A Few Ways To Embrace The Space (From Now Until The End Of The Year)
Do you ever feel like your body moves at the speed of your racing thoughts? Like you’re always doing something? That’s how I felt most of the year until I recently decided to experiment with ‘embracing the space’. Creating more moments of stillness and embracing, rather than resisting, the discomfort of not knowing every next step. The result? A touching experience with a homeless man in Central Park that clarified the power of a present life. It’s amazing how the answers truly are around us right now at this moment!
What happens when you go forward without an idea of an outcome? When you let adventure unfold? Sometimes great moments happen because you’re fully present. Fully alive. Other times nothing significant happens. Yet it’s this observing and leaving space for the insignificant that great things come to pass. So is anything truly insignificant?
I want to share an experience I had recently in Central Park as a tangible example of what can happen when you create and then embrace space in your life. Then a few tips you can try for yourself to create more space in your life.
Doing Less and Being Okay With It
First, there's a gap between doing less to create space in your life, then being okay with the feeling that follows. Because a lot of times, at least for me, when we create space, there's that feeling of the unknown. If you’re not planning and looking for an outcome and being productive in every moment, then what are you? Who are you? It can feel unsettling and unnerving.
That's why many people tend to fill up their time with busy work. They always have to be doing something to avoid feeling uncomfortable. And so this idea of embracing the space has been prominent in my mind, and I can't help but think that I might not be the only one.
Maybe you feel the pressure cooker of life and want to have some sense of ease and peace. Maybe it can feel scary going there, making that leap in your life. And so I hope what I share can help you with whatever change you need to make.
The Homeless Man in Central Park
I’m walking through the Ramble. The wild, secluded part of Central Park. Where the tourists don’t go. There you’ll find a certain bench in one of the winding paths that a homeless man named Armando has sat on for the last two and a half years I’ve been in the city. He seems happy. Clean. His stuff amounting to bags of Trader Joe’s snacks and a wooden cart with wheels on it.
I've always been curious about him because the wooden cart has the titles of Eckhart Tolle books painted on each side. One side says Stillness Speaks. The other says A New Earth. Then another says The Power of Now. It’s pretty colorful and catches your eye. Yet I keep walking past him every time.
This time, I felt a strong prompting to go back. Despite the voice reminding me a woman should never speak to strange men in the woods. Or asking me what happens when I do start talking to him? No plan, no thank you, ma’am.
But the voice kept coming so finally, I made some boundaries with this inner voice. I’ll speak with him if: One, there are people there talking to him, or at least a lot of people walking by. Two, I pick the path he’s sitting in on the first try. It’s easy to get lost in the park and hard to retrace steps at times.
I turned around, walked down a path, and there he was, sitting on the bench like always. There were three people chatting with him. So I walked up and introduced myself. Lorne, a blonde woman with an accent, said he used to be a drug addict in and out of jail until he had a coming to faith moment. I plan to have him on the podcast next year but for now, just know he had a light and pure presence. I needed that connection at that moment.
His pure existence makes more of an impact in people's lives than most people with more belongings and status. Had I not given myself space that morning to wander through Central Park, to see where things led me, and to not have expectations of the outcome I don't think I would have felt that desire or prompting to make that connection with Armando.
When we give ourselves the space to explore and to be. Just exist. Be present. You’ll be amazed at what unfolds. With that, here are a few ideas to help you integrate this concept of more space into your life. I challenge you to really think about these four ideas and see how you can practice them.
1. Pause in Areas that Need Breathing Room.
Say no more, delegate more, ask for help, keep creating but give yourself space to wander and experiment, go to a little fewer get-togethers, maybe go to more. Think about the spots in your life that feel constricted like it’s a pressure cooker. Become aware of what needs more breathing room and give yourself that space.
2. Schedule More Breaks, Walks, and Boring Moments.
Starting your morning in nature, journaling, morning routines, and other grounding practices all remind you you’re human. They allow you to connect with yourself before everyone else gets your energy and resources. Make some of these practices a priority. Test how they help you most unique to you and your situation. Your “me time” doesn’t have to look like someone else’s.
You may only have ten minutes and hate routines so your fuel-up time looks different every day. I know some people who literally can’t stand routines so they make containers of 30-minute increments throughout their day for specific tasks and that makes them feel connected and on track.
Or you can be more like me, having a morning routine and wind down routine helps you feel stable and secure and therefore more motivated because you have a familiar start and end to the day. Whatever it is, schedule more space into your life.
3. Look at Your Surroundings.
Enjoy nature as if it’s the first time you’re seeing it. If you’re in a city there’s nothing like seeing beautiful flowers or towering trees spread throughout. Let yourself have space when you walk and do things in your day. Maybe that means not having music or the TV on. Or you’re not talking to someone on the phone. Let your inner wisdom speak to you.
4. Make it Less About the Outcome and Productivity and More About Enjoying the Present.
It’s this very idea that inspired me to take a two-month pause on the podcast starting November 2021. I’ll have another episode explaining this in more detail but you’ll be amazed what you feel inspired to do when you make life about enjoying the now instead of the future now. If you could release the desire for an outcome what would your inner wisdom guide you to do? You may get inspiration to ramp up and get into masculine energies. Or you may finally hear the cry your soul’s had to slow down and enjoy more.
Affirmation
I create more space in my life and embrace the possibilities of the unknown.
Writing Prompt
What part of my life needs more space? What’s one action I can take to create that space?
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