Space.....the final frontier.

Are there times when you would like to be beamed up to a faraway galaxy? We are in the age where we are bombarded with the sensory assault of our devices, and are involuntarily connected to the turbulence of our world. Our hurried lives are filled with busyness, and every minute is accounted for. By the end of each day we are emotionally and physically exhausted. Time and space are at a premium and a rare luxury. Whether it is alone time with your thoughts or a quiet place for your senses to rest in a painting, we seek out places to breathe. We welcome these ‘spaces’, physical and emotional, and are comforted and calmed as with a good cup of tea.

Wide open fields or ocean vistas may not be in all our cards. Today's ‘space’ guises itself in warmly lit coffee shops, stacks in used book stores, the treadmill at the gym, or perhaps the halls and walls of an art gallery. Creating space for myself and others in my home has come naturally to me, whether it’s for angst and angry teenagers, or for friends and family in healing times when words fail. By creating space for others, we are offering refuges and sanctuaries with no expectations. A place to pause, de-stress and perhaps quietly reflect. A place to just be.

In paintings, this ‘space’ is often referred to as ‘the quiet area’. Artists deliberately create areas where the eyes can rest. These areas are where viewers are invited to ponder, consider and perhaps speculate. For a brief moment, your shoulders relax, your breath softens and your thoughts wander beyond the scope of a one-minute radius.

When our lives become busier and more hectic, finding and allowing space in our lives becomes essential. Whether you create it for others, acquire it on your yoga mat, come upon it while stargazing or identify a personal significance of ‘space’, it will lead to tranquility and maybe some self-discovery. I encourage you to boldly venture into an art gallery and linger in front of a painting. Once you catch yourself breathing, or transported in your thoughts, you will have found ‘space’. Congratulations! Consider yourself an explorer of the ‘final frontier’. “Live long and prosper”.