My Space
Space has always fascinated me. Understanding outer space led me to study physics at university and stay there for a lot longer than I probably should have. Ironically… taking up space! But it’s a different kind of space that I am more interested in now. The one humans occupy here on Earth.
Humans are everywhere. There is no continent on earth that we haven’t managed to conquer to some extent. Some people even manage to live in Antarctica. Given that temperatures occasionally drop below -80°C, these people deserve some kind of award, in my opinion! The point is, we have managed to occupy the most unimaginable spaces. Hot, cold, wet, dry, high, low, you name it, we have managed to find some way to inhabit and often thrive in the process. Despite our apparent flaws and our delicate hairless bodies, we overcome the challenges and prosper.
When your friends and family no longer occupy it, your life becomes much emptier.
Recently and closer to home, in a somewhat less dramatic, north of England setting, the idea of space developed into an interesting one. A particularly challenging time for me was having to self-isolate after catching COVID in January 2021. Thankfully, the physical effects of the dreaded virus that shook the world were manageable. For me, it was the challenge of being alone with me, myself and I, 24 hours a day with relatively little distraction. I became acutely aware of the space around me. When your friends and family no longer occupy it, your life becomes much emptier. Literally and metaphorically. Like most people, my phone and the internet became my primary source of entertainment. Around work, I would sit for hours scrolling the internet, thinking how inconceivably tricky it would have been to cope with a lockdown just 15–20 years ago. Would I have sat playing Snake on my Nokia 3310? maybe recorded and re-watched some episodes of The Office? Made some phone calls using the landline while I sat and twirled the cord between my fingers? After 6 pm, of course, there is no way I’d pay full price to make a phone call! In any case, my space was a lot different then. In a more or less internet free world, life was simultaneously more straightforward and much more difficult.
Having the world at your fingertips creates endless opportunities. You can learn new subjects, discover unique communities of like-minded people, share your stories, create art, solve problems, and the list goes on. On the flip side, it also can be incredibly toxic, scary, and even dangerous. I found myself trapped in a social media bubble, looking at unimaginably talented people pursuing their dreams, becoming exceptionally rich, and achieving their goals. In contrast, I was trapped inside four walls, trapped inside my phone, and trapped inside my mind. I felt imprisoned. But it was here that I realised I was the one choosing this feeling. My headspace is my domain and no one else’s. I’m not trying to trivialise mental struggles, far from it. Instead, I’m trying to take strength from owning the problem. In being alone with my thoughts, I found that I had to face them head-on to overcome them. I had a choice about how to feel, interpret negativity, and respond to unpleasant emotions. In being trapped in my space, I finally felt free. Instead of letting those feelings consume me, I started using them as fuel to be better, exercise more and learn new things. My space became my power. Being alone and having my own space wasn’t such a bad thing.
It seems impossible to be alone and isolated in an overcrowded world. Yet many people do. As the human population approaches 8 billion, scientists begin to explore life on different planets. The sad fact is, years of industry and an expanding population have had devastating effects. As much as I still love outer space, it seems like we are running away from the problem instead of addressing it. Being stranded in my mind caused me to face my issues. Being confined to our planet should make us address our collective difficulties. In the past, people have shown unrivalled ingenuity to solve all kinds of problems. So instead of fleeing to different worlds, why not try to fix what we have done to our own magnificent planet?
