What to do when you feel like you are in a void

Do you ever get a feeling of being “empty”?  It’s an uncomfortable feeling, like being bored, restless, or aimless wondering around.   

I liken it to the feeling I experience when I am hungry and looking for something to fill me up - I go to the fridge and finding nothing to satisfy my appetite.

I call this feeling the void. 


The void turns up when:

• We have lost something, whether it is a partner or friend, job, a child leaving home or moving house
• We have been working very hard and need some down time.  We are still caught up the in energy of busyness, and don’t know how to relax (keep searching for something to do)
• Or when we are on the edge of going towards a new direction in our life

It’s a BIG EMPTY SPACE…. Often accompanied with the words “What now?”

Here are some things that you should know about the void:

• There are times in our lives when change calls us very strongly – often using circumstances which are beyond our control.   You could call it a Turning Point, an Opportunity, or a Catastrophe.   However you view it is up to you.   With this comes the searching because our mind does not know what is coming next.   How could it, when what is being sought is something different than what we have known in the past!    However, deep within us is a part that does know.  It actually creates the ache for change, growth and something new.  
• The void is where new things develop - the place of creation and it’s inside of you!   Yes external things might inspire you, but the real truth is inside of you.   You are not who you were 10 years ago.   Or even 5 years ago.   You have had many life experiences and are different now.  So when our being has “done enough” in one format, it seeks to find something new.    The worst part of it is that we don’t know what this new thing is and in a world of “goal setting” and planning this is very uncomfortable.

Fortunately we can use the void to actually assist us in the change of direction.   Here’s how:
To create the future, we have to take stock and know who we are now.  A little constructive life review can be helpful.   Some people might do this through the vehicle of The Hero’s Journey, others through astrology, numerology, or personality testing.    Life review helps us to know that we are always moving forward, even when it seems we are not. 

The next step is to wait for the empty “void” feeling to come.  Then gather up all the emotions around it.  The longing, the frustration, the ache, wondering what’s next, and feel it as intensely as I can.   This energises the void space, like an oven cooks a cake.

Then I start to become aware of my current energy which is made up of all my life experiences, who I am now, who I want to become, all my curiosity about the future and what it could possibility bring for me.    I make it full of potential and as positive as I can then I gather all this feeling up and put it inside of the void.   That’s right, in the middle of the oven where all the emotions are.

Then I relax and let go – this gives me a feeling of expansion.   I acknowledge that some part of me does know exactly what is really going on and all I have to do is let it unfold.   Efforting at this point just blocks the flow, so take a break.

I then say to myself “I know, even though I think I don’t know”.   Deep inside of me all the answers are there, even if they have not arrived in my mind yet but I know they are coming.   The new path for me could be anything – maybe even something I have never thought of before.   For example, I used to work in Law.  When I had that job I never dreamed I would be a massage therapist now.    It was through a chain of events that led me to where I am now, and that began with a nagging ache that something needed to change but I had no idea what (the void).   

Nowadays I am more aware of this feeling and I can consciously use this void to help me move forward.    Every time I feel that uncomfortable feeling of the void, I now gather my energy and ask for something new to turn up.   I use my mantra: “I know even though I think I don’t know”.   I imagine a new wiring happening from my deepest knowing (which appears to be hidden from me) direct to my mind, so that I am aware of inspiration, sign posts for the new direction, and a sense of “go here” or ‘try that” which pushes me forward where my inner being wants me to go.

We can gather our attention to a new direction through creating a ceremony for ourselves.   At the end of April I will be teaching how to create ceremonies with Michelle Collier.  For further details click here.
 

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