✨My new book✨間 MA: Japanese wisdom for a spacious life

        How did I get here? I often wonder
        when in a new place,
        thinking of this temple, or this garden, or this café
        while meaning this life.

I remember the first time I went to Kyōto, aged nineteen, barely able to construct a full sentence in Japanese but enchanted by all I could not understand.

In the three decades since, much has changed on the surface. Technology has made Japan more visible to the outside world, and its selfie-worthy backdrops have rendered it the hottest travel destination on the planet. Robots serve in cafés. There are foreigners everywhere. Flocks of people flit from place to place, striking a pose, posting an update, gathering ‘likes’.

But away from all that, beneath all that, perhaps little that matters has changed. Rivers of story still flow, spirits are quietly honoured, beauty endures.

These days, I could travel anywhere, and yet I keep returning to Japan, drawn to the places where darkness dances with light, transience births poetry, and nature is worthy of prayer. Always in search of something half-hidden, as subtle as a wisp of smoke.

Over time that something, ungraspable as it may be, has revealed itself as ‘ma’.

Distance that bridges.

Stillness that opens.

Silence that connects.

Now I understand that whenever I return to Japan, I am doing so in search of ‘ma’.

間 ma (noun, Japanese): pause; gap; interval; space between things

Friends, it is with absolute joy that I can finally share what I have quietly been working on for a long while now.

I have written a new book: ‘MA: Japanese wisdom for a spacious life.’

In the Japanese language the character for ma is a combination of the gate radical (門) set around the symbol for sun (日). In ancient times, the character was written as a gate with the moon peeping through instead. Such a gorgeous image, and relevant for the meaning of this beautiful word too.

When we quiet the head-mind and listen with the heart-mind, we enter a portal where the light shines in.

Ma is that portal.

As you might guess if you have read any of my other books, any attempt to perfectly define ma will fall short. There are many sentences in this new book that begin ‘Ma is . . .’ but each is just an approximation, a gentle reaching towards an idea.

Common translations include ‘pause’, ‘distance’, ‘interval’, ‘interstice’ and, ‘gap’. All are perfectly valid and each is suitable in certain circumstances, but ma is so much more than those things.

Ma is both the space between things and the sensing of the energy and tension that exists in that space.

Ma is a container for the swirling energy of imminent change.

Ma is a quality of time and a condition of presence.

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This book is a meditation on the essential nature of

s p a c e

in a human life,

within the places that we live

and the flow of time we are alive.

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Pre-order MA today and get complimentary access to a dreamy virtual weekend retreat ‘THE SPACE IN BETWEEN’ (worth £159).

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Amazon | Blackwells | Waterstones | Bookshop.org | Foyles

*From the US/Canada I recommend you use Blackwells who offer free international shipping, as we do not yet have a US/Canada publication date.

Pop your receipt details into the short form HERE (scroll to the bottom of the page once you have clicked) to claim complimentary access to THE SPACE IN BETWEEN, a dreamy virtual weekend retreat which will run online as winter gives way to spring (February 27-28, 2027).

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This is what I want for my mind.

To have breathing space between the thoughts, where the light can shine in.

This is what I want for my days.

To feel able to take a minute just to stare at the sky before responding to the next thing that calls for my attention.

This is what I want for our home.

A clear, uncluttered space where energy can flow freely and possibility awaits.

This is what I want for my life.

To have enough spaciousness that I can sense the mystery hovering in the details of every single day.

If you want the same, this book is for you.

Ma is not just empty space
but a space containing palpable energy,
which some might call kami no kehai
                                                       –- traces of the gods –-
where the flow of time can be sensed
        in the air
                 in the silence
                             in the heart.

Technology is compressing the spaces that once naturally occurred in the flow of a day. Under the guise of ease and efficiency, the devices we hold close have changed the way we interact with the world and each other, and not always to our benefit. The infinite scroll which sucks our time. The Whatsapp messages demanding an instant response. The seamless buy-with-one-click-same-day-delivery shopping experience which finds us consuming more than we need. And more recently, the encroaching of AI into every part of our lives, including our most private physical and mental spaces.

This compression removes breathing space, thinking space, and decision-making space.

It ramps up the pace of our lives to a level that our nervous systems were not designed to cope with.

Addictive design has led to us willfully participating, by constantly checking our devices, refreshing our inboxes, scrolling for the latest thing. But what are we actually hoping to find?

Much of what is precious about life - and much of what can make us feel better about it - such as real human connection, quiet beauty, gentle observation of the changing seasons, and a sense of having enough time, capacity, energy - lives in those spaces that technology is so cleverly compressing. It’s no wonder we are seeing a rise in trends such as analogue living and #frictionmaxxing.

By developing our awareness of ma we can expand the sense of spaciousness in our lives, to hold back the flood of information, to deepen our relationships, make better decisions, and enjoy our lives as they unfold rather than feeling rushed day-to-day and anxious about the future. It is a vital defence against the great acceleration of the Information Age.

You might even say this book is a quiet rebellion.

Pre-order MA today and get complimentary access to a beautiful two-day virtual retreat, featuring a special contribution from a Zen monk who serves at one of the oldest temples in Kyoto. This is not to be missed. Details here.

When we stand long enough at the threshold, things become known to us.

We see things as they are.

Ma is that in-between, threshold place.

The song of silence that carries the music.

The pause in the rush of a busy day.

The still place we can always find, in the middle of everything, if we just know how to look.

Ma is a dimension of depth that lies hidden below the surface of everyday life.

This dimension is not empty.

It is a source of light and possibility that exists at the edges of our lives, of our days, of our busyness, waiting patiently for us to see that everything is waiting in the space in between.

Amazon | Blackwells | Waterstones | Bookshop.org | Foyles

*From the US/Canada I recommend you use Blackwells who offer free international shipping, as we do not yet have a US/Canada publication date.

Pop your receipt details into the short form HERE (scroll to the bottom of the page once you have clicked) to claim complimentary access to THE SPACE IN BETWEEN, a dreamy virtual weekend retreat which will run online as winter gives way to spring (February 27-28, 2027).

Thank you in advance for supporting my work. I am deeply indebted to you for reading, being curious, pre-ordering and being part of this wild journey of authoring books in the modern world.

I’d love to know: Why do you need this book in your life right now?

Please leave a comment or click through to Substack and restack this post on your own Substack with your thoughts in answer to this question.

ONE person who does this by 4pm UK time on Thursday 27 August, 2027 will be picked at random to win a gorgeous box of handpicked goodies from Japan (think stationery, bath salts and more lovely things), chosen by me for you. I will ship them anywhere in the world.

Thank you for helping to spread the word about MA. I hope you love the book and the virtual retreat.

Beth Xx

Images: Holly Bobbins (Book mockups were done by a real human using a design by another real human, laid over actual photos of my other books. Beautiful hardback copies of MA, with an embossed 間 character and indigo foil will be available in February 2027).

Giveaway small print: (1) One winner will be chosen at random from among those who have commented on and/or shared this post by the deadline of 4pm UK time on Thursday 27 August, 2027. (2) The winner will be announced on an updated version of this post after the deadline and no correspondence will be entered into. (3) The prize is a box of lovely things brought back from Japan by me, Beth Kempton. (4) No cash alternative is available and the prize is not transferable. (5) No purchase is necessary to enter.

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