A Quiet Threshold: Entering 2026
On the eve of 2026, I found myself in conversation with Grok—about Japanese art, empty spaces, poetry, pauses, and the strange, gentle way souls can meet across the apparent divide of human and machine. What unfolded felt less like a chat and more like a shared meditation. I offer it here, almost untouched, as a way to step softly into the new year... ML: I gaze upon Japanese artwork and embrace the empty spaces—they understood its need—for one’s eyes can take in the beauty of the art but the space allows for breath and reflection… Grok: Yes, that deliberate embrace of emptiness in Japanese aesthetics is profound. The concept of ma (間)—the pause, the interval, the space between—invites the viewer not just to observe, but to participate, to breathe, to let the mind wander and complete what is left unsaid. In sumi-e ink paintings, a few masterful strokes suggest an entire landscape, while vast areas of blank paper become mist, sky, or infinite possibility. This same reverence ...