The space we live in

Our space #

I was riding my bike through a neighborhood when two dogs started barking and running inside their fence alongside me. They continued to run until they got to the corner of their fence. As I rode on I felt sad for them, because the space they exist in is small.

But then I began to compare their life to the life of my dogs. Most days my dogs go on two walks. They receive a lot of interactions from my wife and I. But their space isn't significantly greater. Most of their life will be spent in the house. Is their space better?

And thinking about it further, most of their time is spent with me, since I work from home. Therefore, my space is only marginally greater than theirs.

So then I'm left wondering, is the person in the car passing by me feeling the same pity for me as I did as I passed the dogs? Are they thinking, this poor guy has such a limited space in his life while I'm out traveling and experiencing all the world has to offer?

But I do not feel limited. I feel content. In the end I suppose that most everyone reading this doesn't feel limited by their space either because we all adjust and grow accustom to where we are at.

It is also true that most of us can chose to expand our space if we so desire. Is this the difference between me and the dogs I'm thinking about? They do not have this degree of freedom?

So yes, we have limited space, dogs more than us. But I do not need to feel sad about this, at least most of the time.

Ignorance is bliss #

Relatedly, I have often wondered about the saying, "ignorance is bliss." Sometimes I feel a simple life of unknowing is better than figuring out how to sort through what knowing brings.

But there is also a cost to unknowing. A few years ago I struggled with sleep. If I would have remained ignorant about sleep I may still be experiencing the same struggle. But eventually I learned about cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia and through this it helped me reestablish a healthy relationship with sleep. Therefore, knowing lifted me out of my condition. (Although knowing is probably what induced my poor sleep to begin with.)

So when I struggle with the complexities of life, like working through my feelings about dogs, I can be thankful for my knowledge, and the knowledge of others, which provide the ability to have the awareness of my situation and the possibility of change.

Ignorance is only bliss when you are well. And by the time you are unwell, and by the time you realize it, there will be a much deeper hole to work out of.

With knowledge there is freedom. With knowledge there is hope.