My Creation Story: Creating Space

My Creation Story: Creating Space

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What if... you’re carrying too much noise to hear the quiet wisdom that’s always trying to connect with you?

What if God hasn't gone quiet?

What if your body has simply been carrying too much noise?

What if the answer isn't to do more, strive more, or figure it all out?

What if it's simply to create space?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because I keep hearing the same words from friends, clients, women, men, and even our kids:

Overwhelmed. Exhausted. Burnt out. Disconnected. Donezo.

I know those feelings, too.

And when I find myself slipping back into them, I've learned to stop asking, What else do I need to do?

And start asking, Where can I create space?

Noise

In the past, when I slipped into that state, I could usually trace it back to neglecting the simple spiritual and lifestyle practices that help me reset.

That’s not really true anymore.

These days, I’m pretty religious about creating space. Prayer, meditation, journaling, studying Scripture, yoga. These practices are woven into the rhythm of my life. My body notices immediately when they’re missing.

But sometimes, the space that normally holds me isn't enough for what life is asking me to hold.

The outside world gets louder. Clutter and noise quietly accumulate in the daily rhythm of life. The calendar gets fuller. The endless mental load to produce and keep going. The emotional weight around me gets heavier. And because I'm particularly sensitive to that emotional energy, sometimes I find myself amplifying it.

Through Human Design, I've come to understand some of that sensitivity through my completely open Solar Plexus. It's given me language for something I've experienced for years: taking in other people's emotions and sometimes carrying them as if they're my own.

I know I'm not alone in that experience.  

Our days don't exactly make space easy. I personally spend about 25% of my waking hours just carpooling my girls or attending one of their sporting events. I suspect that percentage is even higher for some of you.

I don’t think it’s wisdom we’re lacking. I think we're lacking the space to receive it.

In the past, ignoring the call for space sometimes came with physical symptoms. Now, I'm much better at recognizing when I need to slow down, but if I push past my limits, my body has a way of getting my attention. Usually through deep exhaustion or tears.  

Just recently, I was given a gentle whisper to create space one Sunday morning: "This week is going to be heavy. Emotional. For you, and for the collective."

I knew what was coming on my personal calendar. I was already sitting with the passing of my aunt and trying to figure out how to make it to the funeral, but it was also the week marking the 24th anniversary of my dad and my grandmother passing away. But then the collective news kept pouring in. Our school community lost a sweet mom, and I felt the emotional wave of that grief crash into me. And then, the world lost Dolly Parton.

I didn’t listen to the initial call to slow down and create space. But when I don’t create space voluntarily, sometimes my body mandates a sacred pause.

I spent much of the following day crying, letting the tears clear out the noise, grief, and heaviness I was trying to carry.

Sacred Pause

Creating space isn't just clearing physical clutter or finding an empty hour on the calendar. It’s an energetic, physical, and spiritual exhale.

When I return to the creation story in Genesis, I’m reminded that order, light, and peace didn't emerge by striving harder; they emerged when the Divine spoke into the chaotic nothingness. Creation has always involved a rhythm of light and dark, work and rest, filling and emptying, doing and being.

There are countless ways to create space. Even within prayer and meditation alone, there are hundreds of approaches.

Here are a few practices you might invite into your life:

• Prayer & Meditation

• Mindfulness & Breathwork

• Journaling & Scripture Study

• Yoga & Movement

• Nature & Sabbath

• Creativity & Celebration

• Church & Spiritual Direction

• Fasting & Clearing Clutter

• Self-Care & Rest

• Doing Absolutely Nothing

I have a few go-to practices I weave in daily, along with others I return to weekly, monthly, or seasonally. Some take 1 minute. Others take hours. They don’t all look spiritual. But they all help me to settle, clear, reconnect, & become available to hear that quiet wisdom I couldn’t hear through the noise.

The more space I create, the more aware I become of what is always there: God's presence, my body's wisdom, the people in front of me.

Connection

I wonder how often we miss the invitation altogether. Not because we can’t hear it, but because we’ve become accustomed to responding to discomfort with more.

More doing. More producing. More fixing. More answers.

We run and run, then sometimes wonder why we’re surprised when we feel anxious, disconnected, or overwhelmed. We wonder where God is and why we can’t seem to feel the love and peace we believe are always available to us?

I’ve learned to listen for a different invitation.

What if the answer isn’t more? What if it’s making room for what’s already there?

I don't always need another book. Another podcast. Another practice. Another explanation. Another person telling me what to do.

Sometimes I need to get quiet enough to listen.

The more space I create, the more I recognize God's grace, love, and companionship. Not separate from everyday life, but present within it.

Presence

And sometimes, creating space isn't an internal meditation at all.

It’s putting down my phone, looking someone in the eye, and sharing a smile.

Real, present, human connection.

We spend so much of our lives tucked behind screens, heads down, rushing to the next thing, missing the very people standing right in front of us.  

And I’m beginning to see that creating space isn’t just about reconnecting with God or myself. It’s also about becoming more present to the people around me.

To notice. To listen. To love.

Maybe that’s part of what I’ve been learning all along.

Creating space doesn’t create connection. It makes me more available to experience it.

Because maybe the wisdom isn't missing.

Maybe God hasn't gone quiet.

Maybe my body hasn't betrayed me.

Maybe the connection was never broken.

Maybe I just needed to create enough space to be present for what is always here.

WM P.S. I call much of that quiet wisdom God. The Holy Spirit. Divine Connection. I also experience it through my body, intuition, Human Design, Reiki, nature, relationships, and countless other languages. You may use different words for what you experience. That's okay. I'm less interested in insisting on the language than I am in inviting you to notice.