SPACE

Space has been in the news recently, especially since the tone-deaf richest man in the world thanked us all for funding his 4-minute joy ride.  Let’s be clear this was no better than a very expensive carnival ride into just enough atmosphere or lack thereof to see the curvature of the earth and an excuse to spray champaign over his paid audience.  I have been thinking about space in a less spectacular but perhaps more relevant fashion.  When I lived in NYC working in the financial service industry, space seemed particularly important to everyone around me.  It wasn’t near space or deep space it was much closer to home. Specifically, the size of your dwelling.  The discussion was not about propinquity but about the size of the capsule surrounding you.  The first question was--how big? Not where it was or what the neighbors were like but how many square feet.  I am thinking of buying a house in the Hamptons.  First question--how big is the house? Now I am not picking on NYC, I experienced the same proclivity to size in California. The focus on space was more specifically the focus on the space you and your small body occupy.  I fell into this morass of comparative relevance. I signed on to the “space race”.  I bought and occupied a lot of space when I purchased a large ranch and subsequently built a large home.  There were many wonderful moments during that occupation but the moments had little to do with the size of the space those moments occurred.  Late last year I was able to relieve myself of all of this space.  Now I live in what would be considered small space.  On a comparative basis it is not very impressive but….

I was walking to dinner the other night.  It was actually the night after Mr. Tone-Deaf’s wild ride.  What came to mind was not how little space I occupied or owned but how I felt at that moment.  I was more aware of the feeling of freedom, the cool breeze; the independence of not being in an enclosed space.   I was feeling my surroundings, cognizant of my steps, my breathing, and the world around me.  I was focused on the immediate experience of the space that I occupied.  What makes the experience unique is how I feel and who I am with.  The size of the room is of little importance if I am truly engaged.  We occupy a very small space, the intimacy of it depends solely on how we engage with each other not the grandeur of the building.   Being in a castle or a one-room cabin, our space is of no importance to the actual interaction between us.  Having a large space might be impressive but it is only impressive to people who value confinement.  It has nothing to do with the value of our intersection. What I have learned in the last year is the value of making use of the space around me no matter the size.

“Now it’s time to leave the capsule if you dare

This is Major Tom to Ground Control

Ground Control to Major Tom

Can you hear me, Major Tom?”

---David Bowie