houses and windows

My love affair with houses and windows began a long time ago, and continues strong to this day. So strong, in fact, that I realized not too long ago that of my approximately thirty paintings and posters, fifteen of them are of houses, and five of those focus primarily on a window. Two of the window pictures are depictions from the outside, and three of them feature people or cats gazing out. I know the exact numbers because I went and counted. I did this in part because of how excited I was to see all the windows in country dweller's lovely house, and because it occurred to me that ALL of the photos and postcards I took and bought on my last trip to Holland were of houses.

As a child I loved sitting and daydreaming in front of a window, and hours could pass by as if they were mere seconds. I still do a lot of my creative thinking, problem solving, or just plain fretting in front of windows, and have always had my desk (and in later years my computer) positioned so that I could at least look out one window. Just the thought of facing a windowless wall while I write can make me claustrophobic, so you can well imagine what I think of workplace cubicles. Or houses with really tiny windows. I'm quite fortunate with my current apartment as I have five large windows (six if you count the one in the door), facing three directions so that I can happily look out the front, side and back.

I also love looking at houses and windows on my walks, preferably at night so I can peek right inside. Holland, by the way, is much more convenient in this regard as houses often come up right to the sidewalk and curtains are not the norm. At least, when I last lived and visited there. And cats in windows I find especially delightful, probably because they combine two of my favourite things.

But why this obsession with windows in the first place? Am I unique in this? I doubt it, but I don't often hear other people talk about it. Other than the light they bring in, and being able to look out of them, why are windows so important to me? Why is there such a strong pull, and why do even their representation make me so happy? And is that why a person's eyes are their most important feature to me? Because they're said to be the windows to their soul?