This morning I met someone I had not seen for more than ten years – as we both started a walk at the base of Glastonbury Tor; a famous landmark in SW England.
This person had a serious physical injury decades ago which continues to dog him and he has a tendency to ‘get a bee in his bonnet’ (as we say in England!) and to rant.  I noticed an ‘Oh no’ feeling at the outset, as part of the gestalt of my experiencing, but decided to allow space to inform and infuse the encounter; in fact to consider it as being something which had been ‘thrown up’ by space and to engage a spirit of curiosity and openness.
Part of this allowing was a letting go of any tendency to get fixated on ideas about how this unplanned meeting might go, as well as of familiar styles of communication with this person in the form of locking intellectual horns or rising to the bait of provocative and critical remarks. I noticed an unusual spaciousness and interest in me; a sort of warm openness to both my walking companion, the environment (including dogs and people we met as we climbed) and to what might transpire: two new people in an entirely new time.
Both of us, and the whole gestalt of the conversation, were graced by Space. Throughout the conversation I was keenly aware of what I can only describe as the presence of Space, allowing all sorts of options at every juncture; options of content, of tone, of style. Our meeting proved fruitful and friendly, coming to an end at the top of the Tor, looking out over the spacious landscape of the Somerset Levels, with views as far as Dorset, Wiltshire and Wales.
I took leave of my friend and continued my walk down the other side, feeling enriched and energised.