On compulsive curtain-drawing and the surrounding anxiety.

Sometimes I think about my predilection for closing my curtains the second darkness falls, and how it’s driven entirely by one night in my youth when I realized that even with net curtains, when night falls it’s easy to see straight into a lit room from the outside. Coupled with my horror of ever seeing an unfamiliar face peering back at me when I look out the windows, I am driven to obscure the windows altogether.

It occurred to me that perhaps curtain-habits are indicative – to a certain extent – of personality. I’ve known people who never close their curtains at all, lest they miss something interesting happening at their neighbour’s place. Is nosiness symptomatic of boredom in one’s own life? Conversely, is a secretive habit like my own suggestive of a certain amount of vanity? After all, why would anyone be interested in watching me watch TV after dinner?