One-Hit Wonders

One-Hit Wonders

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I suppose we are all one hit wonders,
each heart beat
within every human
unique and melodic
in its own way,
every sunset poetic,
every tear prophetic,
each dream sacred
within the undulating folds
of each day
wrapped inside the memories of a universe,
composed of quantum
strings
that sing
across a Milky Way
on a Tuesday
afternoon
entertaining Thursdays
on Friday morning
when Mondays are forgotten
in the twilight of our lives
as we grapple with the questions
we were too afraid to ask
ourselves
when we chased time
and space
only to realize
that what we think
is not how we feel,
or real,
in the ways we were taught
in schools
with arbitrary rules
protected by men
and their tools,
fools
carrying ideas on their backs,
building bombs
and launching attacks
on outer spaces
that bleed
within hearts
that need
sunsets
and tears
more than numbers and years,
rivers and dreams
more than pots of gold,
laughter and love
more than certainty,
because rainbows
never grow old
nor do hearts
that open and fold
in a universe that may be black
yet need not be cold,
because the meaning of life
is in between the spaces we see,
it’s what we hold
and what we breathe,
blurring the difference
between you and me
earth,
sky
and sea,
as we wave
within another
for eternity,
blades of grass
swaying in open spaces
carrying the remnants
and faint traces
of the lives lost
and the cost
because silence
is a sound
that feels hollow,
and we are what we follow.

About Spaciology

Spaciology is not abstract theory; rather, it is a practice you can feel.

  • Inside: Pause, breathe, notice.
  • Outside: Design rooms, rituals, and agendas that slow the spin and invite care.
  • Between us: Make dialogue a place where different truths can live together long enough to teach something.

Ultimately, leadership is the art of making space for what’s important (for everyone) and letting that clarity shape the next step. When we change the spaces from which we lead, our strategies change with them.

Spaciology Learning Commons

Want to go further? Join the Spaciology Learning Commons.

Membership gives you free access to community conversations, courses, introductory resources, and the complete Field Guide.

Stay in Touch

Spaciology Learning Commons

Want to go further? Join the Spaciology Learning Commons.

Membership gives you free access to community conversations, courses, introductory resources, and the complete Field Guide.

The Meaning of Freedom

The Meaning of Freedom

Freedom, NH Town Hall

This past weekend, I had occasion to visit Freedom, NH for their Old Home Week Celebration—an experience that changed my perspective on what it means to be human.

Yes, this sounds dramatic, but transformation of perspective is not a process that abstractly happens in a person’s head. Rather, it is an embodied experience that can be significantly enhanced in the presence of others.

Certainly, I have had my fair share of enlightening experiences in academic settings. I have cried after reading some academic literature, and I have felt my entire body tingle when people consciously bring their complete selves to dialogues.

More than Pancakes

What I found beautiful about the celebration in Freedom this weekend was captured in their pancake breakfast this morning. I witnessed neighbors hugging, people smiling, folks donating resources and time to bring people together over plates of fruit, donuts, pancakes, eggs, and sausage.

I sat at a table with strangers and learned about a woman’s love of this town, where she lives, and how several events from this past week were to contribute to the education of kids. I overhead conversations and listened to the stories of people I may never see again.

What I most remember, however, was the smiles on people’s faces—people of all ages, brought together in a town hall that looked like something from a Normal Rockwell postcard. The event was free, but people were encouraged to bring food or cash to support the local food pantry. I brought cash.

Seeking Connection

As I sat and observed the people around me, I felt like I was part of something intimate and yet much larger than just me. I was witnessing humanity at its best.

Why did I drive 20 minutes for a breakfast I could have made for myself with my beautiful mountain views? For the same reason everyone else made their way to a small town hall on the eastern edges of New Hampshire on a gorgeous summer morning.

We wanted to connect, get roped into conversations with strangers, watch kids eat pancakes with their little fingers, and watch other people watch us watch them and smile.

Creating Space for New Friends

There is so much ugliness in this world, and there always has been. There is so much beauty in this world, too, and we do not need to look far to find it.

We cannot systematically address the ills of this world, but we can break bread—or pancakes—with our neighbors.

I do not know if the people at this breakfast were Republicans or Democrats. I did not speak with anyone about their political views.

I drank coffee and ate too many pancakes, and I smiled at strangers who often smiled at me first. In today’s experience, Space as Metaphor was more than a metaphor. It existed in a town hall in Freedom, NH, and the only way I discovered it is because I was there.

Sharing Space

Space as Metaphor is not an invitation to abstraction. It is an invitation to share our lives with others and move beyond the conventional labels invented by men who do not know you or me.

When we define one another with simplistic words, we reduce one another to caricatures. It is both sad and painful because we are much more than any single word can possibly fathom.

So what is the meaning of Freedom? I am not entirely sure, except I am certain it is a shared experience, one made much more memorable over pancakes and laughter.

Ultimately, the meaning exists in my heart, and I have strangers in a small town in NH whom I can thank for this humble reminder. We are human beings and we belong to one another—and that is the true meaning of Freedom.

About Spaciology

Spaciology is not abstract theory; rather, it is a practice you can feel.

  • Inside: Pause, breathe, notice.
  • Outside: Design rooms, rituals, and agendas that slow the spin and invite care.
  • Between us: Make dialogue a place where different truths can live together long enough to teach something.

Ultimately, leadership is the art of making space for what’s important (for everyone) and letting that clarity shape the next step. When we change the spaces from which we lead, our strategies change with them.

Spaciology Learning Commons

Want to go further? Join the Spaciology Learning Commons.

Membership gives you free access to community conversations, courses, introductory resources, and the complete Field Guide.

Stay in Touch

Spaciology Learning Commons

Want to go further? Join the Spaciology Learning Commons.

Membership gives you free access to community conversations, courses, introductory resources, and the complete Field Guide.

The Sun Will Never Set

The Sun Will Never Set

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There is a world inside
every song 
experienced in every heart
within the souls
of those who live on planets
that spin
inside galaxies that turn,
dreams that burn
within
the hopes and fears
of lost men at sea,
always searching
for the elusive ‘me’
within the me
that cannot change
because it must not die
nor must we try
to decipher
because
there is space
in every time,
time in every space,
love in every trace
of what once was
alive and real,
tangible and could feel
the wind,
the fire,
the earth,
and the sea
that churns beneath
the sky,
the dome,
the envelope,
the home,
the beauty
amidst the fear
behind the smile,
perched on the tear
of the woman
who holds
and carries the sphere,
the here
beyond the now,
past the how,
outside the known,
beneath the love,
outside thought,
before yesterday
and tomorrow
exists a universal sorrow
that once one is,
one eventually will not,
and yet galaxies will spin
and light will travel
and the sun will never set.

About Spaciology

Spaciology is not abstract theory; rather, it is a practice you can feel.

  • Inside: Pause, breathe, notice.
  • Outside: Design rooms, rituals, and agendas that slow the spin and invite care.
  • Between us: Make dialogue a place where different truths can live together long enough to teach something.

Ultimately, leadership is the art of making space for what’s important (for everyone) and letting that clarity shape the next step. When we change the spaces from which we lead, our strategies change with them.

Spaciology Learning Commons

Want to go further? Join the Spaciology Learning Commons.

Membership gives you free access to community conversations, courses, introductory resources, and the complete Field Guide.

Stay in Touch

Spaciology Learning Commons

Want to go further? Join the Spaciology Learning Commons.

Membership gives you free access to community conversations, courses, introductory resources, and the complete Field Guide.