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Leaving Space In New Beginnings

Though already nine months into the year, Sep­tem­ber always feels like a new begin­ning to me. A joy­ful one of shift­ing tem­per­a­tures, vivid colours, crisp­ness and tex­ture. Oh how I adore this time of year.
 
We awaken from the stupour of the heat and shake off the slug­gish­ness of lazy (albeit) bliss­ful days on the patio or at the splash pad. Our wits sharpen with the tem­per­a­tures, and we GET. BACK. TO. IT…be it work, rou­tine, or school, with a goal in mind.
 
For a moment’s breath, the slates are clean and the can­vasses are blank. And it’s lovely to behold.
 
With said goal in mind and with the knowl­edge that this new begin­ning is the first leg in the jour­ney to that end­point, we take a deep col­lec­tive inhale, and then: ATTACK! Fill that can­vas! Plug those holes in the cal­en­dar! Write those words (no…you can do bet­ter…COME ON, write another 500), by GOD, do NOT leave any room! More is MORE, PEOPLE!
 
And hun­kered down, like the nav­i­ga­tor whose nose is buried in the map, we miss it. The won­der around us.  And within us.

Let’s Try This

While it is true that to begin some­thing we must envi­sion what we are cre­at­ing in its com­pleted state, I invite you to con­sider what it might be like, TRULY be like, to cel­e­brate the jour­ney from “here”…to “there”. To slowly taste our way through the cre­ation of the soup using fewer ingre­di­ents, rather than rac­ing to pro­duce the recipe-perfect end-product. More unami? More spice? Is it tar­ragon that’s want­ing to show up? Taste. Pause. Then repeat. And leave some room.

Approach the can­vas with your vision in mind, and rel­ish every stroke. Have it be fun and dare to have it be incom­plete. Then mar­vel in the riot of colour on that can­vas AND what remains pos­si­ble in the white space you’ve left. It may be more com­plete than you ever imagined.

Leave your­self room to tin­ker with your recipe. Leave white space on your canvas.

Write fewer words. Speak fewer words.

What’s avail­able now that it’s not all been said? {Hint: Your answers lie in your abil­ity to engage your intu­ition, your capac­ity to lis­ten deeply and your open­ness to your curiosity.}

“Live in a space of let­ting go.” ~ Oprah

Hold­ing space can also mean mak­ing space:

End­ing the rela­tion­ship that has been toxic for so long to make room for the one that yearns to begin.
 
Let­ting go of the story and bask in the glo­ri­ous lib­erty of the truth.
 
Releas­ing the pat­terns that bind and cel­e­brat­ing the move­ment now avail­able.

And as I begin my fall projects (of which there are many), I will keep time in my cal­en­dar to flit­ter and flut­ter. Over­plan­ning kills cre­ativ­ity. So does clamp­ing down and crowd­ing.  Always.

This fall, I choose to view the blank can­vas with an eye towards com­ple­tion, yes, and a com­mit­ment to white space. Leav­ing some and mak­ing some.

I will allow my cre­ativ­ity to blaze in this place of expan­sive­ness. And to savour what’s newly possible.

Will you join me?

by Tanya Geisler

Clar­ity. Action. Achieve­ment. Joy. Tanya Geisler is a CTI-certified coach (a.k.a. “cat­a­lyst, not ther­a­pist”) and speaker who believes that life is a grand production…and it’s time for you to step into your star­ring role. And radi­ate. Right now.
Tanya Geisler
View all posts by Tanya Geisler
Filed Under: Creative Expression, Jungle Writers

Comments

  1. Chrysta Bairre says:
    September 20, 2011 at 8:32 am

    I love the beau­ti­fully sim­ple idea that over­plan­ning kills cre­ativ­ity. It’s an idea that inspires me and I choose to put into prac­tice in my life.

    Though I pre­fer to stay pro­duc­tive, I will be mind­ful to allow some time to think, to feel, to expe­ri­ence the life I am cre­at­ing. The prize is not the pro­mo­tion, or the car, or the des­ti­na­tion, the prize is liv­ing a val­ued and happy life each moment, regard­less of what comes next.
    Chrysta Bairre´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..How to make the best of your mistakesMy Profile

    Reply
    • Tanya says:
      September 20, 2011 at 7:35 pm

      Am inhal­ing this deeply into my chest “the prize is liv­ing a val­ued and happy life each moment, regard­less of what comes next”…and shiv­er­ing with res­o­nance.
      Thank you.

      Reply
  2. Tia Sparkles Singh says:
    September 20, 2011 at 10:12 am

    TANYA GEISLER! There is a book dying to be writ­ten here — your words enrap­tured me and took me into my child­hood days read­ing by the win­dow on a rainy day. Wowza! Yes to white spaces. Yes to colour­ing (out­side the lines). Yes to self nur­tur­ing! Thanks for the reminder, swee’pea.
    Tia Sparkles Singh´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..300. Rea­sons to be happy. Things to love about your life. NOW.My Profile

    Reply
  3. Jennifer Richardson says:
    September 20, 2011 at 10:53 am

    oh so thor­oughly beau­ti­fully true!
    bask­ing.
    just bask­ing:)
    pure awesomeness.…ever so much thanks
    for shar­ing.
    –Jennifer

    Reply
  4. Keith says:
    September 20, 2011 at 11:00 am

    Tanya,

    YES, I will cer­tainly join you. How this post speaks to me today! You know how it is when you KNOW some­thing but you still need to be reminded (kicked in the pants)? That is what your words did for me today! And as Chrysta said, over­plan­ning KILLS cre­ativ­ity, and cre­ativ­ity is what sets my spirit free. Thank you

    Lance: Way to my friend! Another fan­tas­tic Jun­gle Writer! :-)
    Keith´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Change The World: Step 1My Profile

    Reply
  5. Jen says:
    September 20, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    I could fill up a huge page of acco­lades on your writing.…it is SO SO BEAUTIFUL.
    But, fewer words. More space. Rel­ish­ing the com­pact wis­dom in your post.
    Thank YOU Tanya, and thank you Lance!
    In Har­mony,
    Jen

    Reply
  6. David Stevens says:
    September 20, 2011 at 9:24 pm

    Hi Tanya,
    Every moment is a ‘new begin­ning’ for me in some shape, form or thought. We down under are well into Spring,my thoughts are on my goals for the next 90 days & get­ting a head­start on 2012.
    I like to plan but plan not to over do it. I’m with you, over­plan­ning can kill cre­ativ­ity. Often, you just have to do it.….less words, more trac­tion then action. I’m feel­ing inspired already. Thank you.
    be good to your­self
    David
    David Stevens´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Do Goals scare you?My Profile

    Reply
  7. Jennifer Powter says:
    September 20, 2011 at 9:48 pm

    Love this Tanya!!! I feel the same way about fall — a new begin­ning and yet I can feel the “must get every­thing done” part of me tak­ing over. Beau­ti­ful writ­ing about such an impor­tant topic. I’ll remem­ber these words!
    xoxo
    Jen
    Jen­nifer Powter´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..True Story: Choco­late chip addictionMy Profile

    Reply
  8. Evelyn Lim says:
    September 20, 2011 at 11:53 pm

    Hello Tanya,

    It’s the first time I am read­ing an arti­cle from you. It used to be Lance’s. I enjoyed your writ­ing very much. Your post is beau­ti­fully writ­ten. I love what you said: over­plan­ning kills cre­ativ­ity. You have now given me the per­fect answer on why I some­times find it hard to stay on plan.

    It’s great that you are now a writer here on this site. I look for­ward to read­ing more!

    With love,
    Eve­lyn
    Eve­lyn Lim´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Detect Daily Anx­i­ety Symp­toms To Avoid Energy LeakageMy Profile

    Reply
  9. Debbie @ Happy Maker says:
    September 21, 2011 at 11:01 am

    Hi Tanya,

    I love the a new sea­sons. It is like out with the old and in with the new. It is nature at it’s fini­est. Love this post and the story it tells.
    “Over­plan­ning kills cre­ativ­ity. ” and it makes for to busy in life. We always need to take time to enjoy the moment and not worry or think abou the next moment until it arrives like a new sea­son wait­ing to be born.
    Bless­ing to you and thank Lance for shar­ing Tanya’s post with us.
    Deb­bie
    Deb­bie @ Happy Maker´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Find­ing the Humor and Hap­pi­ness in our RelationshipsMy Profile

    Reply
  10. paul willis (@sonsothunder) says:
    September 21, 2011 at 2:53 pm

    Thank you Tanya,
    This was a won­der­ful reminder. Love the illus­tra­tive culi­nary, can­vas you used to paint this truth.
    God Bless You
    paul
    paul willis (@sonsothunder)´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Sep­tem­ber FallMy Profile

    Reply
  11. Amy E. Smith says:
    September 21, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    LOVE! What an amaz­ing reminder… and some­thing I really needed to hear. Seri­ously. I real­ized as I read this that I have not been leav­ing much white can­vas… and JESUS! What I really like to do is paint and have cre­ativ­ity and flow and free­dom and here I am crowd­ing myself out of cre­ative space! Thank you so much for this… allowed me to inten­tion­ally think about how I want to craft my Fall. xo

    Reply
  12. Ashok Gaikwad says:
    September 21, 2011 at 7:05 pm

    Thanks…lovely post.…..

    Reply
  13. Megan Bord says:
    September 21, 2011 at 7:54 pm

    Hi, Tanya,

    Thank you for this beau­ti­ful post and a reminder to savor the moment I’m in. I’m embark­ing on a new adven­ture and a new phase in my life cur­rently, and I’ve seen myself want­ing to quan­tum leap to the end result. Even as I sit here, typ­ing this com­ment, I’m sort of for­get­ting to really look around me and behold the beauty that is NOW; this in-between state of not yet there and not where I used to be.

    Mind­ful­ness makes room for joy; wan­der­ing thoughts (dis­trac­tion or focus­ing too far ahead) for­get about it.

    Wish­ing you joy as you cre­ate on a fresh, clean can­vas and may every stroke be mindful!

    Reply
  14. Andrew Walker says:
    September 21, 2011 at 11:05 pm

    Hi. Thanks for shar­ing this. It’s a very,very moti­vat­ing post!
    Andrew Walker´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..New Hotel Amer­i­cano in New YorkMy Profile

    Reply
  15. Stephanie St.Claire says:
    September 23, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    Autumn is my favorite time of year, Tanya, and you really set the mood for me! My favorite part: “Hold­ing space can also mean mak­ing space:…Let­ting go of the story and bask in the glo­ri­ous lib­erty of the truth.”

    Ah yes, this is the best way to start fresh. I found that to be true over and over. Thank you for writ­ing such a mind-clearing and lib­er­at­ing piece! I’m ready for the new sea­son. xoxo
    Stephanie St.Claire´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..End­ing the Affair That Never HappenedMy Profile

    Reply
  16. Tanja says:
    September 23, 2011 at 2:23 pm

    Here in New Zealand, we’re just head­ing into Spring in Sep­tem­ber, which means every­thing is start­ing to come alive and grow after the sleepy, fal­low win­ter months. But I think the need to hold space open is just as rel­e­vant at this time of year as well: after all, if there’s no space for some­thing to grow into, it can never truly flour­ish or thrive. Thank you for the reminder :-)
    Tanja´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..They say the best way to learn is to ask…My Profile

    Reply
  17. Celestine says:
    September 27, 2011 at 10:40 am

    I’ve seen myself want­ing to quan­tum leap to the end result.Thanks for shar­ing this.I love it amaz­ing reminder..
    Celestine´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..glass blow­ing historyMy Profile

    Reply
  18. Noel says:
    September 30, 2011 at 11:34 pm

    It’s Octo­ber when I read this post but it’s still a great month! I love how you illus­trates the impor­tance of leav­ing some space in life, Tanya — the space that allows cre­ativ­ity, pos­si­bil­ity and sur­prises! So come what may, we should just enjoy the moment :)

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. What's On Your Plate? | Jungle of Life says:
    November 22, 2011 at 8:02 am

    […] So go ahead and fuel up. Just don’t for­get to leave a lit­tle room for dessert. […]

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