Spaces shape you

Take a look around. What are you thinking? How are you feeling?

The spaces you find yourself in - rooms, buildings, landscapes, regions, countries - influence how you think and feel. That's because they impress their shapes and appearances upon you, whether you're aware of it or not.

Consider how you feel in the following spaces:

• Radiant, bright light - like a sunny beach setting, invokes feelings of happiness and youthfulness
• Dark, low light - moody, melancholic, dramatic - think Northern Europe in winter
• A large room - perhaps a cathedral, evokes a sense of awe and wonder
• A small room - an elevator, can induce feelings of panic and fear
• A busy city - with its pulsing energy and rhythm, may provoke anxiety
• Nature - offering solitude, peace, and freedom

If you're in a creative rut or just want to feel something new, try changing environments. Maybe you're in a cubicle and need to think bigger - try to escape. Or you're somewhere it's always sunny - hop on a plane and go somewhere gloomy. Perhaps you always work in a coffee shop - head to the university library.

Travel is wonderful for personal development because it thrusts you into totally new environments, forcing a flood of new experiences, senses, emotions, thoughts, and images. Go, and when immersed, examine your mind: "How is this place influencing my thoughts and emotions?"

Now you're becoming privy to their mysterious effects on you.