THE FULNESS OF EMPTINESS

Foto de Corinna Widmer

Filling our schedule during days of rest is missing the opportunity to experience the fullness of emptiness.

In Europe, it is vacation time — a period marked by the pause from work or our usual activities.

Our daily lives unfold in other settings, rhythms, and intensities of relationship with the people who share our intimacy.

The temptation to replicate the pattern of filling every moment with activity and action — to feel that we are making efficient use of our time — often appears as a way to avoid the discomfort of hours passing without doing, of days slipping away without “usefulness.”

The character wrapped in challenges, efficiency, and results takes over the joy of doing nothing — the pleasure that comes from slowing down, discovering nuances through contemplation, and enjoying conversations woven together simply for the warmth of sharing.

We live within narratives of endless growth — of more and more. Vulnerability must be hidden, and the fear of disappointing becomes an obsession. In this way, time loses meaning, and we never truly arrive at a safe place, for we leave it before settling anywhere else.

During times of rest, we can experience:

• Emptiness: being without filling ourselves with… and feeling that emptiness can lead us to the pleasant sensation of not knowing what…

• Silence: stretches of time listening to nature, whose sounds remind us of what is essential.

• Contemplation: looking and seeing without seeking or needing to understand, allowing what we observe to invite emotion and thought to flow in a harmonious dance.

• Dwelling: arriving in places without the urge to capture them in a selfie or rush to the next destination. To depart, one must first arrive — and let the place become dwelling and being.

The art of relating is about learning to linger — to give time to the encounter with others.

For a summer of fullness, and from it, to polish the unique and singular richness of our own being.

By JOAN QUINTANA, Director of the Instituto Relacional.