Africa, it’s spring, and that’s meant that I’ve spent less time in my bedroom, which makes retiring to it at the end of a busy day more of a treat.
With all that in mind, I’ve found that having plants nearby has done wonders for the days when my disability means I’m stuck in bed. I fill an old Buly bottle with cut seasonal flowers, often bought from the flower market nearby, and have the most gorgeous little Natal Ivy plant that my partner bought me for my birthday. Her name’s Norah, and she has made my bedside feel more like a safe haven than possibly anything else. Having green and growing things to tend and care for has made my bedroom feel less like a place of isolation, especially in the face of illness, and more like a bower.
I’ve also been exploring more of my spirituality, and bringing it to my bedside space. As a South African Coloured (Creole) person, I practice a Creolized spirituality that draws on Islam and indigenous African and Celtic traditions that honor my heritage. I’ve found that having a jar or two of some buchu and Cape Snowbush to burn has made my bedroom a space that feels safe in all ways, including the sensory and spiritual.
Beside these, I also keep a candle in a carved wood and glass holder bought from a local artisan, along with a tasbih I bought years ago during pilgrimage in Medinah. I keep an old herbal medicine reference book that belonged to my grandfather on the shelf beside my plants and flowers, along with a kitaab or book of prayers and surahs from the Qur’an. These all help make my bedroom a space for reconnection with the things I find the most meaning in, and have made it a place that feels calm and restorative.
Then, one plus side of taking time off due to my health has been that I have more time for reading. My bedside table is quite literally a bookshelf, with a range of books I’m reading or referencing in my work available for ready perusal. I also keep a range of notebooks and sketchbooks available for when I want to draw, which has been something I’ve gotten into much more as I’ve recovered. I keep a range of inks in pretty bottles around for exactly that purpose, and their presence on my shelf is often enough to inspire me to use them.
Finally, because I am autistic, I often use this space as a place to calm down when I’m overwhelmed. I’ve found that having items that have special memories attached to them have done wonders for reconnecting me to the present time and reminding me of safety and happiness when a meltdown is triggered. I keep a little photograph of my partner and I in Paris for just this reason, as well as a range of perfume bottles containing scents that remind me of travel, places, and times that I’d like to keep forever. All of these help ground me at the end of the day, and remind me of the things that have always brought me happiness and comfort.
In the end, I’ve found that reimagining how I use this space has meant that a place that often signified isolation — as someone who is often ill — has turned into a space that offers healing, restorative comfort, and rest. And what else is a well-curated bedside table for?
Mishka Hoosen is a writer, creative director, and neophyte perfumer living and working in Cape Town, South Africa. His first novel, Call it a difficult night, was published by Deep South Books in 2015, and he is currently working on a book about perfume and the anthropocene thanks to a residency from IFAS. Mishka is The Attic on Eighth’s Perfume Columnist.
By Our Bedsides is The Attic on Eighth’s evening series, sharing the methods and products we use to unwind. In a time when the world feels unstable, Perfume Columnist Mishka Hoosen gives us a glimpse at his nightstand as a place of healing and comfort.