Words that caught me: S is for Space

How we define and perceive it,

How we use and relate to it,

And its significance to our culture and well-being –

And have been struck at how COVID19

Has significantly changed how we relate to 'space'.

 

We think it’s important for us to pay close attention,

To the manner in which 'space' is being redefined,

Because it’ll change not only our aesthetics,

But also our culture i.e. how we use space, from now henceforth;

And who we are i.e. who we become as we transform 

From one view of 'space', to another.

 

In this piece we take a quick look at some of the changes

Happening in our spatial, social, virtual and cognitive/metaphysical spaces,.

 

Spatial space:

The quarantine, isolation and lock-down measures,

Together with the move from office to working-from-home,

Has completely altered our relationship with what we formerly called home.

Home is now, not merely a private social space

We retire to at the end of our working hours,

Or somewhere we cleanup on weekends…,

But has now become a playground, a school, a dancing arena, a place of work.

Most of us are just coming to the realization

That our homes aren’t really designed for extended periods of stay-at-home.

For most of us, we’ve been reminded that home is a cramped up space,

That can’t hold all of us at the same time for months;

That there isn’t enough space in it for us to read, play and work;

That it’s woefully lacking in greenery, natural light and fresh air;

That it is ill designed for isolation and caring of a sick person;

That there is actually no silent corner in our home,

Where we can hibernate for reflection and deep work;

And that being locked down at home,

With nothing else to do other than watch TV,

And rant on social media, has, in many ways, felt like a prison of sorts.

Many have had to re-do their homes to fit its new uses,

And almost everyone preparing to buy or build a home,

Is already re-looking at their designs and asking new questions.

Home, and our relationship with home, has changed forever,

And it will be interesting to see how this impacts on our culture.

 

Social space:

Human beings are social animals.

And we are very much like cats, in our craving for physical contact.

Touch is very important in the way we bond and reassure each other.

Handshakes, hugs, pats, high-fives and spooning come to us naturally.

This is how we express love and endearments to each other.

Indeed, our relationships are defined by how close we are to each other, physically –

Arms-length means formal;

Kissing and holding hands means intimate;

Hugging means friend or relative;

High-fives means (mostly) a colleague or teammate.

Medically, physical contact has been known to be not only therapeutic,

But critically essential for young and troubled children.

Now with physical distancing, we have been denied our natural ways,

Of building connection and sustaining relationships,

And have to learn new ways of expressing our love and friendship.

It’s a pain to visit upcountry and avoid getting near our aging parents,

Or allow kids to visit and play with their grandparents.

It’s a pain to see a grieving friend and not hug her, or hold their hands.

It’s a pain to think twice about attending a burial, or a birthday party,

Or whether or not to go ahead with our nuptials.

With face masks, we now have to be alert to non-verbal cues

And the way we express our emotions.

Technology had already started disconnecting and disassociating us

From each other, and driving many of us into depression.

Will physical distancing aggravate this situation?

How will physical distancing affect our behavior, as social animals?

 

Virtual space:

We have all turned to the virtual world

To accomplish what we did physically.

We now attend meetings virtually,

Transact business virtually,

Network virtually,

Attend school virtually,

Get medical diagnosis and prescriptions virtually,

And even attend church virtually.

And that’s just the beginning –

Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Internet of Things (IoT)

And Artificial Intelligence (AI), are all coming up,

To enhance and improve our virtual experience.

The truth is, we’ll get deeper and deeper into it, as time goes.

How will this virtualization of our world affect us, as humans?

How will algorithms, IoT and AI affect our behavior and culture?

Is this the end of privacy as we know it?

 

Cognitive/metaphysical space:

We all started the year 2020,

Full of plans, and stuff we wanted to accomplish,

Totally oblivious of what was about to unfold.

By March, barely 3 months into the year,

Most of those plans and dreams were no more,

And we were left scratching our heads…

Wondering how everything could change so suddenly.

It was like the scrawling and drawings we do on the beach, during low tide,

And then comes in the tide, and washes it all away…

Leaving no trace that we were ever there, at all!

Most of us are still reeling from the pain of this sudden change.

It’s been pretty un-nerving.

How does it feel to know that you know nothing about tomorrow?

Now we are beginning to realize

That we must create space in our tomorrows, for that unknown,

And for providence to do its work.

But we love and crave for certainty! How will we unlearn this?

Uncertainty leaves us feeling insecure, frightened and un-tethered.

Where to do we find peace to live with this kind of uncertainty?

How to we learn to plan for today,

But with an eye for tomorrow that might never come?

How will we resolve this paradox –

Of knowing, but creating space for not knowing;

Of acting, but creating space for adapting;

Of planning, but creating space for starting over;

Of learning, but creating space for unlearning?

It seems like we have a lot of work and growing to do,

In our cognitive/metaphysical space…

And this may be the hardest, and most difficult work, we’ll need to do!

Are you ready for it?

 

*'Covid-stion' is a series of questions we have been posing, inspired by our own reflection of 'lessons learnt' from COVID-19. The questions are meant to invite self-reflection.