The Void: Learning to Be With the Space Where Nothing is Happening
We spend so much of our lives trying to get somewhere. Moving forward, making progress, achieving, and evolving. And even in our personal growth, there’s often an expectation. But what if the next step isn’t forward? What if, instead, you arrive at a vast, unsettling pause? No breakthroughs, no clarity, no rush of purpose. A space where nothing is happening - the void.
Cue existential panic. Most people, when faced with nothingness, react the same way they do when their WiFi goes out—frantic button-pressing, pacing, checking and rechecking, whispering, This can’t be happening. Because sitting in nothingness? That feels like losing control. But what if this is exactly where you’re supposed to be?
When Progress Halts: The Truth About The Void
The void is where your usual distractions don’t work. You can’t hustle your way out of it, manifest your way through it, or mindset-shift your way around it. It’s the moment where your identity has nothing left to cling to.
And that’s precisely why it feels so unbearable.
For a species addicted to doing, achieving, and fixing, encountering nothingness can feel like staring into an abyss with no bottom. Our minds will do anything to escape it. That’s why we fill the space with more goals, more self-improvement, more noise. Because if we stop—if we truly stop—we might have to confront something deeper: Our true selves.
A Client Story: When Doing Everything Leads to Nowhere
A client of mine—we’ll call her Lisa—came to me in a total existential tailspin. She had done “everything right”. Years of self-work. She had let go of toxic relationships and curated a life that should have felt fulfilling, and yet… nothing. She told me, “I feel like I’m standing in an empty room, waiting for something to happen, but nothing does.”
I asked her, “What if nothing needs to happen?”
Silence.
And then the tears. Because that was the moment she realized that the expectation that something should be happening was the very thing keeping her from experiencing what was happening. Which was… this moment. This breath. The very life she kept waiting to feel connected to.
The Great Escape: How We Avoid the Void
We have a thousand strategies for avoiding the void, and they all come down to one thing: keeping ourselves busy.
The Productivity Trap: If I just do more and accomplish more, I’ll outrun this feeling.
The Money Trap: If I just make more money, save more, or secure my financial future, I’ll finally feel safe.
The Spiritual Bypass: If I meditate more, raise my vibration, I can ascend past this discomfort.
The Meaning-Seeker: If I just find my purpose, I won’t have to sit in the unknown.
But the void doesn’t want more from you. It doesn’t need your productivity, your breakthroughs, or your spiritual gymnastics.
It just wants you.
What’s Possible Inside the Void
If the void isn’t something to escape, then what is it? What if, instead of seeing it as a barren wasteland of nothingness, you recognized it as a threshold? A liminal space where transformation brews in the unseen, where your next evolution is being woven—just not in the way your mind expects.
Inside the void, possibilities emerge, not through effort, but through surrender:
The Shedding of the Old You: Without the noise of constant doing, old identities fall away. The pressure to be someone dissolves, leaving behind only presence.
Clarity Without Effort: Answers come—not from force, but from deep stillness. The kind of clarity that doesn’t arrive in words, but in an unshakable knowing.
Genuine Peace: Not the peace you chase, but the peace that arises when there’s no longer anything to chase.
Imagine this: You’re standing in a dark room, straining to see. The more you squint, the more you struggle. But then, you stop. You let your eyes adjust. Slowly, the shapes emerge. The void works the same way. The longer you’re willing to be with it, the more it reveals itself to you.
Surrendering to The Void
What if the void isn’t a problem to be solved? What if it’s an invitation?
The void is what remains when you strip away all the shoulds, all the expectations, all the stories. It’s the pause between the inhale and the exhale. It’s the moment of pure being before the mind rushes in to fill the silence.
To surrender to the void is to stop resisting. To let the space be empty. To allow the silence to stretch without trying to fill it.
Here’s how:
Stop searching for meaning. Meaning will find you when it’s ready. Let yourself be without needing to figure it out.
Let go of needing to be “inspired.” Not every moment has to be profound. Not every day has to be a breakthrough. Some days, you just are. And that’s enough.
Sit in the discomfort. When the impulse to “fix” arises, notice it. Then, do nothing. Just watch. See what happens.
Trust the unfolding. The void isn’t permanent. It’s the fertile ground from which something new will emerge. But only if you stop trying to force it.
A Final Thought
The void feels like an ending, but it’s actually the beginning of real life. When you stop trying to be something, you become everything.
So, what if this space where nothing is happening is actually the most sacred, powerful place you’ve ever been? What if instead of running from it, you grabbed a metaphorical lawn chair, kicked back, and just… enjoyed the show?
Go ahead. Step into the void.
See what’s waiting for you there.