Creating a Fertile Place for Growth

  

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It’s Black Friday. Here in Connecticut, I have to say, it’s pretty grey, gloomy Friday. The day after Thanksgiving is now known as Black Friday and the Monday after is now known as Cyber Monday.

We go from feasting, visiting, being with friends and family and having time together to rushing, shopping and moving into the rest of the holiday season with a vengeance.

I love the Friday after Thanksgiving. Having a day where there’s nothing scheduled,
no particular place that I need to be, nothing that I need to do.

I do have a habit of filling in the space and time, trying hard not to overschedule, but still ending up with activities and plans. That’s what happens with a vacuum. A vacuum is an empty space. A place where nothing exists. And nature abhors a vacuum. So we fill it up, even if it’s only that air rushes in.

One thing about a vacuum is that it creates opportunity. An opportunity for something different, new, fresh.Something fertile. A place for growth.

Another thing about a vacuum is that sometimes it creates discomfort with that opportunity. As in, “what do I do?” or “what do I say” in a moment of silence. It’s the fidget effect that happens early in meditation efforts. You sit there, quietly, and it’s peaceful. For about a second. Then your nose itches, your toe twitches, or your brain starts chattering. Then you pull yourself back in, settle back down, get quiet and start again. And the fidgeting starts again. And you settle down. And so it goes.

So keep pushing back. Create your fertile space, hold onto your time. Reactivate your mighty and powerful no. Let the space sit there. Have the patience to see what can grow.