I live in a modest home in Santa Clarita – small by most American standards. However, with each passing day, my postage-stamp sized house seems to be getting larger and larger.
I’m writing this from the home of a friend of mine in England where his living room is so small it would fit neatly into the too-small guest room I can barely tolerate in Valencia. We make meals in a kitchen that isn’t much larger than my too-small Santa Clarita bathroom. We travel in a car that could be parked in the trunk of my American-made car with room to spare. We drive on roads that are often too small to accommodate the vehicles on the opposing two lanes of traffic that are doing the best to squeeze through.
Each morning we walk a few hundred yards to a local grocer to buy the fresh produce and meats we intend to use for the day’s meals. This is because the refrigerator, which is only one-third the size of the one I have in Santa Clarita and doesn’t offer space to stockpile much more than milk, butter, eggs, and a few bottled drinks. My overstuffed two-car garage in Santa Clarita is easily larger than all three of the bedrooms in my host’s house put together. Even our standard-issue recycle bins in Valencia are at least four times bigger than the trash bins used here.
As I become more and more aware of the size differentials between here and there, locals don’t seem to notice. Undoubtedly, in a month’s time I will return to my once too-small home in Santa Clarita and, after this experience, it will seem large to me.
The important realization I’ve had is that my once too-small rooms and my much bigger-than-theirs-is back yard in Santa Clarita doesn’t hold any more love or friendship or compassion or consideration than the spaces here in England. So, just in case you are still wondering, I am happy to report the answer to that age-old question: No, size doesn’t matter!
I hope your summer is as lovely as mine is; and, I hope your spaces (the small ones and the large ones) are filled with good feelings and good relationships.
Call Debbie to schedule a consultation for therapy/coaching in Valencia at 661-259-5986 or Encino at 818-385-0550.