Whenever someone asks me where my happy place is without hesitation, my answer is the beach.
A beach is where my body relaxes; I breathe deeper, and my soul feels at home.
As I look out at the vastness of the open sky, there is space. As I look at the horizon, there is no end. It becomes more apparent that this world is much bigger than ourselves. With this breathtaking beauty comes a sense of awe and wonder.
This space offers a remembrance of the natural state of my being, the part of my soul that I long to reunite with.
As I continue to explore and experience the spaciousness of my soul, it makes sense why I find the beach soothing. It feels like home.
When we were born, our souls were spacious, fluid, and free. We were in unity with the Divine. But now, many of us are so often running on autopilot from morning to night that there is no time for space.
How do we find space? In the pause.
A pause creates space to:
Observe our thoughts
Observe our emotions
Observe our surroundings, our interactions, and our existence
We are creating space to experience our true essence.
I appreciate this wisdom from holocaust survivor Victor Frankl,
“Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lie our freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.”
We have to be present to do this.
There is no space if we are constantly thinking and caught up in the past or future.
So, we practice abiding in the moment. We keep coming back home to ourselves and our experiences again and again.
A simple and powerful reminder for ourselves is:
Anytime you become aware you aren’t present, you are present.
This is where choice lies, in our awareness.
Pause.
Notice.
Breathe.
When we pause, even for one moment, we open the door and create space for the Divine to reveal itself.
When we are constantly thinking or trying to push our thoughts away, there is no space for the Divine to shine its light upon us and through us.
When we become more familiar with space, our true essence, we will experience that it is not nothing. Space is not empty.
The deeper you go, there is much to explore, feel, and sense in space. Just like the vast horizon, it is endless.
Try this:
Bring your awareness to your breath.
Inhale.
At the end of the inhale, briefly pause.
Exhale.
At the end of the exhale, briefly pause.
Notice the pause. Notice the space.
Notice the space between your thoughts.
Notice the space between the words on this page.
Notice the space between objects in your room.
When we practice abiding in the moment, we create space.
What is your relationship with space?
Maybe you long for it, are irritated when you don’t get it, or feel uncomfortable with silence or space. I get it. I did everything I could for years to fill up space from morning to night. A part of me was afraid of silence and space.
Can we meet ourselves where we are at?
There is never good or bad, right or wrong. We are simply being curious. We are being present and creating space to understand ourselves more deeply and intimately.
With loving kindness,
Diane