The space between my childhood home and my high school shrank over the past 15 years.
While this isn’t strictly true, my perspective shifted once I started running in college. My hypothesis is my perception of distance is tied more to how psychologically far something seems vs how far it actually is:
- What used to be a 10 minute morning commute to school is now a short enough run that I need to add more miles to it.
- Similarly driving from Santa Barbara to Ventura was a “long trip”, but is now more like a normal morning commute. (Note this is a driving commute, but when you know you could run the distance if needed, it seems closer)
What is far becomes what’s harder to visualize going to in a single day. After thousands of miles of running, I know I can easily go to and from many places via running, biking, and even driving and the whole world seems smaller and more approachable.
Similarly I’m struck by this phenomenon in travel.
- People say “travel expands your horizons”, but I prefer to think of it as shrinking your psychological distance. After you’ve been to five different bazaars, a street market is more welcoming.
- When you’ve first spoken in a non-English language somewhere, you are better able to imagine doing this on a regular basis.
This is a main reason why I think the best way to cure any ism (racism, homophobia, sexism, etc.) is just to get to know people of that group. What’s easier to imagine and understand becomes less subject to fear.
In summary, I’ve learned how easily I can visualize something or someone dramatically changes my perspective. What used to seem far or scary becomes more commonplace when I have lived experiences. My mind “grows” by making something far shorter and more welcoming.