A Perspective on Space...

I had lunch yesterday with a good friend of mine who offered an interesting perspective on how we as Americans perceive our personal space. While I realize that it sounds like we had a terribly boring lunch conversation it was actually really nice and the space topic came out of me explaining Katie and I's current living situation.
We are now entrenched in Week 2 of "Living with the Parents." We lived with the Barths for a week and are now living in my parents' basement. We speak jokingly about it, because it does seem funny to move home with a wife, child and wiener dog, but it truly is a blessing that we have two sets of parents willing to share their space (and really their daily lives) with us.
It's unfortunate, though that this is so rare and invasive in our culture. My friend is from San Diego and she was recalling countless childhood friends and classmates, mostly Latino, that lived in small homes filled to capacity with extended family. "Grandparents, Aunties, Uncles, kids all over the place. That's just the way it was." She wondered aloud why Americans are so darn protective of space. She remembered a time that she and her husband hosted a college friend for two months and how the friend's presence became more and more of a nuisance and frustration for her husband simply because the houseguest was taking up "his space."
So why are we so protective and so selfish when it comes to the areas around us? That question has rung in my ears since we began packing up our house in Broad Ripple. We left a fun but small old home, ultimately in search of more... what else? Space. In the meantime though we will be living in a smaller spot that doesn't belong to us. It begs the question, do we really NEED all of the things we accumulate? Do we really NEED all of that space.
Do me a favor. Look around. Where are you right now? At home? In your office? Your cube? At a public library? Regardless of your whereabouts, chances are pretty good you feel pretty possessive about your location. It's your space. I don't blame you. I feel the same way. But what happened? When did we become so possessive? If we learned to share in kindergarten somewhere along the way we were taught that this lesson didn't apply to our space. I wish I could offer a pearl of wisdom here, but I'm afraid I can't. I for one need to just be a little more open and more accomodating with my all-important space.

-Adam