I found the notion of structural spheres a little difficult to grasp at first, but as I continued to read I began to apply the sphere-idea to everyday life and realized it does make a difference. It says in the reading that if a room is too small for your structural sphere, you may find it difficult to work in that space. I find that is true in the case of my bedroom; because I'm a busy person I tend to leave my room in various stages of neglect and untidiness. I get stressed out by the clutter in there, and even though the room is a relatively decent size and I have an area where I can study, I tend to feel imposed upon and prefer to do my homework on the couch in the more sparse living-room. Also, the question of inter-personal and emotional effects on the sphere is interesting to me. I am not surprised that confidence and happiness would make someone's sphere more extended and sadness and stress would cause people to shrink into themselves and therefore their sphere would shrink as well.
I also question the relationship between someone's culture and their projected sphere. I found, when living in France (and in Europe in general) people's "personal bubbles" appeared to be much smaller than my own, and they had no problem at all getting "all up on me" when I was in a public place (like a museum or restaurant) I felt slightly imposed upon, (even though I was aware that it was a cultural thing) yet they clearly did not feel as though they were imposing. So, I ask myself how cultural differences such as comfortable physical proximity between strangers effects someone's sphere.
I found experimenting with the auditory space sphere to be calming and interesting. I suddenly became aware of all the ticking clocks in my house and other sounds I would otherwise have ignored like the humming of the refrigerator or computer modem. After the experiment I was able to "reel in my sphere" and go back to concentrating on other things. I've never actually tried to meditate before but the auditory sphere experiment felt to me like a meditative activity.
Well the cultural space sphere thing certainly affected you, right? That's really where it is--I found when I went to France the same thing--a much closer proximity was normal.
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese art of feng shui is about flow of energy through a room--this is what you were noticing with how well you can work in different rooms--your living room is more conducive, like an electrical current. :)