Bedside Table Theory

My bedside table is the one piece of furniture in my home that I interact with everyday. It is the first thing I see when I wake up, the last thing I see before I go to bed. It occurred to me that objects laying on top of it (mostly books) were a good indication of my personality.

Wanting to test the theory, a quick glance at my husband’s bedside table expanded the research group and confirmed the theory. On his bedside table: guitar pick, travel book, retro light, vintage comic book, a book detailing mystical and mysterious instances in our region, and some incomplete paperwork. To me, this sums up the man I love very concisely: a procrastinating musician with a penchant for the past, interests in the arcane, a deep-seated wanderlust.

Most notably, the books by my bedside are on loan from loved ones, an H.P Lovecraft from my best friend, an educational volume on child development from my friend who is studying to become a speech pathologist, a mystery novel from my dad. In addition to those, the table next to my bed also houses a vegetarian cookbook, two volumes of poetry, a parenting magazine, a postmodernist novel, and a collection of essays by my favorite author, David Foster Wallace. Aside from the pile of literature, a lamp whose base is a stack of elephants (my favorite animal), an ever changing vase of flowers, and my own personal notebook live beside my bed.

To me, those paint a picture of a mother who loves to cook, to write, who enjoys exploring the ideas and joys of her loved ones. A person who enjoys a variety of different genres, a person who loves animals and nature.

So, Bedside Table Theory, plausible or just coincidental in these two cases? What do you keep by your bedside?