What kind of fence or boundary have we for those private thoughts, that space of our own? Where do our spaces begin, end and intersect?
A couple of weeks ago, I was shoveling after a snowstorm. It was very cold and this little girl, maybe seven to nine years old was coming down the street. When I say “coming down the street” – she wasn’t walking rather she was crawling up and down the big snow piles on the edges of the street on the way to see her friend. She spent a lot of time on her knees absorbed in the snow. Turned out, she didn’t know where her friend lived and so stopped to ask a stranger – me. And we were strangers – neither of us had seen the other before. Bundled up as I was I could have been anyone – I was wearing a face mask with only my eyes showing – possibly even sun glasses.
Here she was in her private space – a space of play – in a public space. But many people would be concerned to see such a young girl by herself, absorbed in the snow, talking to a stranger and not knowing exactly where she was going.
I’ve been told the world is safer today, but it can be difficult to believe this if you follow the news and you have little ones that are your responsibility (which I don’t). And, playing in snow banks and not paying attention can pose issues for kids with snowplows and cars.
There was something beautiful though about watching her explore and play in the world all on her own. If we don’t understand or haven’t experienced both private and public spaces, I wonder if we might eventually lose our private space altogether and not even be aware it is missing.
So, are we in danger of losing our private space? Where are the boundaries? What fences or walls will we take down? Put up? Crawl over? Ignore? What stories and conversations will we allow ourselves to have?
Have a playful day and enjoy the stories,
Mary
