The potential of emptiness
A room is useful through its empty space
In the West we are terrified of emptiness. We fill our calendars, our wardrobes and our minds to the bursting point. But the Daodejing reminds us: a room is useful precisely because of its empty space. A cup is useful because it is empty inside.
If your schedule and your mind are always filled to one hundred percent, there is literally zero room for new ideas, relationships or solutions to arrive.
It is in the gaps and the silence that creativity is born. Emptiness is not lack – it is potential.
Thirty spokes share one hub – but it is the hole at the center that makes the wheel useful.Daodejing, chapter 11
Reflection
Where in your life is there no empty space left? What could you say no to in order to create it?
Today's practice
Leave one gap in today's schedule completely empty – and don't fill it with your phone.