‘Music is the space between the notes’ Claude Debussy
Isn’t that a great concept? I’m not sure what the balance of literal and poetic was in Debussy’s words when he spoke them, and there is a multitude of possible meanings but actually, no matter how you read it, what a stonking metaphor!
I could play for hours with this one, but right now I’m going with a single interpretation: that the space around the notes, albeit infinitesimally small, is where the performer makes her decisions, where artistic judgement is brought to bear about timbre, colour, pace in order to create a unique performance.
The space is not about absence, it is absolutely about presence, if the performer were not ‘there’ in the spaces, there would be no notes.
Isn’t that fabulous! It gives me a great big smile of pleasure every time I think about it. And it is SO apt, as I bring together my two strands of work and explore all the areas of similarity within them.
Take the work I do everyday as a women’s life coach. ‘Space’ is a central tenet of coaching. A regular dedicated period of time (a space in your life) which allows you to tell your story, and enter into an organic process which requires deep thought and generates personal insights (thinking space) and brings about exhilarating changes in the way you go about living your life.
We pin down the immoveable, the written notes as it were i.e. what HAS to be present in your life – I’m thinking about personal values here – then we get creative. For that is the latent power and the joy of the space, the opportunity to start re-creating your life.
Likewise with web design. Again, there are some constraints, your budget and the requirements of search engine optimization being but two. But then, oh my, then there’s space for SO MUCH creativity. To create a visual and written impression of your work. Something beautiful, something powerful, something optimized. Together we create your spacious, new virtual home.
The space isn’t about absence, it is absolutely about presence.
Showing up and fully present: on the web, in your life.
Not absence but presence. No wonder I’m smiling!
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