I’m going to be curt in this post because that is the nature of its subject.
Ma is a Japanese concept defined by Wikipedia as “gap”, “space”, “pause” or “the space between two structural parts.” When you clap, the silences between the claps are Ma.
It is present in all good design and should serve as a pattern basis whenever we are writing code or composing music.
We see its prominence in nature with the open areas between veins or galaxies, and from that, we can assess its meaning.
Open space is where we can take the time to cool off from the rapid activity that goes on within our lives. We can notice the liminal, the strange, the totally foreign.
Take some time to breathe and look around you. To quote Ferris Beuhler, it’ll be gone before you know it.