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While I'm inclined to agree - I wonder why you are still in a basement if you're renting? Surely the benefit of renting is the ability to quickly change living environment as you want, rather than stay somewhere you're unhappy for ten years?
1) Possibly to decrease coats of living?
2) Location might not have much better to offer? (Dunno how likely?)
3) Social situation (family, friends, niche industry?)
While I'm inclined to agree - I wonder why you are still in a basement if you're renting? Surely the benefit of renting is the ability to quickly change living environment as you want, rather than stay somewhere you're unhappy for ten years?
While I'm inclined to agree - I wonder why you are still in a basement if you're renting? Surely the benefit of renting is the ability to quickly change living environment as you want, rather than stay somewhere you're unhappy for ten years?
One thing I've found to help is growing some plants indoors. I have a few grow lights on 12h timers that keep me a little grounded to the rhythm of the Earth. However nothing beats the energy you get from a natural view.
What you're saying is just plain wrong. You're not a super old person stuck in a chair that needs to see things from the inside. Go outside. If you are young, you should view the place you are living as your basecamp to sleep so you can go out and explore your world - not look at it through a window. Plus basement dwellings tend to be cheaper in which you can use the extra money you save for exploring.
Though I can imagine that it can wear you down along with other things that may be going on in your life, at which point perhaps it's time to change things up in a big way, like moving, to reset your disposition and find new experiences.
10 years in a place you despise seems like one of those points.
Some people have no choice. In NYC, basement apartments are the only units you can find for under $1000/month. If you're an immigrant new to the US, if you're trying to find your footing after a tragedy, or if you're a new graduate looking for your first job after school-- it works as a (hopefully temporary) solution. Lived in a basement apartment as a child for a decade. I came out fine. But yes, would certainly not…
Why is moving out of that city not a choice?
Also, people don't exist in a vaccuum. Many are grounded in certain places because of familial obligations. Others - particularly recent immigrants in places like NYC - are tied to a local ethnic or expatriate community that they rely on for social and emotional support.
This is the problem. Unless you have absolutely no other options, don't rent one place for a decade. Try to move onwards. Rent a basement at the start, but as you progress in your career rent an apartment with a view, a whole house, maybe buy somewhere of your own eventually.
Don't settle until you're where you want to be. Accepting something that you're not happy with is what leaves scars. This applies to much more than just the place you call home.
Never live in a place where there's a lot of house renewals going on. I lived in Lisbon, Portugal for a while and still after a few years the sound of a jackhammer in the distance still stresses me out. I had construction workers drilling through the dinning room ceiling by mistake, or removing the the ceiling of the downstairs appartment with a hammer just below me. An all that pain only to see your rentals not being renewed because of the ongoing gentrification process.
That being said, I prefer to have my office on the North side of a building, as there is less glare to deal with on my monitor, and the temperature is more consistent.