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MWC Prompt: Space
Breathing Space
Being Space
I am a longtime martial artist. I learned, one could say the hard way, how to stand my ground, how to take up space or morph my space, when under attack. I learned how to become the space I required.
Kendo practice taught me how to hold my ground and take a hit. A hit that was absorbed by fully armored padding, as is the norm for this art. Shotokan Karate, in which style I earned my black belts, taught me how to strike first, when warranted. I admit I have loved the forms, the martial dance, more than the need to attack and defend. Would we could all embrace that preference.
I am good at sparring because I see what is about to occur before it happens. I was born this way. Does that make me want to hit? No. As a full-on empath, my tendency has never been physical, emotional, spiritual, or psychological violence. I feel what others feel. And not only those physically present. I’ve had to learn about boundaries in ways most don’t need to do.
As I learned to breathe and hold my field, my space, my body became highly sensitized. I learned to open to the magic, the life force that lives within all things, and read it in the moment. I learned that becoming what we want to be requires making space for that to happen. If you are an opening for mastery, it will appear. It…