Life is in the space between. We focus on words, people, clothes, houses, cars, jobs, food, trees... Mostly, we dwell in pauses; we inhabit the openings between gestures and relationships. In traffic, in line, at the desk, at the table, on the path, we wait; we stare out the window; we muse; we worry; we laugh; we confuse; we clarify; we explore. Most of the time, we ignore the gaps. In our ignorance, we miss a major aspect of life.If we do acknowledge the space through which our lives travel, it's usually to escape, to find peace, to get away from all the stuff. What we miss is this: the space between is filled with life. But the knowledge, laughter, beauty, practicality and poetry in the intervals cannot be recognized by our minds. It speaks in a language that is not hearable, touches us with caresses that at not tangible, offers us guidance with signs that are invisible.
Acknowledging the space between and allowing yourself to rest within it transforms your life. I'm not talking about retreating to the meditation cushion, the studio space or the forest. Here, now open to the opening... Let it in... A silent explosion rocks the visible world... "Lifeless" objects speak... Being blasts through all becoming... The hidden treasure you've been searching for is revealed.
Wow. I just discovered this wonderful space of yours this morning. Thank you for this post. As I sit, struggling through a piece I'm trying to write, your message resonates deeply. In this space. In between. Just lovely.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post! There's an amazing japanese term for the space between "ma" I find myself thinking about that space often. The moment between where you were and where you arrive.
ReplyDeleteJody
Hit parade: "What we miss is this: the space between is filled with life." And, "'Lifeless' objects speak..."
ReplyDeleteWhen I teach storytelling I remind students that listening precedes telling. The world is alive with stories and poetry and music and dancing and beauty! Have you read Jeffrey Harrison's "The Singing Underneath"? If not, you must.
Thanks for a provocative reflection into the nature and wealth of interstices.
I am so grateful for my visit to this space where I have found a treasure - your words. Your thoughts throw my being straight into a place of self-reflection and dialogue. There in between my shadows I am reminded of the reason why I love and need to make art. I realize that you are not referring here to the studio space to 'let it in.'
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am one who needs to work with my colors, movements, shapes, images, so I can touch more deeply those silent spaces in between, the ones beyond words and beyond intellect. Art gives me more awareness. I enter into the intervals when I create. My instinct and my senses not only touch then this invisible world in between worlds, but I feel one with it. As I exit my studio and enter back into the big wide spaces of life, I am more aware that these spaces in between are songs of Oneness. I hear the perfect brilliant stillness and go 'yes, the world is a miracle of movement, colour, silence, image and sound.’
Thank you for this very inspiring post.