The Thin Space

Hey, good morning, Cadre. How are we doing today? How are you? I hope you are good. I really, really, really do. If you're not okay, that is. If you're not doing great, that's okay too. As you maybe heard me mention earlier this week. Right. I heard from someone that whenever they hear me say that, I hope you're great, but if you're not great, that's okay too. That it makes them question if they belong here or not. Meaning they go, I'm always great. And you provide this option for people to not be great.

So what if I'm not supposed to be great? No. Right. That's the world that we live in. The world says that we either belong here or we belong here. We're either healthy or we're not. We're either grieving or we're not. We're either a caretaker or we're not. We're either looking at that, developing into a better person or we're not. In reality, life doesn't work that way. We're always on this space of being able to be curious and courageous and thoughtful. And other times the alignment of those things changes.

Right? Jules, Robert, everybody else who kind of ticker taped in there really quick. I didn't get to see your names, but I hope you're doing well. Let me know how you're doing. On Sundays, we talk a lot about self care and I kick off the day with this idea of thin space. Thin space is the space in between everything that has happened and everything that will happen. We can call that presence or mindfulness or. But in reality, if we take to a very rational space, right. We often hear phrases like put your money where your mouth is or, you know, where your mind is.

You know, like all of the things. It's like the power of going, I'm going to focus on something. So if you think of where you normally focus, do you focus on the past, do you focus on the future? Or do you focus on literally the moment that you're in right now that's already done and then there's the next moment and then it's done and the next moment and it's done. Humanity is really good at thinking back and thinking ahead and not very good at being where we are with what we got and making the most out of it.

In one of my workplaces, there's been this video playing lately of these two people laying on this very lush green hillside in the rain. You know, it's a video where they show moments and pictures and there's voiceovers and music in the background. And every time I see those two people off in the distance laying on the side of the hill while it's raining. Like, I think back to moments that I've been in spaces like that, you know, where the weather happens or where the world seems big or open or where the air, you can literally taste it, it changes you.

And every single time I'm in those moments, normally it's a. I want to get out of this, right? It's like, oh, it starts raining when you're outside. For the most part, it's not a comfortable space. And most of the time, the reason why is because we think about where we're going next. I'm going to this place and I want to be wet all day, or da, da, da, da, da. But I think back on those moments and I go, gosh, I'd love to be in that moment again. I'd love to be in that connection to the world or the, like, the saturation of everything going on around.

And it makes me think about a favorite quote of mine by Viktor Frankl. I always paraphrase quotes. I never say them correctly, but I take that as me honoring them. Me being changed by them. Yeah, Jules, exactly. Like splashing the puddles as a kid while it's raining. Kids normally want to be in that space, and then even on the other side of that space, then they want to be on the. Coming back inside, warming up, taking off the. The rain clothes, having something warm or something snuggly. We lose that.

And I think we lose that not because we. We lose a part of ourselves, but because we get into that space of like, where have I been? Or where I'm. Where am I going? That affects how I look at the moment that we're in. So that Viktor Frankl quote. Viktor says that the space in between something happening and us reacting to it, that's where our power is. So, like, let's say. Let's say you're outside in the rain. Ah, it's raining. If you can stretch that moment before you react to it, there's power there.

Because I think the reaction that we normally have is something like, oh, my gosh, now I'm going to be wet for that meeting, or I'm going to be wet for that thing that I'm going to. Or I don't have enough time today to go ahead and change. All these shoes are new. Or. Right. The reaction is very close to the action. But if we can experience the thing and then stretch out the moment until we Go. So what does this mean? I think that's a really great way to look at doing thin space work. So, like today, maybe you have a dog who.

Who really wants you to throw the ball in the backyard today. And all of a sudden, like, you're, like, done, but the dog wants you to throw it one more time. Throwing the ball one more time is a way to stretch that space from thing happening to us experiencing it or to us reacting to it. Kelly. Yeah. In a space of wonderment, right? The ability to go, huh, this is something without saying what this is. Kelly. I'm gonna keep that with me today, right? The ability to say, wow, this is something without defining exactly what it is.

That's how I interpret Kelly's wonderment message here. When all of a sudden we can go, wow, the world is happening. Wow. I'm a part of it. That's the thin space. So that's my invitation to you today. Stretch the space, lay on the grass, let the rain fall, throw the ball one more time. Because guess what? The future will be here. But by the time it is, it won't be the future anymore. And the past is always going to be there. So when you got the moments to wander back to it, take them. They ask you, how much time do you spend in the thin space?

It's a good thing to think about. Y'all have a great day. I'll see you tomorrow.