Appreciating and participating in differences as a way to understand one another and the wholeness of humanity. Self-observation-transparency and honesty. What does happen in the space between? Inquiry, inquiry, inquiry.

Here are some blocks to the space between as known to me through self-observation and the feedback: How do we invite as child who does not want to do homework in into the space between? Can we engage our lovers in meaningful dialogue about physical intimacy? Only if we self-observe can we know if are entering the space between. Sometimes it is difficult to enter the space between with the people with whom we are closest. They invite isolation rather than connection. It has nothing to do with compromise or the trivial attempt to “agree to disagree.” Nor can the space between be lived when confusions and insecurities and incompatibilities are supposedly resolved by emphasizing differences and the letting each person go their own way.Ĭomments such as “we are wired differently” or “men are from Mars and women are from Venus” only create artificial boundaries. Let’s eliminate some mistaken notions about the space between. Was there participation in the space between? How do you know? What allowed for it? When it wasn’t there what blocked it? And so before this writing can go any further I must ask you to recall interactions of the past 48 hours. Nevertheless, self-reflection, as the useful practice of journaling exemplifies, can provide insight into what has occurred and motivation to be more diligent in self-observing. Self-observation allows us to see clearly who we are in any given moment and thus dissolves conditioning, dissolves the major impediment to self-knowledge. Conditioning in childhood demands that we see only part of reality-the part which corresponds to dominant cultural agenda whether dictated by family, school, religion, or media, and usually in combination of all or most of these. Self-observation is central to self-knowledge. Yet the space is the ground from which all objects take form. Most people name a specific object such as a tree, or a cloud, or a plant. I have done this exercise with many: Standing in a field I point in a direction and ask what is seen. If we don’t listen into that space we never hear the harmony, the subtle melding in which the richness emerges as our own inner knowing. Music lives in the space between the notes.

All the space in between