The Empty Bowl

This month our Flight School group has been working with creating space: internal and external. Each day we find something to release that is draining our energy. This could be an old coat that needs to be donated, weeds to be pulled in the garden, or a closet that needs cleaning. The physical spaces are much easier candidates for creating space than our inner spaces, with their sticky emotions, memories and beliefs.

In this quest to create gracious space in my life, I have come to appreciate empty spaces more and more. I appreciate having a closet that is no longer jammed full of clothes I do not wear and I appreciate the freedom I experience when I release judgments and memories that have been clogging up my inner space. Empty space does not feel so much empty as it feels, well, spacious. Spacious, to me, also feels full of possibilities. I don't want to fill up those empty spaces, but to leave lots of elbow room as I consider the possibilities they offer.

I have taken to setting an empty bowl by my computer during calls with my clients and while I am planning my day. This is a reminder to me to set aside (as much as possible) preconceived ideas or expectations. Instead, I want to leave space, like that empty bowl, to be surprised and to co-create new things. The bowl isn't just empty. It is a container for all sorts of magic. It's an invitation to expand rather than repeat tried-and-true patterns.

This got me thinking about the concept of negative space in art. This is the space in and around the main subject in artwork. Without the negative space we'd have no frame for our message. Everything would blend together. The negative space holds everything.

I see my empty bowl as negative space, too. It provides the frame for the conversation I am having or the writing I am doing, allowing it to flow into new spaces.

Now and then, just to keep myself humble, I'll flip my bowl upside down, reminding me to let go of my inner clutter and find wisdom and peace in the present moment. It is an invitation to Begin Again, this inverted bowl. To think that all my bowls have been hidden in cupboards up until now! It is time to liberate the empty bowl and in doing so, liberate some internal and external space. Try it.