Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Spaces Inbetween

Yesterday our yoga teacher told us to focus on the spaces in between. Between the poses. Between the breath. Those places that no one looks at, but are so important. I thought about it--probably because yoga is the only place I can think.

And I thought, those places are interesting. We never look at those places--they are the void, the invisible--and yet it is where so much happens. Mostly everything, in fact.

I thought about a figure drawing class I took. One night the teacher challenged us to draw our figures in reverse; Instead of forming the figures out of shapes, we formed the figures out of the shapes that were not there. The figures still appeared on the page. Sometimes more real than if we had just focused on the figure herself.

I thought about my life. I am in one of those places in between. I am between jobs. Between working and not working. Between being the mother of a small child and the mother of two kids who are pretty independent. It is a strange, still place that is both wonderful and infuriating. I am neither here nor there. I am hard to define. I am growing, but unevenly and in what direction I cannot yet clearly see.

I want something to happen, and yet this time is so precious as it is--wide open, not rushed, full of possibility, with time to dream and experiment. And, I realized, it is the most interesting time. The spaces in between are when new things are born, when new ideas take root, when transitions silently, under the skin, take place.

For now, in this time before spring, I will appreciate the space in between.

It is just so hard.

2 comments:

jecca said...

Great book! http://www.rorystewartbooks.com/

Ilaria said...

i have read it! and it is wonderful. i matches some image i have of myself--however unrealistic...