Space I

“We must learn our limits. We are all something, but none of us are everything.”
-Blaise Pascal


I drive a car. Like most Home sapiens in the new millennium, one has to drive a car to get somewhere. This getting somewhere is seldom achieved by energy of the person, but gas. In our driving, we have lanes. In fact, we even have certain procedures in changing lanes that all Home sapiens abide by. Why? So chaos does not come forth and ruin our days. So we can get things done. Therefore, we have imaginative areas that we occupy while driving our “extension of our own energy” around town so we can “get things done.”

I have a room as well. In this room I place my possessions in relation to 1) Priority, 2) Usefulness, 3) Design, 4) Efficiency and 5) Necessity. I do not place my golf clubs in the middle of the room because I rarely use them, so I place them in the back of my closet. My bed is easy to get to because I need it every single day. My ironing board is somewhat hidden, but it is accessible and not isolated. My clothes are hung in an organized fashion to accommodate my selection process in the mornings when I am half awake. The trash can is easily accessible because I have a lot of trash.

At work, I have a desk. I have recently moved into a new cubicle. Because of the larger size I have added three plants and posters of trees around the walls to add color. I find it helpful to look at the posters of trees when pondering a purchase of trees. It’s much like a HUGE reference book. I have a laptop at work that is strategically placed in an area where I can use it freely. On the side is an area where I can lay large plans out to discuss phases of construction and the like with production.

Each of these represents space. Philosophers have defined the difference between the metaphysical and the physical by “space and time.” Both space and time define the world we live in. All physics, chemistry and biological laws must first start with the assumption that there is space and time. A chemical cannot react if it does not occupy some kind of space. A building cannot withstand wind without first occupying space. The occupation of space determines the existence of the object in this world. If the object is fast, it will occupy a large amount of space (i.e. the electron in relation to the space it occupies). If it is stationary, it will occupy the space of which it is made of.

As I ponder how I interact with space, it amazes me of my own habits. Take driving for instance. If someone was to simply change lanes right into the very lane one was occupying, a reaction would occur. For the skilled driver, brakes and swerving may commence with the possibility of profanity and gestures. For the unskilled driver, fear and intimidation would commence. Regardless of the skill, something, some reaction would be generate by the other object occupying the space. Like a violation of someone entering one’s house without permission, so is the driver who has been cut off or side swiped. A space has been entered and it awakens something within…