What is space?

I’d like to say that space is a state of being rather than a place.

Take a look at a glossy pamphlet from any real estate agent and you will be presented with panoramic photos of spacious interiors and sweeping views. It seems that to have space you need to have a lot of money. Space is expensive. I like to imagine the same clean, black and white minimalist spaces with the clutter of everyday life. Just add to that photo 2 or 3 pairs of discarded shoes, an empty coffee cup, a newspaper, shopping bags, toys played with and abandoned in situ…you get the idea. Lived-in space just doesn’t look like that. It’s an illusion.

Now imagine your own living room full to the brim of ‘stuff’. Give it a mental clear out; pick up and put away, take a whole load of stuff to the op shop, give it a spring clean. Now your impression of space is different. A big room can seem cramped and a small room seem spacious. So space has to be something that cannot be measured in square metres.

Outer Space - that huge Nothingness we cannot really imagine at all.

We say we crave space but perhaps what we crave is balance. Our lives and our minds are too cluttered so naturally the opposite is desirable. But no-one enjoys leading a life empty of friends, plans, ideas, social interaction (and some of us had a real taste of this during lockdown)

“There’s no room to swing a cat in here”. We probably don’t want to do that but having space opens up the potential to all sorts of unexpected and unknown possibilities. And it is this potential energy that feels good.

“I need room to breathe”. It’s not as if our air supply will be cut off if we don’t pay the bill. So why do we say this?

Space is a feeling.

It is a feeling you get in wide open spaces wherever you find them - by the sea or on top of a mountain. And it is also a feeling you can cultivate in your own world of the senses. We can perceive space through our senses, especially our body sense. STOP and sense the space in your own body, between the tip of your nose and the back of your head; between your heels and your hip joints; between your left and you right shoulder. Stop, sense, then carry on with what you were doing and keep sensing space.