What are the roles of Space Holders in times of collapse and transition?
Silhouetting the art of space holding through the exploration of eleven roles
I am not one coherent self; there are countless versions of myself within me, some are more prominent and louder than others, some haven’t been listened to in years, but they are all there. This is also, and perhaps more intentionally so, true in my work as a transition facilitator and Space Holder.
Attempting to explain space holding as one coherent role is extremely challenging, if not impossible. To me, spaceholding can be best described as the practice of creating the emotional, societal, physical, relational, cognitive and creative conditions for the potential emergence of wiser and thriving futures.
The art of space holding is a dance of roles, either embodied by one person or carried as a collective; it is a commitment to pre-emergence without the (perceived) safety of certainty or controllability. This practice requires emotional resilience, collapse-awareness, mental strength and the recognition that this is a collectively carried journey. Therefore, we need to be honest in discerning the needs of ourselves and others in this process of unravelling, composing, expanding and healing.
It’s a fluid dance of intuition and attunement, constantly seeking: what role is needed here, who can fulfil this role, who is in the right mental/emotional/physical space to do so? Context is everything, and for me, the work of a space holder is to be hyper context aware and honest to what is necessary within this context to hold a space carefully, safely and respectfully.
Silhouetting the art of space holding
Space holding is a practice that takes many forms and shapes. In the coming months, we are going to dive deeper into eleven roles of space holders. The number of roles might shrink or expand as we go. In my work as a regenerative transition facilitator and experience designer, I have either embodied these roles myself or practised the art of space holding with someone who embodied that role. In addition to my work as regenerative transition facilitator, the stewarding of the collective book project Seismic Questions has led my co-initiator Joy Njeri (The Art of Joy Becoming US) and me to embody, test and play with the roles, tools and practices of space holding that crossed our paths. We are in a constant dynamic of clarity, confusion and expansion.
Space holding and pre-emergence
The roles of space holding aren’t linear or direct. They aren’t pursuing a pre-determined outcome or north star. It’s in the words; they are holding space. They are protecting, healing, and expanding physical, relational, emotional, social, and cognitive spaces. It’s a non-linear practice (without expectations or projections) of nurturing the conditions that arise before emergence. Before we can perceive an emerging reality and a change in the matter, things have been moving on the fringes.
The question is, what are we giving space to? Are we constantly reacting to the present? Or will nurture the conditions for pre-emergence even if we don’t know what those potentially wiser realities might look like? It takes courage, patience and calmness to hold space for pre-emergence when the world is screaming for urgent action and quick fixes.
“It is easier to name what is seen and strive to change it. But what if what is seen is already old news? Is the search for direct correctives a search in vain, and looking in the wrong places? Like the story of the man who is looking for his keys at night, only where he can already see under the streetlamp. It is time to ask: “How to stop looking for the car keys under the streetlamp when it is known the keys were lost in the forest?” Just because it is possible to measure and describe emergent events after the submergent coalescence does not justify turning away from the difficulty of addressing their nascent becoming. These pre-emergent processes are more challenging to define, but at least equally necessary to consider?”
APHANIPOIESIS, Nora Bateson, International Bateson Institute
Individuals are not clear, coherent selves, and the roles we embody are not static. They rotate, in a constant movement, following the dynamics of the context. All roles can be embodied by one person, but they don’t have to be. Depending on the context, I work with others who are more suitable to fulfil the roles. For example, if you are holding space for a grassroots movement that you aren’t a part of, it’s probably wiser to invite someone from the movement to embody the role of storyteller, as they aren’t your stories to hold, tell or heal. I find it helps to constantly ask myself (and others), “What is the right role in this context and who can best embody this role at this present moment?”
In this article, we start with a bird view over the roles of space holders we recognised, explored and practised so far. We are certain this is not a list that can ever be complete, but a fluid one that, again, depending on context, might expand or shrink.
(The) Roles of Space Holders
Flow Finder
Bringing forth momentum and flow
Heart Opener (Mystica)
Nurturing our guts, hearts, awe and spirit
Dream Nurturer
Creating invitations into collective dream spaces
Weaver
Weaving relations between humans, more-than-human-beings view and the land
Question Holder
Identifying, holding, protecting and expanding questions that can rearrange our being
Shit Composter
Holding space for the processing of harm and complicity
Healer
Being present for and supporting healing journeys of (more-than-) human beings
Present Listener
Tuning in with openness to all beings
Experience Designer
Shaping intentional experiences for moments of inquiry, conversation and transition
Storyteller (Subroles: Story-hospicer, holder, healer and doula)
Hospicing, Healing, Holding and Birthing Stories of Life
Context Presencer
Acknowledging and presencing context in her relationality
To deepen our understanding of the art of space holding, we are writing a series of articles, one for each role. But before we share our perspective and understanding of these roles, we are very curious to hear from you.
Do you recognise these roles? How do you feel about perceiving the art of space holding through the lens of space holding?
What roles are you naturally more drawn to? How do you nurture these roles? How do you bring the roles you personally don’t embody to your practice of space holding?
Do you feel any roles are missing?
What metaphors, qualities and practices surface when you are reflecting on these roles?
We would truly love to hear from you and explore the art of space holding collectively! As we all need to hold and be held more.
What is wealth?
On the 27th of November, Dorine van der Wijk invites us to hold space for the question “What is wealth?”, not to seek answers or solutions, but to embody the question and let her rearrange our way of being.
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