I want to see inside other people’s homes

As a kid, when we walked or drove through an unfamiliar neighborhood, I loved to look at other people’s houses. I’d get a strong urge to knock on the door and ask to go in so I could see what was inside. It was always so fun going over to friends’ houses and getting to see how they had things arranged, how they did things differently, all the shapes and little details of the space.

As an adult now, I still get the same urge to see inside other people’s homes. And I notice I’m only interested in homes where people actually live, using the space & shaping it to their lifestyles. I’ve visited plenty of brand-new, empty houses during “parade of homes” events, and I sometimes find them interesting, but it doesn’t really scratch the same itch.

As I transitioned into full-time remote employment, I developed a similar interest in people’s places of work. I wrote in my garden post about that interest, and how I think it’s connected to a desire for a physical space of my own in which to work. On a more basic level, I think it comes from the same place as the interest in homes. I want to see the mundane details of other people’s daily lives.

There’s so much going on all the time, and I only have access to a tiny slice of it. The details of other people’s daily lives have the potential to expand my concept of what’s really going on around me. Seeing how others do things can give me new ideas, or help me understand my own habits. More than that, though, these mundane details increase my sense of grounding in the wider world, making me more confident that I can navigate & participate in it.

Do you like seeing inside other people’s homes? What about other workplaces? What do you like about them? Let me know your thoughts at my Ctrl-C email: gome ​@ ​ctrl-c.club.