I've started a short list in my leather bound paper journal (I really do love the feel of paper and of taking pen or pencil to it) of "reentry observations." That is, things I notice that I usually don't -- probably because I've been away or out of the culture for a while. After my 5 weeks out of the country, I have been noticing things. And, I think that occasionally I'll ramble about some of those things in this blog.
One of the first things on my list I described as DISTANCE and I noted that it is one of the curses of affluence. In a community or culture that is not as affluent, people live in relatively close proximity to all the other people they know and love (as well as the ones they know and don't like so much really).
People share beds, rooms, houses, vehicles (bikes, tuk tuks, busses), desks. And while this means that they have more conflict, I think they might laugh more too. And rarely cry alone.
Would that drive me crazy to live that way? Yes, some of the time. But I also think I'd like it.
I mean, the likelihood that one of my close friends will just happen by and join me some evening when I'm sitting out in the yard looking at my lights and garden like I was last night when I took the photo above is almost ZERO. But I'd love it. Instead, to bridge the distance a bit, I blog about it and take pictures of it to share.
People also live closer to their sources of stuff (and have a smaller selection of stuff from which to choose). Do I really need 47 different kinds of shampoo to be happy?
Distance. Space between. One of the things I'm more aware of now that I'm back.
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