spaces

I did a post last year about aesthetics, and I find myself thinking on that topic some more. This time, I'm thinking about physical spaces more than I am about beauty.

 I'm intrigued by the influence our physical environment has on us.  I wonder how much we can be swayed because we believe the environment is a really important influence.(Does it matter as much if we have no idea its supposed to matter?!?)  I find myself wondering how much the media message (in magazines, on sitcom sets, in the weekend lifestyle pullout section of the paper, on TLC programs, ....)  that tells us what a desirable space is supposed to look like has influenced us to feel more or less at peace depending how well we've achieved the right look.....

Even though I am aware that there is some level of influence between state of mind and the external environment, I continue to be resistant to over-emphasizing the importance of decor/space/aesthetics.  I wonder if our culture has been too prone to poorly ordered priorities, and if our 'space' may be one of those things that gets more attention than it should.

I found this old issue of a Manitoba periodical called the Birth Vine in my office, and there in the middle of it were a few pages penned by one of my good friends, a midwife who spent some time working at a birthing clinic in the Philippines a few years ago.  She wrote a lot about the state of healthcare in developing regions where poverty is widespread.  But she also wrote about her family's adjustment to living in very cramped quarters that were very different from the North American home they had come from.   Many of her patients pooped into a bag because they didn't have a toilet.  She gained perspective when she compared realities around her to the desire to have her place set up 'just so', or to have enough rubbermaid containers to feel more organized.  What would some of her clients - who might not even have electricity  - have to say about the fact that we have huge superstore-warehouses devoted to light fixtures,  so that homeowners can find just the perfect accent piece for a certain wall.  (I know this ... I was in one today!) Or how would they respond when we get all bent out of shape because lighting isn't 'just right' and a desired 'ambience' hasn't been achieved?  What does ambience look like in a one room hut, anyway?

The conclusions I'm drawing have to do with rightly ordering things, which I think is what I ended up saying in my other post on this topic last year.

Sure, space and environment are worth thinking about.  But maybe we should think about them in the context of how they support priorities like relationship.  Maybe we should be wary of a preoccupation with 'spaces' that might displace other things that should be more central.  And maybe we should draw lines for ourselves so we can say 'stop' before we've crossed over and given 'spaces' more weight than we should.  And maybe we should think about how the rest of the world lives.