Space Is What Lets You Come Closer: A Forest Lesson for Leaders and Parents

The sun, which the entire world depends on, is warm, lovely and life-giving only because of the space between it and us. Bring it closer and it burns everything. Water flows and gives life because of the space it carries. In a forest, trees space themselves naturally so that each one can flourish.

Space is nature's way of creating balance.

What the forest taught me

I walk up to 35 dogs at a time, off-leash, in a 175-acre forest in Quebec. When I started, I wanted every dog close to me. I thought close meant safe. Close meant control.

It took me years to understand the opposite. The dogs who trust me most are the ones I give the most room to. They run ahead, they sniff, they explore, and they check back in on their own. Because nobody is crowding them, they choose to come close.

When you are responsible for that many lives moving freely through open space, you learn something quickly: you are not in control. You are in a relationship.

Space is what allows you to come closer.

Music is made by the silence between the notes

It is said that music is made by the silence between the notes. Relationships work the same way. To experience something deeply, we hold it close. But to see it clearly, we need distance. That is the natural rhythm of life: come in close, feel the intensity, then give space.

Space allows people and relationships to simply be. It lets them flourish and express themselves fully. And it lets us regulate ourselves, so we respond instead of react.

Space as a father

My son is five. He naturally wants to be himself as he grows. It is in my nature to want to keep him close. Today I understand that to stay close, he needs space. As a father, giving that distance is sometimes hard. But I know it is necessary.

Space as a leader

I see the same thing in teams. A manager who checks every email, joins every call and corrects every small decision is trying to keep the team close. What actually happens is the team pulls away. They stop thinking. They stop trying. They wait to be told.

Give people a clear path and room to walk it, and something different happens. They explore. They make small mistakes and fix them. And they come back to you with ideas, not just questions.

That is not the same as disappearing. The dogs know I am there. They can hear me, see me, find me. Space only works when trust is already in place. You stay present. You just stop crowding.

Space within

There is one more kind of space. I came to Canada from India, and my early understanding of the world came from that environment. Today I see many things differently. Neither view is the full truth, because both came from outside. To truly know yourself, you need space within: space between all the thoughts, ideas and beliefs you have gathered.

A simple practice

Sit quietly in a natural place. Your backyard, near water, beside a tree. Notice the distance between you and everything around you. Then imagine all of it pressed very close to your body. Notice how that feels. Let it go, and return to how things are.

Then take that into your day and ask one question: Where does space matter?

Usually, it is right where you are holding on the tightest.