Rebecca Tennenbaum reading response and weekly drawing

What intrigued me about this reading was the idea of space as security, and minimizing the security down to the essential structure of a room or house. I enjoyed all of the psychological aspects discussed in terms of human emotion and our natural thinking patterns, relating to our attachment to our physical structures. Human emotion and natural thinking patterns such as nostalgia and memory are all safely protected in our minds, and we have our bodies and control for physical protection for these thoughts. After reading this passage I liked to think of these two separate relationships; the body being a shelter to the mind as a physical structure shelters our bodies (and therefore the mind, as well.)

I moved around a lot growing up, so when I related the reading to my own experience, I found that the strongest area of attachment I have to my past is not in the physical spaces but the objects that make up the spaces. My most precious items are all reminders of the places I’ve spent my time, and my current space is inhabited by reflections of the past spaces. What would my current space be like if I did not have these objects occupying it? I found myself wondering how I would interpret my current position if I didn’t have these influences surrounding me, would it make it possible to accept the space and time for where it was in the present?

The intimacy of a particular space was also very interesting to me. There is only one structure that has remained permanent in my life, and when I am there it is miraculously easy to reflect on how I’ve grown and changed since my previous time there. I share the similar struggle that most people endure, the honesty of self-reflection. It’s difficult to see yourself clearly while in your own space, even if you sense a change it’s not as easy to identify the specifics. When I return to this one constant, it is all too easy to harness the changes that have happened since the last time. After reading the chapter I found myself wondering how much of these “realizations” are illusions, due to the comfort of the permanent, or if the permanence of the structure genuinely serves as a clear filter for my self-reflection.