How do you perceive your intimate zone?

What does it mean for you? Have you ever experienced a change in your perception of it?
Do you let people get close to you easily? I don't mean just physically, I mean emotionally too.
How do you perceive the intimate zone of others?
How did/would you deal with sharing a room with a stranger while living at the dorm?

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sumojumo · 36-40, M

This is a very good question. I have a very "secure" intimate zone, meaning that I have no idea if I let anyone close to it. And I have many people that I consider close, such as family and friends. But still there is an even more intimate part, for which I doubt anyone has access to. And I also do not have some dark secrets (I havent killed anyone ;)).

I lived with many different roomates while I was still a student. but I made so sort of a bubble around myself, so it maybe seemed like I was living completely by myself.

CrazyMusicLover · 31-35

@sumojumo I only had one roommate and just for 5 months and I felt like I stopped taking my comfort zone as seriously as I did when I was at home. We also had common showers and toilets for the whole floor and I didn't think it was such a problem at all. It was strange because many perceived it as a nightmare but for me it was a positive change.
It helped me to realize that the more personal space and time to spend alone with myself I have the bigger my intimate zone gets and it's harder to let someone get close to me.

sumojumo · 36-40, M

Interesting, for me it was somewhat different. I lived in various dorms, and I realized that the physical proximity has nothing to do with how close someone is to me. I lived with a guy for four years, we literally slept 30cm apart. But just about anyone on the street could mean much more to me than this guy. And he was not that bad at all, it was just me making a wall in the room :).

CrazyMusicLover · 31-35

@sumojumo Oh, no no. That's not how I meant it. Those people didn't mean more to me. I meant that when I was there, I was able to feel more relaxed in their presence. My social anxiety almost disappeared. While when I'm at my own place and spend the most time there alone, I go out and don't feel around people very comfortable. Talking to them is harder. When I spend too much time alone, I'm too much in my own world to connect with the worlds of other people and their problems.

sumojumo · 36-40, M

sorry for the misunderstanding. The social anxiety is a weird thing, yes, and i have to agree that the more you retract yourself from social situation, the worse it gets. But for me it depends on the people. I need someone with whom I connect (I dont even know when does this happen) so that it relieves the anxiety situation.