Prose: The lost art of sacred space

Piso Barceloneta by Isern Serra - featured in Leibel

This is a bizarre and interesting look into space and how we use it from the depth of our inner world and beyond.

Space. 

There are certain times when you crave more of it, 

needed to be backdated or accumulated,

to use in moments when life feels weighted. 

Oftentimes we’re dealing with more than we know what to do with. 

Maybe having more space can move or absorb it?

We humans can hoard. Physically, and emotionally. 

Attaching to ideas, possessions and of course, feelings.

With identities built like an unorganised warehouse,

stacks and stacks of everything and nothing, pile up on the shelves. 

Space gives it all somewhere to go.

Space temporarily gives clutter a home. 

Because space seems like an ever-green, ever lasting essence. 

A force so powerful we come and go from it. 

We see around us the space that has formed an atmosphere to give life,

filled with everything we need to grow and thrive. 

But instead of submerging into the freedom it gives,

we use it like a storage container and keep stuffing more in. 

Not always conscious of how things are piling up,

until one day it just feels like too much.

However it could be true, 

that the more we put in,

the more we lose.

With too much mess inside our minds, 

we forget our way, our vision and foresight.

We lose our boundaries and ability to think.

Overconsumption puts us on the brink.

A human consumes an estimated 74 gigabytes of data per day. 

That’s 16 movies, but it can’t all be retained.

Numb from sensory and cognitive overload.

And what to do with it all, does anyone know?

We often associate the ‘mass-produced’ with the material world,

but the way we’re thinking is at the core of it all. 

Standardised noise no different to standardised products,

flowing off the assembly lines of our phones and our tech,

a hyper-connected world where we know more than we can process.

In a way, we’ve given up our ‘space’ rights.

So much comes in with little to no oversight. 

But the art of having and holding space gives us moments to reflect, 

allowing us to audit, filter and make way for introspect.

To understand who we are and what we believe,

to better to connect to the things we need.

To listen quietly to ourselves and not everything else we see.

This contamination has taken away our ability to think freely, 

replaced by a manufactured version of thinking. 

It keeps us in auto-pilot, and in knee-jerk reaction.

Our internal space is becoming as polluted as our outer, 

but here’s the thing - we are the router. 

We are the master of our minds, 

a space we need back with much on the line. 

Because by the time our evolution catches up in processing capacity,

we’ll be no longer be around for this earth-bound journey.

So bridging the gap between our past and fast-paced future is all we can do,

luckily as humans uncharted territories we often pursue. 

We’re in a constant relationship with space. 

It is us and we are it. 

From the moment we came into existence, 

we’ve used space to create the most momentous. 

With creativity and innovation, through architecture and design, 

through passion and love, we’ve become intwined, 

with all the different ways we’ve made this earth home. 

And now again, it’s time to dive into the unknown. 

A considered effort from each individual, 

to help bridge what has seemingly been unbridgeable.

Because what goes on in our heads, 

is a manifestation that becomes widespread. 

Our inner and outer worlds are dual homes, 

that need re-engineering for climates ahead.

We can start with the practical - our physical zones,

rid ourselves of the unnecessary we don’t need to own. 

Shedding the things that cause disharmony, 

being particular with what comes in - what we use commonly.  

Allowing space to move, breath and contemplate. 

This cleansing practice to help our mental state.

And slowly we cultivate brief moments to pause,

refocusing attention to remember the cause. 

That the art of space is merely a focus, 

for the important things we wish to notice .

Space is a life we can knowingly make. 

Space is the home we choose to create.