Space as Metaphor

An Open-Source Conceptual Framework

Space as Metaphor

Charter

Article 1: Space Honors Complexity

We affirm that space is not void, but layered. It resists reduction and invites deep interconnection.

Space Honors Complexity recognizes that simple solutions often create more problems than they solve. Real transformation happens when we can hold paradox, ambiguity, and multiple perspectives without rushing to resolution.

Article 2: Space Holds Story

We commit to creating and protecting space for multiple, coexisting narratives to unfold.

Space Holds Story acknowledges that every person, organization, and community carries narratives that shape their reality. We can’t do meaningful work without understanding and honoring these stories.

Article 3: Space is Historical and Indigenous

We recognize space as carrying memory and commit to honoring its cultural, ancestral, and Indigenous dimensions.

Space is Historical and Indigenous grounds us in the recognition that we’re not starting from scratch. Every space we enter carries the weight of what came before, and indigenous ways of knowing offer profound wisdom about relationship, reciprocity, and stewardship.

Article 4: Space Welcomes Uncertainty

We accept uncertainty as a condition for emergence and growth, not a failure of knowing.

Space Welcomes Uncertainty invites us to stay curious instead of rushing to certainty. Some of the most transformative moments happen in the spaces between knowing and not-knowing.

Article 5: Space Holds Trauma and Healing

We approach space as a container for grief and a field for restoration—personally and collectively.

Space Holds Trauma and Healing recognizes that any meaningful change work must account for both individual and collective wounds, while also creating conditions for repair and regeneration.

Article 6: Space is Chaos and Home

We hold space for rupture, disorientation, and reorientation. Space can unsettle and shelter.

Space is Chaos and Home embraces the paradox that transformation requires both disruption and safety, both challenge and comfort

Article 7: Space is Methodology

We use space as an ethical and epistemological guide. It shapes how we learn, relate, and transform together.

Space is Methodology reminds us that how we do something is as important as what we do. Our methods must embody the values we’re trying to create.

Sign the Charter

Use Cases

Learn More

Re-Evaluating Our Worth As Human Beings

A reflection on worth beyond productivity—AI acceleration, privilege, and identity—ending with a simple question: what do we actually need?

Accountability Over Accuracy — Spaciology Chronicles

A boardroom interruption shifts the room. David chooses repair over being right—and learns how accountability can widen trust.

Space As Home (Part 3): From Heroics To Habitat

The hero’s journey is a beautiful story. It is also a dangerous default. In its modern form, the hero narrative trains us to believe that transformation is a personal achievement accomplished through willpower, certainty, and conquest.

Space as Home (Part 2): Shared Space and the Ethics of Attention

If internal space is the room you live in alone, shared space is the room you co-create with others.

Space as Home (Part 1): Living Inside a Belief System

Beliefs are not only opinions floating in the mind. They are the invisible architecture that shapes what we notice, what we dismiss, what we fear, what we desire, and what we think is possible.

Use & Attribution

Space as Metaphor is offered for open use and shared application across many contexts. While the framework itself is not meant to be modified, you are welcome to apply it in your own work and practice.

If you do, please credit the source:

Based on Space as Metaphor by Rev. Dr. Robert Levey
Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

For support in applying the framework to your work—or to share what emerges—feel free to reach out to me at robert@exponentialsquared.com.

Space as Metaphor