People Containers

I am back in a city again, and nowhere am I more aware of it than at home. My home for the next two years is an apartment, which means that there are people above me, people below me, and people around me on all sides. This makes for ample people-watching opportunities, but it also requires an adjustment from the space I had before. When I come home, it is for me a retreat away from the world, a space that is comfortable and hopefully peaceful enough to recharge me for my next encounters with humankind. Here, that world is waiting right outside my door, walking by my window at all hours, and often generating noise that keeps me awake at night. Still, my little space here is decent, and I am working to make it my own.
This apartment complex is nicer than many, in that it has trees and grass (sustained by the sprinklers I hear at 11:00 pm), faces inward rather than out to the street, and there are decent people managing everything. However, when I drive in and out of the parking lots or walk the rat maze between units (which all look pretty much alike), I can’t help but notice that these are nothing but glorified People Containers, designed to stack and fit as much humanity as possible into a corner of the city. These Containers are like bus stops, where people wait or come and go as they try to make a living, maybe stuck for awhile or passing some time in an interim stage of life, some staying much longer, either content with Container living or else dreaming of something better someday. Here we rest our heads after doing our daily living and work, making the space our own with our possessions, voices, cooking, and people flowing in and out. Yes, my apartment is home base, but most of my living will be done beyond its walls. The University is a city unto itself, full of paths to tread, spots to discover, and the energizing dynamics of intellects being fired up and set loose on the world. When surrounded by the possibilities and opportunities of education, a Mind can be free of the Container because the world is open beyond it, and there promises to be a way out.