Seeing the Invisible Half of Life

Essay #7

 What do you see in the image above? If you’re like most, your eye is probably immediately drawn to the colorful kite first, then perhaps the cloud below it, and then the bright blue sky. There’s no right answer, by the way. The point I want to make, though, is that blue is space, and it takes up most of the image. What’s in that space that’s invisible is the moving air, the wind that’s holding that kite aloft. Without it, the kite wouldn’t have a chance.

“What’s essential is invisible to the eye.” ~ Saint Antoine de Exupéry, The Little Prince

When it comes to what we see or perceive, there is always something and nothing, yet we tend to focus our attention on the somethings. The somethings are visible and often tangible. What we call nothing is invisible and intangible. In the art world, this is called figure and ground or form and space. An artist needs to be aware of both.

“The intangible represents the real power of the universe. It is the seed of the tangible. It is living void because all forms come out of it, and whosoever realizes the void is filled with life and power and the love of all beings.“ ~ Bruce Lee via Brain Pickings

Something intangible cannot be touched or grasped; it doesn’t have physical presence. Yet, according to Lee, it holds the real power of the universe and is the seed of the tangible. 

John Cage

The artist/musician John Cage is most well known for his musical piece called 4’33, where a musician sits at a piano for four minutes and 33 seconds without playing anything. Instead, the piece composes itself anew every time through the ambient sounds in the room. Watch one rendering here.

Cage also wrote two provocative pieces for his book, Silence – Lecture on Nothing and Lecture on Something. I wrote about those here. My favorite line is, “I have nothing to say and I am saying it.” In each moment, we are creating our lives on a blank canvas in everything we say, don’t say, do or don’t do. 

Cage is saying that somethings are always created out of nothing; the intangible, living void. They’re not a form of self-expression; instead they are an inner response to what is external. One starts with a structure that is empty and all possibilities are on the table. He wants us to wake up to this very moment. Don’t judge it or try to make meaning of it. Just see it for what it is and then respond.

It is through reading Cage that I’ve experimented with noticing my own likes and dislikes, and seeing how they hold me back from seeing reality clearly. The point is not to like what you dislike, or to dislike what you like. It is to let things be as they are. Life is continually throwing things at us, some of which we’ll like, and some we won’t. All that matters is what we do with it. 

The perceptual space is how we experience life through the senses. It’s the nothing upon which all something’s emerge; it’s true presence, the experience of being before thinking. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a linear process. Rather, our perceptions are the foundation or backdrop of our experience. Becoming aware of this perceptual space, of “no-thing,” can bring depth and richness to our lives.

First, let’s look at what we might see in that space, and then, the state of mind or being required to see it.

Field of Vision

The field of vision is the entire area that a person or animal is able to see when their eyes are fixed in one position. Everything within this field is part of your perception at the moment, whether you’re conscious of it or not. Within that field there are not only visible objects, but also space and a whole web of relationships, as we saw with the image at the top of this post.

In order to truly see, one must be aware of this field and to consider how it’s constantly changing depending on where one is standing. As you pan your head from left to right, your perspective changes. If you move to a different spot, your perspective changes again. New possibilities for seeing emerge. Even if you stay in the same spot, it is always a dynamic, living field.

“The human eye always sees twice in the one look: the thing and the emptiness. The conviction that each individual is separate and utterly alone makes us blind to that subtle world that dwells between things.” - John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace

In his book, Come of Age, Stephen Jenkinson talks about the fabric of life, the warp and weft of the world. The warp is the visible design (what we see) and the weft contains the invisible threads, the fundament that holds everything together. Patrick Shen calls this “the other half of things.” 

There are many invisible things that impact our field of vision - sounds, smells, thoughts, and emotions, to name a few. And, of course, there’s the space which exists between things and the air that moves through it. Every encounter we have in our life is influenced by this invisibility, and unique to a particular time and place.

Theologian Thomas Berry said, “the universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects.” We sometimes sense or intuit these invisible relationships but we can never perceive them exactly. Berry also talked about the numinous quality of things, their essence or sacred and awe-inspiring quality. These too are invisible. For now, let’s consider the invisible aspects of space, air, and breath.

Space, Air, and Breath

”When we pay attention to the spaces between the things of the world, whole new perceptions come into our awareness. Looking into the branches and trunks, between the things of the world, is a fundamental practice for opening our attentional focus, for stretching ourselves beyond our predominant view, our habits, our fearful projections. Opening like this, we experience a kind of spaciousness. We see a new coherence, a new wholeness.” ~ Laura Sewall, Sight and Sensibility

I started really noticing the space between things while practicing Miksang contemplative photography and it transformed the way I see. Photographer Uta Barth is a master at photographing this way of seeing. She became interested in the background information of a scene - that which surrounds, brackets, and creates a container for a subject. 

“I want to make images purely of light, negative space, volumes of space, slow time.” ~ Uta Barth

In her series Ground, she flips the figure/ground relationship completely. By focusing the camera on the unoccupied foreground (the space in front of her), and blurring the scene, she eliminates any subject. The camera is pointed at an empty volume, creating impressions of space. If you find this as fascinating as I do, you can try it for yourself. The image below is one of mine, taken in my office. 

However, you don’t have to photograph at all. Just bring your awareness to the space between things as you go about your day and see if it helps you to see the invisible threads that tie everything together. Negative space becomes as important as positive space. 

Air moves through space and is also an element not seen with the eye, yet we feel its effects - whether cool or warm, blowing or still, humid or dry, polluted or refreshing. It’s always moving and changing, swirling around everything without discrimination. Air is so omnipresent that it’s easy to take it for granted. 

I live near a large lake, so it tends to be windier than most places. In the summer, the warm breeze is a welcome respite from the heat. In the winter, I often have to brace myself for the biting cold wind as I walk outdoors. I tend to take note of the direction that the air is moving and how the temperature changes depending on which direction I’m walking. I notice the effects of the wind, especially on trees and water and clouds. This has led to many photographic opportunities using movement. 

Breath is another invisible yet indispensable element that is present in every moment. As you read these words, your body is breathing in the oxygen from the air around you and then breathing out carbon dioxide. We depend on the air we breathe to live. Noticing your breath is a great way to bring yourself back to the present. Taking deep breaths, through your nose, not your mouth, is a way to calm your nervous system and get out of your head.

Can you see the life that pulses through all things? Pay attention to the invisible half of life today. 

Creating Space for Seeing the Invisible

Just as space is essential in the world around us, it’s also important in the mind and in your life. In the book, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, author Pema Chodron talks about the two different types of mind – sem and ripka – sem being the constant chatter that goes on in our minds and ripka being the wisdom or intelligence behind the chatter. Sounds similar to something and nothing. She goes on to say,

“Once we’ve been touched by the spaciousness of ripka, it begins to permeate everything. Once we’ve even had a glimpse of spaciousness, it will continue to expand. It expands into our resentment. It expands into our fear. It expands into our concepts and opinions about things and into who we think we are.”

Allowing space in your mind gives ripka the chance to emerge, and then it touches all of the other areas of your life. Like still water that reflects everything around it, we can become a blank slate to receive the world as it is, if we practice presence. In this state, we let what is within merge with what comes up spontaneously. Therein lies the power for something new to emerge, to create something out of nothing.

Practices in Seeing the Invisible

Take moments throughout the day to consider your field of vision. Look straight ahead and then slowly pan from left to right and back again. Where does your eye land? What do you notice on a second or third go around that you didn’t notice on the first. And finally, what relationships can you identify? 

As you become aware of a perception, take note of what’s invisible. What’s behind, inside, and between each subject/object? You don’t have to name or guess or even imagine what this might be. As a matter of fact, it’s better that you don’t. Just recognize that it’s there and a part of the perception. Take note of the space around you and between things. Make a photograph where space is the main subject. 

Do some star-gazing. There’s nothing like looking at the night sky to be aware of the immensity of space.

Close your eyes and feel the air on your face and the rest of your body. Open your mouth and taste the air. Take note of its quality - movement, temperature and effects. What do you smell in the air? How does this noticing change your experience? Make a photograph where air is the main subject? Note that this is different from space. We should be able to tell what the air is like from the photograph. Was it a windy day or very still? You can use intentional camera movement or use a long shutter speed.

Make space in your mind. Meditate with a focus on the breath. Breathe deeply in and out several times and notice how that makes you feel. Be grateful for your breath. 

What do you see more clearly when you’re aware of space, air, and breath, your mind? Celebrate the power of the invisible aspects of your life.

Resources

Uta Barth is a photographer who was inspired by Irwin and answers similar questions using her camera. She photographs the normally unseen parts of our visual world, specializing in the art of looking, itself. Here’s an example of her work, Nowhere Near. In this article,  Barth talks about this series and her approach. She reframes photography itself by focusing entirely on how we see and what we overlook.

The Meaning of Air - Boyce Upholt via Emergence Magazine