Living in the dark is not good for your mental health.
It is funny, but we walk around our neighborhood and see so many houses with curtains drawn tight, all of the time. Some of these houses have beautiful views, but they'd never know it, because the curtains are always drawn. I wonder sometimes why these folks even have windows. And sadly, in many modern houses, they have cut to the chase and eliminated most windows. Why do people live in the dark like this?
I think there are a number of reasons. Television is one, paranoid privacy fears are another. I mentioned before how people turn screen porches into glassed-in porches, and then decide to put the television on the porch. But the ambient light reflects off the television screen, so they close the curtains. So much for the "sun porch" - eh? I mean, why bother? The former living room becomes an empty room full of random furniture, that you walk through to get to the "new" living room which used to be a porch.
I think the same effect is happening with these closed-off houses. They have the television in the front room, and the pesky sun keeps reflecting off the Tee-Vee and so they close the curtains - never to reopen them again.
The other half, I think is a paranoid fear of someone looking in. I see this a lot, particularly with women. I think they are afraid that mean old men want nothing else but to see them butt-nekkid and perhaps glimpse the holy-grail itself. They fear the vagina-peeper above all else! I've seen women get so worked up over this that they cannot even live with louvered shutters or Venetian blinds. If they can see out, the vagina peeper can see in! I try to explain to them that line-of-sight doesn't bend around curves, and just because they can see light through the cracks doesn't mean anyone can see in. And besides, there is no one to see in. The road is 50 yards away and no one really wants to see your naughty bits anyway.
The other side of the coin is that light tends to reflect off of glass. So if you are inside during the day, someone outside sees.... their reflection. Unless they have their face pressed up against the glass, people on the outside aren't seeing in. You'd have to have the curtains wide open, at night, and be standing silhouetted in bright light, with someone outside only feet away, for them to see anything "of interest" - and believe me, no one is that interested, particularly as most of us are rather unattractive. Screen porches, by the way, act the same way - like a one-way mirror. All people on the outside see is black, unless you are standing in front of a bright light at night - and maybe not even then.
So what's the harm in any of this? Well, I think living in the dark affects your mind. We need sun - it produces vitamin D in your skin. And lack of vitamin D may lead to depression. People who live in darkened houses seem to be depressed. And if they spend all day watching television, looking at their phone or computer or playing video games, well doubly so.
So.... let the sunshine in. Sunlight is also a good disinfectant. No one is going to see your cooch - nor are they interested in seeing it. Stop being paranoid. And cut back on the screen time!
Living in the dark isn't fun at all!
