The Theory of Cubby House

I have a theory about cubby houses. I am indeed refering to those magnificant inpentrible structures we engineered as small humans that protected us from monsters, boogie men and siblings. What they really did is created a small kingdom which we could monitor, control and call our own.

All of the happenings in our little kingdoms were known. What this did in our minds is to isolate us, it was a space we had conqured and protected. Our thoughts turn internal. The ongoing homework, chores and aliens were not here in this cubby house, just us in our own little kingdom. Perhaps it was just funky to close the world off?

I don’t think we have changed much as adults, we don’t of coarse build the forts of folded newspaper, bed sheets or card board boxes but we still have our cubby holes. What do I mean? well let me explain. Let’s look at the cubby house/fort/kingdom as partial sensory deprivation. We can’t see as much of the environment around us, perhaps can’t hear it. Maybe we just choose not to collect data from some of our keen sensory devices, either way we are somehow isolated.

As adults what situations does this happen in? I think you will find there is a few. Rain is often a good trigger for this feeling, you vs world, isolation etc. Consider driving in heavy rain. There is lots of noise blocking out external sounds, the rain itself blocks some of your vision. It just you and the cabin of the car vs everything outside – your in your cubby hole. Add in some cool tunes and the music sounds more rich, more alive then every before.more...