Living in the White Space

Living in the White Space

I’ve been thinking a lot about “white space” lately. Specifically, how to create more of it in my life and the many benefits of “living life in the white space.” Having grown up in a family of artists and graphic designers, I often heard reference to the term, “white space,” in discussions about creating “good design.” Simply put, in the context of art and design, “white space” is blank, empty space, devoid of any design elements (images and text). White space provides a place for the eyes to rest, which our human eyes like. Often referred to as “negative space,” it is considered an important element of design. The proper use of white space brings our eyes and attention to the “positive space” — that of the images and text. The balance between the positive and negative space is the key to creating a harmonious, aesthetic design composition. In college journalism courses, I learned the same basic principles. It is undesirable to clutter every inch of paper with images and text. In fact, it makes the text difficult to read. The human eye needs blank space. White space promotes better legibility, as well as mental comprehension. And, as a website designer, I apply this same principle to the websites I design. White space is critical for good design online. In the field of interior design, white space is also highly desirable. It is the blank space in our home, in our office, a store, a museum, any place that is free of clutter. In our physical environment, it is more than a space for our eyes to rest. It...
Creating Life Change

Creating Life Change

“Nothing happens until the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of change.” –Arthur Burt Creating Life Changes by Carol Adrienne, Ph.D. Despite the fact that we cannot help but change, we seem to have a constant yearning for things to be different in our life. My guess is that this focus on changing something in our life is a corollary of other ideas invisibly current in Western culture. For example, here in the United States, we place a high value on freedom—freedom, I suppose, to make changes when we want to make changes. We also place a high value on having, and having more, whether it is leisure time, money, quality time with the kids, or a bigger house. The desire for change often accompanies the feelings of wanting more of something or less of something else. For most, the idea of “creating life changes” seems productive and beneficial—maybe even good for the planet. The list of the changes we desire, of course, is endless. Unfortunately, as much as we dream of change, we are just as likely to feel inadequate to the task of making any change, be it changing careers, partners, body weight, or income brackets. This is called resistance, which we’ll talk about in a minute. Read More New Beginnings by Alan Seale What if every single day offered you the opportunity for a completely fresh start to life—a chance to start with a clean slate—no baggage, no expectations, nothing holding you back? The truth is, it does! Every single day, and actually every moment and every breath you take is an opportunity to...
Moving Forward

Moving Forward

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” –Goethe Moving On…To What You Want by Suzanne Zoglio, Ph.D. Whether life hands you a bucket of stuff that you’re anxious to get rid of, or you find yourself sitting on life’s sidelines but longing for something more, the dilemma is the same. How do we get the push we need to move on? It’s that old approach-avoidance thing that keeps us stuck. Our hearts say, “Go,” but our feet won’t move. Our friends say, “Move” and we dig in our heels. One foot firmly placed in what we know; the other poised to take us to what we truly desire. It all seems so simple, intellectually. We want something different, so why don’t we just move forward with all the gusto we can muster? As a psychologist and coach specializing in life transitions, I have seen two primary roadblocks to moving on: resistance and fear. Read More How to Do Hard Things by Suzanne Falter-Barns One of the harsh little realities of pursuing a dream is that sooner or later, you’re going to have to do some stuff you don’t like very much. It’s just plain inevitable. Enter procrastination. Dread. Meltdown. Complete inertia. But the prospect of doing the tough stuff doesn’t have to stop you cold. To that end, I’ve been teasing out some different ways you can keep going. Here are a few of my favorites. Read More Becoming New by Bonnie Gold Bell You have powerful tools for making progress right in your own hands—and your...
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