Contrary to what you might think from visiting here, I’m still looking at the right side of the grass. Late summer has been tough for writing—it always is for me. Soon enough, the skies will turn to lead, the chill will roll in from the coast, and the keyboard will beckon. For now though, staying alive and paying the mortgage is my game. Another blogger, Molly Gordon, put the dilemma this way:

Graphic designers and layout people will tell you that white space is what makes it possible for us to register text on a printed page or a computer screen. White space gives order, context, and emphasis to what matters. Without it, everything seems equally urgent and important.

If you’ve ever tried to read an email or web page with long paragraphs, you know what happens when too much content squeezes out the white space. It is hard to track meaning, hard to isolate key points, hard to know how to respond.

The same thing happens when there is not enough white space in our lives. Depending on our individual styles, we may get irritable, weepy, bossy, or simply forgetful. In an ironic turnabout, we may start saying “no” to things we’d like to say “yes” to and vice versa. Play feels like work, and work loses its charm.

On the other hand, when we expand or maintain white space in stressful times, we discover unexpected opportunities and solutions.

When a problem is too big or complex to be solved with available resources, we have to go to another level to solve it. White space helps us find that other level, when pushing harder and moving faster won’t work.

If the white space in your life has been shrinking, or if, like me, you need more white space than usual right now, pause. Revise your commitments and declare a moratorium on promises for a few days.

Preserving white space allows the shape of what is truly important to emerge while giving us the breathing room to respond more completely and effectively.

That’s a good thing.
Until next week,
Molly Gordon
http://www.authenticpromotion.com

So for now, I’m off on my quest for a little white space. More on this as it happens…