By Brandon Alter:
I am sitting here this morning with some very strong coffee watching the sun come up, listening to this Joshua Tree wind I love so much. It is so loud and so clean, and it makes me think about space. Not outer space; just space itself. Emptiness that is anything but empty.
I am wondering why we are so quick to eliminate these magic portals from our lives. Why are we so quick to fill the silences that decorate our days? Why do gaps in conversation make us so uncomfortable? How did we get into the habit of filling up every moment of our lives with noise, information, and activity? When did we forget to leave some space for spirit?
In my two-plus weeks away from social media, I found a lot more space. In those in-between moments—standing in line waiting for my latte or even just first thing in the morning waiting for the day to begin—instead of reaching for my phone, I reached into that space. I sat in that space. I remembered how to look around. I remembered how to wait. I remembered that sitting still is not doing nothing; it is, in fact, doing everything. It is holding yourself open for the truth.
I am convinced that we need to open up more opportunities in our lives and our days for space. Only by entering into space and silence and stillness can we truly contact spirit and our intuition.
Ok, you’re thinking, this all sounds interesting and poetic, but how do I actually do this? Well try this:
The next time you have a minute or five to kill, don’t reach for your phone—reach for your breath. Your breath is the guardian of space. Notice the beats between your breath, that natural pause at the top of your inhale, that sweet empty space at the bottom of the exhale.
Melt into these little moments. Let yourself be cradled by them.