Nature doesn’t like empty spaces.
With the right conditions, it will fill a space with new life and growth. You’ll notice this now, along the paths you walk or out in your garden. New life is sprouting and expanding into the spaces that were, not so long ago, empty. This is true in our lives too, as the Course in Miracles writes, “Whatever is left empty, Grace will fill.”
When I left my law career 7 years ago, it created a space in my life. I didn’t know what I was
going to do next or what my future would look like. While nature embraces these states, we humans
resist them. We fear the dark, we hate not knowing, and we don’t like discomfort.
Nature, however, doesn’t have this kind of fear or resistance. It goes through the darkness, death,
and emptying every winter when the leaves fall from the trees, life goes underground, and the land becomes bare.
Thankfully, nature keeps its composure and doesn’t try to skip this period of darkness. If it did, we’d have no winter, and the year would go by very quickly. We’d also have no plants, trees, or flowers. We wouldn’t have any air to breathe. Simply put, nature wouldn’t survive, and neither would we.
Nature moves steadily – notice no rushing – through this part of the cycle. It embraces it fully
and allows its leaves to fall away. For a while, each year in nature, there is nothing, and death,
decay, and darkness prevail. Nature stays steady – she knows there is nothing to fear. The wheel of
the year will always turn, and the light and new growth will always return. Spring and summer will
surely arrive.
“Nature doesn’t like empty spaces – so I knew my time off could easily fill with stuff or fillers.”
We are cyclical too. Somewhere along the way, we humans lost our faith and trust in the cycle of
death and rebirth.
So, with nature as my muse, I decided to embrace the space created in my life after I left my job.
I instinctively knew I needed to take care of my new free time, and supported with some savings, I
explored possibilities. I was conscious of not filling my time with a stop-gap job, holidays,
furiously searching for work, or panicking about what to do next. Remember, nature doesn’t like
empty spaces – so I knew my time off could easily fill with stuff or fillers.
I had started a journaling practice, writing on top of a page ‘things that I love’ and filling the
page with things that I was intrigued by. The page filled up with things like sunrises, hiking,
sunsets, reggae music, yoga, mantra, incense, and sound bowls. These were things that inspired and
enlivened me, but I hadn’t given them much time when life was busy.
By paying attention to these things, which turned out to be clues to my dream work
and life, I was prompted to plan my yoga teacher training on the island of Mallorca and then walk
850 km along the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I allowed myself to be in a time of not knowing how
to do the things that I love.
Bealtaine (byaal·tuh·nuh), on 1st May, in the Celtic tradition, brings the start of summer and
fresh blooms. Its energy can be experienced at any time in your life. It is brought about by facing
discomfort, letting go, and stepping into the unknown.
The arrival of an ‘inner Bealtaine’ happens when you give yourself space to listen and dream and
direct your attention towards the things that enliven and inspire you. Then, just as nature does
each year, your life will blossom and bloom in good time.
Sarah is the founder and host of the Wild & Free retreat in the Algarve. She teaches weekly yoga
and workshops in Almancil and on the beach at António Tá Certo from April each year.
