doors, doors, everywhere there's doors

this was a friend's status on facebook this morning. And, of course, the first thing I thought of was the old hippie song, "Sign, sign,.....blocking all the scenery, breaking my mind..." I always liked that song. We make so many signs and doors in our lives. And then we shout them out or shut them tight.
I think it is an indication of our society. I once read that in Japan, children were taught at an early age, not to hear neighbors. The culture was so overcrowded and so on-top of each other, that the only way they could function was to NOT hear, intentionally NOT hear, the person or persons next to them.
Historically the USA has had plenty of room to never worry about what the neighbors say or do. We have had room to spare. But recently I had a chance to drive through the town where I went to high school. At that time it was a truck farming community. Lots of open fields. Fast forward 35 years (eek!) Now those fields hold 40 houses each and the once rural area now has its own shopping center - though the mall is only 10 miles away!
We are closing in. There is still an empty field outside my kitchen window, rented to a farmer each year. But I worry that it will be sold and half a dozen houses will spring up there.
So, I guess my thought is, we need to learn to make windows in our doors. The doors that close us in. Like the Japanese children, we have to consciously create windows in our doors so that we don't get shut out of life.
We are welcome in the world, even when it doesn't seem like it. The doors are often of our own making, and fortunately, most of the time, we leave them ajar. But be carefull, if the get closed and the weather changes they can swell and seal us in our own little world and then it will be time for a pity party.