Territory

One of the imperatives that we share with every one of the millions of life forms that inhabit our planet is the need for territory. Although expressed in a multiplicity of ways, the need is an integral component of DNA. Without the elements for supporting life and reproduction furnished by an individual's territory, that species soon disappears. This imperative has been inherent in all life forms from life's first primitive experiment. It is neither good or bad, it just is.

As sentient creatures, we have created dozens of different territories, many of which are obvious to all. There are physical territories, intellectual territories, emotional territories, political and religious territories to name a few of the better understood. These territories are defined by boundaries, most of which are arbitrary, all of which are created to exclude. Intrusion of one group into the territory of another similar group with the same defined needs will lead to conflict, expressed in its most primitive and ancient form by the cliché, "Kill or be killed."

"The final solution", extermination of the encroacher, appears to be the most common and widely practiced form of gaining and keeping territory, from its simplest form—penicillin and the E.coli bacterium will not share the same agar in a Petri dish—to its most dramatic form, the atomic bomb.

Territorial conflict is the primary cause of disorder in a marriage or a family. Personal space is often at issue as is personal property. Marriage and family counselors stay busy because of these conflicts. As a therapist, I came to realize that this need to protect ones territory is so strong that compromise, what we in the business consider to be the foundation of a 'win-win' solution, is often impossible. More on this later.

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