Space

I was at an event recently. Lots of people. Lots of interesting things to see and do. Lots going on.

One of the venues was large, with lots of space. People sat in seats and there was enough space to leave chairs between individuals or between groups sitting together. People sat comfortably and watched the talks in this really great space.

At the event some of the other venues were much smaller. Much more intimate. Spaces where there were no spare seats and you had to sit around a table with strangers.

Those more intimate spaces were where the magic happens. Sitting with other people resulted in conversations and discussions and sharing stories and experiences. Integration and interaction with strangers that extended after the event, when the strangers were no longer strange and the conversations were enjoyable because they were serendipitous collisions of different views and perspectives on things. Meetings from which we can all learn and grow and open our minds and hearts to other possibilities outside of our rigid siloed beliefs.

Whether deliberate or simply as a result of space restrictions the smaller spaces were just better. Big spaces can be soulless and stark. Smaller spaces tend to be more quirky and more intimate. At the same event there was a pop-up bar located in the large dining room of an old, and slightly tatty house. The closeness of the tables and the mis-matched furniture as well as the belongings and possessions and taste of the people whose home it was made the space so much more inviting and special. And the conversations as you shared table space and drinks and food with people who were unknown to you before you were thrown together by the lack of space made the evening more enjoyable, more interesting and more enlightening than it would if we had all had our own walled garden where we could distance ourselves from the riff-raff!

We seem to always want to build bigger spaces.

Big spaces stifle interaction. They give us all a level of comfort that only comes from our ability to distance ourselves from others.

Small spaces are enough for most things. And they are better for most things too.