Day I Space Awareness: space in sky and street

This weekend I am participating in the Miksang Contemplative workshop level IV which is about space awareness. Space as form and form as space. Visual space can be wide open (sky) and it can be solid (street or wall).

"Form and space have an intimate relationship: space intensifies the clarity of form and form creates boundaries that bring out visual space."

Our human eye is trained to go from one object to another, but in this workshop our intention was on the space between the objects, around them or on space itself. As we are not used to do this, is requires some grounding and practice.

Visual space can sometimes feel very two-dimensional like fields or levels and at other times it can feel three-dimensional with depth and openness. Sometimes it feels flat, full and tight and at other times it feels startling, because we are so used to looking at things that to see the absence of things can through us off balance.

All perceptions appear in space: color, texture, light, moments, contact and simplicity. Seeing forms and objects as anchors for space is a different way of looking. Space is everywhere, all around us, everywhere.

three layers of a building

three orange balls and a grey sky

The assignment of this first day was to set our intention on space, to walk the streets of Zandvoort leisurely and to look at space on the streets and sidewalks as well as looking up and seeing space in the sky with or without anchor points. To feel the assignment right we looked only at space, not at the people or little things in it and we examined whether we experienced space at forms or not.

white street markings

wooden staircase

"Seeing space creates a greater field in which flashes of perception can occur. By reducing fixation on objects, you can open your eyes more, or mind more and go out farther and farther, feeling the spacious quality of the world."

triangles in the sky

Since the beginning of the workshop we've all felt more open or spacious not only in ourselves, but also in the world around us. We feel more relaxed, cared less about the time during the day and felt lighter and happier. And this was only day 1 where we explored the spaces of street and sky.

Quotes are from the book: The Practice of Contemplative Photography. Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes. By Andy Karr and Michael Wood.