Finding Peace in the Spaces in Between

Pockets to slip within and hideaway, vanishing, unmissed from existence

Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash

I stood in a busy Tokyo market smelling of cheap sweets and grease, lined with vendors selling goodies of convenience to passerbys. The crowd of pedestrians was like a river’s current — one wrong step, and you might be swept away.

Crowds fluster some people, with all the faces and elbows and toes to watch out for. Parents grip children’s hands with white knuckles to avoid getting separated. Everyone’s focus is narrow and directed in front of them while their minds are anywhere but. It’s easy to be overwhelmed or panicked.

However,

I’ve learned that if you shift your perspective just a bit, the situation becomes something else entirely. Instead of focusing on the people, try and notice the s-p-a-c-e-s between them. Once you do, a whole new world reveals itself.

Before you can see this world though, there’s something you must understand. We live in a culture that says life is only lived going forward — slaves to progress. “Don’t look back. We can’t go back. Eyes forward. Focus on the future,” they say.

But the truth is, there are spaces.