A Case of Space

The connotations that go along with the word space have never ceased to amaze me, as is the case I am sure with many others of my ilk. The web definitions of the word S P A C E, oscillate between the technologically driven “a blank character used to separate successive words in writing or printing; to the geographically inclined “an empty area (usually bounded in some way between things); “they stopped at an open space in the jungle"; to the philosophical “the unlimited expanse in which everything is located.

The space that defines the genesis of this written piece is the one that is expressed in oh so many conversations in passing, eliciting debates and insights that derive largely from personal experiences. One such conversation that particularly scratched the surface of my imagination was based on the quantitative aspect of space that defines the success or the lack of it in a relationship. My colleague waxed eloquent about the fact that he made sure that he got his share of space every year by driving off to virgin lands in his quest for peace and tranquility which was the basis of his rejuvenation process and was man enough to extend the same privilege to his spouse thereby forming the basis of a convivial and lightened relationship. So was the case with a dear friend who sought his share of space every week in the fulsome helpings of the sunset yellow tinted liquid poured over finely caricatured cubes of ice. Another enlightened friend suggested that he did not have to move from point A to point B in search of space but created it out of where he was, it is all in the mind he would say; “My space begins where I wish it to be”. And there I would imagine lies the essence of the need of space.

One does not have to go to the hills to find enlightenment as Andrew Matthews, the famed author says, but it can be sought in your backyard if you wish. Space need not be a place where you go to seek it; it is within oneself, if only it can be reached.

“… man doesn't belong out there. Man belongs wherever he wants to go -- and he'll do plenty well when he gets there”….said Wernher Von Braun the German Rocket Pioneer.

Whatever the case of space may be, it is imperative that each one of us finds it, ideas of space may differ, but that’s exactly what it ought to be, our individuality defines our need for space and the kind that we resort to in order to grow and evolve as people.

Written with insights from my dear friend ST