I was sprawled on the couch staring at the big blue sky. Sunshine falling on my face and the building across the street. It felt...ahhhmazing. The breeze was blowing in from the sliding glass door and tickling my face. And I was completely encapsulated in it's arms...space.
I had been spinning that day. Agreeing to part ways with someone I was dating. Grieving the loss of someone special in my life. Mad at myself for caring and not just getting on with it. Moments of tears streaming and flurried doing. The "pick yourself up with your bootstraps" part of me said I should be over this and centered. After all, it's been a few hours since "the conversation." I have "things to do! Things to get done!" it said. And yet my mind was racing a million miles a minute and I felt like I was jacked up on caffeine and hadn't slept in days despite neither being true whatsoever.
"What do you need" I asked myself? What...do...YOU...need? Space. Simply...space.
Time is not what heals. I think that's an illusion. Space heals. Space gives me clarity. Space helps me find my center when I'm spinning round. Space helps me appreciate the big and small things. Space puts everything...and I mean everything into perspective. Space can be a blink of an eye or four hours of time.
What do all of the many practices I play with in my life create? Space. Mindfulness...space. Meditation...space. Yoga...space. Breathing practices...space. Chanting...space. Journaling...space. Painting...space. Gratitude...space. Silence...space. Space. Space. Space.
A moment that interrupts, pauses, interludes, gracefully touches, the otherwise stream of consciousness in the mind. And in those magical moments of space I see. I know. I hear. I believe. I feel. I am.
Space is underrated. And time is overrated. When we obsess about needing time to see, know, hear, believe, feel...everything...it never comes. We never find it. We never create it. We never choose it. And we always fight it. Why do I say that? Because I know. That's precisely what I was doing the day I kept spinning around before collapsing on the couch. The time that I took for space was brief. The space that I experienced was Infinite. Get me?
What would your life be like if you valued space over time? If space was your magic component for peace, clarity, centering, joy, insight, you name it, whatever you are looking for...rather than time? What would shift?
Welllll, here's our opportunity. For this week's Joy Tip Wednesday I want us to play with space. Pause. Here's how:
- Get over time and step into space. Set your intention to set your sights on space versus time. Try it for a day. Two days. Three hours. Whatever feels supportive to you. Be clear about for how long you're going to play with this experiment. (the only time I want you to focus on time)
- List out your "space" go to list. Mine includes: sitting on my couch with the fresh breeze and staring at the sky, connecting with Odi my parrot, drinking water, closing my eyes, taking a deep breath, standing up if sitting down, sitting down if standing up, meditating, yoga, chanting, journaling. Got it?
- Keep your list in your back pocket and use it! Literally keep the paper in your pocket. In moments when you notice you're feeling you need to slow down, need clarity, presence, joy, fun, whatever it is you want to feel, pull from your list and create some space.
- Notice how you feel. How do you feel after you created some space? Physically? Mentally? The day I sat on the couch for a few moments, I felt expansive, held, at ease, loved.
- Keep hanging out with space. Do it some more and notice how it impacts the other moments in your day. Other areas of your life. Your sleep. Your mental clarity. Hang out and notice. Hang out and notice. Hang out and notice.
Space is profoundly simple, nourishing, and often forgotten. And strangely the hidden Guru, Greatest Teacher, at the center of diverse traditions, writings, philosophies, practices, time management systems, business best practices. Underneath it all, when I look really closely...it's just...Space. Gently smiling back at me.
much love,
Marci