Encountering Emptiness in Everyday Life

Over the past few days and weeks, one topic in particular has been on my mind: the experience of emptiness in everyday life.

This wasn’t triggered by any drastic changes or events in my life, but rather by a sudden realization or insight into the nature of things.*
 
Emptiness is not the same as non-existence or the feeling of emptiness that arises, for example, when something that was just there suddenly disappears—such as a close relationship coming to an end, the loss of a loved one, a job, or a home.
 
Emptiness, rather, is the realization that, fundamentally, everything is insubstantial; even when it is still there, there is nothing permanent or fixed to which we can cling. Something does not disappear when we recognize its emptiness.** 
 
The concept of emptiness—or the experience of it—can be unsettling for some, especially when we are unprepared for it and suddenly feel at the mercy of its force. It is different, however, when we learn to encounter the “natural law of emptiness” in our daily lives. The tree is still there, yet we can learn to experience its emptiness. The same applies to everything we experience—even the self, which is essentially just as insubstantial.

Actually, there is nothing frightening about emptiness in and of itself. In music and art, and especially in photography, emptiness is a very common theme. When I experience emptiness, it’s as if I’m seeing things as they truly are, beyond the meaning I ascribe to them.

Do you regularly experience emptiness, or do you have a photo that fits this theme that you’d like to share with me? Then feel


* I was also inspired by Pema Chödrön’s book *Welcoming the Unwelcome*, which we’re currently reading in our book club.

** A fact that quantum physics also teaches us, but which very few people can actually experience directly.