Space.
I sat down with someone at Akin studios and promised them a quote about my new space. I spent a good part of the day trying to think of a brilliant statement that would shine on social media. But space is so much more than a catchphrase.
At this stage in my life space is a luxury, one that I rarely, if ever take for myself. But spending these first few weeks in my very own studio away from home, outside of the academic setting has offered a glimpse of something I’d simply forgotten. And I’m not talking square footage.
What I’m learning is the distance that space offers can facilitate self-discovery. Ideas come like waves in the quiet of space. And you can ride them onto shore then back out again. Eventually, these ideas seem so familiar that you realise they’ve always been with you, waiting in a shadowy corner to be pulled out, dusted off and placed on display.
In my writing at school, I talked about Virginia Wolf’s thoughts in A Room of One’s Own, and while I still believe she is bang on, and that the path toward greatness exists in these dedicated spaces of female creativity, greatness isn’t really the point.
We shouldn’t justify taking space through the pursuit of greatness. Stretching out of your confines is more than a luxury, it is a necessary kindness. My new space, one that I had a hard time accepting, won’t push me to greatness. But I have become greater. I think more, talk louder, care deeper.
I can feel myself growing in this space, and I may well become too much as a result. There will be bruises as I reach my boundaries. Because growth can be awkward and difficult and glorious.
This. This is what space does.