Sunday reflection II – Living with people

Sunday reflection II – Living with people

(Sunday 18^th March)

I had this all planned out in my head.  Before coming to Sydney I used to lie in bed daydreaming about where I would live and what it would look like.  I was going to live in a nice studio apartment where every surface was going to be made out of granite and every utensil or fixture was going to be made out of stainless steel.  This of course was all going to be paid for by my well paid job.  I was going to live on my own as well and have new friends and people come round occasionally.  Things are different now though.

I am living in a small room in a rundown shared house.  The lose plug socket in the kitchen is an obvious safety hazard, half the lights don’t work and never will work and a family of rats have moved in across the hallway.

It is scary that this plug even works.

Sellotape doesn't stop rats.

The main difference between the place in my head and the place where I am is the people, the fact that I am not living alone.  I have always lived with people in big shared houses like this.  During my time at University I lived in 2 shared houses with at least 6 other people and I thought Sydney would be different.  I thought because I am not a student now I would live on my own and “grow up”. 

But moving into this shared house made me realize that I was wrong about the whole thing.  In fact looking back at the studio apartment in my head I couldn’t think of anywhere worse to live.  Living on my own would be horrible and I don’t know how people do it or even enjoy it.  What do you do when you’re at home when there is no-one there?  There will be no surprises, nothing will be different because there is no-one else around to change things.

I am sure this would be different if I had ever lived with someone deeply unpleasant but everyone I have lived with has been really nice.  Maybe I have just been lucky?  Or maybe it is because people who look to live in shared accommodation are on the same wave length as me.  And of course there are issues with living with people like when you want to use something in the kitchen but some else has used it and not cleaned it after themselves.  But I much rather live in a house with a dirty kitchen than a house with a lonely kitchen.

There is always something happening.

So I am happy with living in a shared house and I can’t ever imagine living on my own.

Question: Do you live on your own?  Do you think I am mad that I never want to live in a place that is exclusively mine?  Or do you agree with me and think living with other people is the way to live?  Write a comment and let me know what you think.