white space.

As a former newspaper reporter with some Quark experience, I’m a bit of a white space softy. Every single paste-up morning, my colleagues and I debated the amount of front page white space. Some preferred black text crammed to every corner, as many stories possible per column inch. A few of us always pushed the white space limit, comfortable with creating more, embracing more… allowing each story’s words to breathe, be noticed.

I’ve been thinking about that white space lately, taking notice in newspapers and books.

Taking notice of the white space in my life and wondering… is there enough? And, as odd as it sounds, what’s my white space filled with?

White space doesn’t mean your life is empty nor does it mean that it’s empty space.

White space = creating space and filling it with what you love. Emptying out what’s marginal, what doesn’t fill you up.

So, my white space…

It’s brilliant with #bikelove and #yogabliss and Nick and my sister and my family and girl friends and quiet relaxation in the evening. It’s writing. It’s swimbikerunning. It’s wind in my face and the whir of bike wheels. It’s savasana so deep I melt into my yoga mat. It’s surrounding myself with people who lift me up, always.

My white space recharges me, centers me, fills me up with overflowing happiness.

And, I am so grateful.

But, when the black text starts to cloud my newspaper, my white space, and I get anxious and lose sight of what creates my happiness, I realize that something needs to change or stop. Change isn’t always easy and stopping not always immediately feasible, but making plans and taking steps toward positive life change are completely doable – and I’m doing them. Now.

Danielle LaPorte nails it in The Fire Starter Sessions:

If you’re going to realize your intentions, what you stop doing is just as important as what you start and continue to do. This is where “quitting” crosses over into enlightenment. … Stopping, however, is the stuff of smiley Zen masters with all the time in the world. … Stopping what’s distracting, draining, or aggravating doesn’t require any heavy lifting or extra stamina – just love and self respect.

So, ask yourself… Do I have white space in my newspaper? What’s filling it? Gratitude and love and happiness and bliss? Or, is it garbled and gray and unhappy and bleh? What needs to stop so I can create more white space?

Take a minute and step back. Breathe. Be. Revel in the white space.