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All the Spaces There Are
I attempted to define “space” and I’m amazed where I ended up
When I contemplate the word “space,” my mind boggles. In truth, many things boggle my mind. My mind seems easily boggled. I’m boggled by the word “boggle.”
But back to space. There are so many kinds of space: outer, inner, personal, private, the back seat of a car with three siblings in it on a long car trip. There’s the space in a suitcase that shrinks as you pack. You’re not packing too much — the damned suitcase shrinks.
There’s the unlimited space of childhood that contracts as we get older. The huge space of an empty house you’ve just bought that is cramped after you move your things into it. And why doesn’t the damned living room have any corners for your corner cabinet? Why didn’t you notice that before you bought the house?
There is the vast open space of the Midwest and the cramped parking space you’re trying to get your car into. The space between my ears that sometimes feels empty and other times feels crammed. There’s the breakup space: “I have to end this relationship. I need my space.”
There are scientific facts about space, like two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time, like my dog and me. And my other dog. And my husband. And even in an expanding universe, there never will be enough room for all of us in…