This word is now common in American English to describe a desirable and refreshing human quality of acceptance, trust and curiosity about the mysterious workings of the human spirit.
It is derived from a concept put forward by Martin Heidegger, called 'Der Lichtung' or the 'clearing'.
The clearing refers to the open space one finds in a deep forest, a breathtaking awareness of all that is, in which one realizes something wordlessly beyond language about the deeply intertwined relationships that mark the phenomena of existence.
Within the Daseinsanalytical tradition, increasing one's personal openness to existence is seen as an ultimate goal, despite the fact that it exposes us to the perils of disappointment in our dealings with others in the world of facticity.
