Find Your Middle Ground

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Potter and Space

The potter knows she plays with clay but works with space,
For the use of the bowl is its empty space.
It is the same with the room,
Made whole by the emptiness between the walls.
Remember that something is not everything.
Nothing is also essential.*

~ Lao Tzu

Without space there would be no substance. Substance is not everything, although our mind likes to think it so.

I remember a time when I was painting watercolors, and learning about negative space. This is the space or background that the subject is set against.  Imagine choosing a tree to paint, and rather than painting in the tree, you paint the space around it.

watercolor trees
Source: Pinterest

Space must be considered in order to allow the subject to shine forth from the paper. Its brings harmony to the piece.

When we consider that nothing is essential, it turns inside out how we see things. I know it also reminds me how limited our thinking mind can be.

Nothing is essential.

 

 

*Braun Jr., John; Tzu, Lao; von Bargen, Julian; Warkentin, David. Tao Te Ching (Kindle Locations 211-215). . Kindle Edition.

Val T Boyko
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38 responses to “Potter and Space”

  1. Hariod Brawn Avatar
    Hariod Brawn

    Great post, Val. I choose to think of awareness as the lucid, empty space within which consciousness (the brain’s output of thingness) is revealed. H ❤

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you Hariod for your kind support. I appreciate you sharing this perspective and opening us up to the empty space within us all 😊

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
  2. Maria Gianna Iannucci Avatar
    Maria Gianna Iannucci

    Thank you for providing a shift in perspective today.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Shifts in perspective let the light in. Thank you Maria for seeing this 💛

      Like

      Reply
  3. Jennifer Kelland Perry Avatar
    Jennifer Kelland Perry

    I love this, Val. Funny how limited our minds and thoughts can be, until someone or something enlightens us.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      So true Jennifer. Thank you ❣️let us always be open to new perspectives and ways to relating to the world around us 💛

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  4. Donna Guillemette Avatar
    Donna Guillemette

    Great reminder! Thanks Val

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you Donna 🙏

      Like

      Reply
  5. nrhatch Avatar
    nrhatch

    Good post, Val. Nothing is essential!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank yuh Nancy 💛🙏💛

      Like

      Reply
  6. Infinite Living Avatar
    Infinite Living

    I love this! This concept feels profound to me every time I read anew.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you PD. Sit with it and see what insight unfolds. It’s multi dimensional with no right or wrong. 😊

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. Infinite Living Avatar
        Infinite Living

        You are welcome. I agree, you are right!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
  7. Bela Johnson Avatar
    Bela Johnson

    Nothing IS essential! If it weren’t for nothing, we could not experience ‘something.’ I love that you mention art, for when I produce a pastel drawing, I always begin with negative space first. Then the image emerges from that. And then there’s the Big Bang theory … 😉

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you Bela for planting your substance into this post. Don’t take me to BBT though – one humungous awareness is all I can handle at a time ❣️

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  8. Betty Hayes Albright Avatar
    Betty Hayes Albright

    I love thinking about this. Not being an artist it isn’t something I considered before. Maybe it’s true of poetry also. There is always something between the lines, though it appears to be empty space. The unspoken upon which the words are formed…. ?
    Thanks for the thought provoking post, Val.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Something between the lines that is unspoken, yet felt…. I love this Betty ♥️ Words come from the empty space within. We create them with thought and give them substance as they come into the world I’d substance.
      Lots to reflect on. Thank you Betty 💕

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      Reply
  9. Healing Grief Avatar
    Healing Grief

    When there is space we can expand and see the path with new vision. Beautiful reminder Val 💕

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you Karen. Space offers us so much 💕

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  10. shobhna Avatar
    shobhna

    Thanks Val. Such a liberating feeling to pause and be with this centering thought… nothing is essential

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you Shobhna 💛

      Like

      Reply
  11. Carrie Cannady Avatar
    Carrie Cannady

    What a lovely post, Val. Nothing is essential. Therein we dwell…in quiet. I really love your presentation of this concept! Thank you.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you Carrie. “Therein we dwell..” is a lovely place to pause.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  12. Ann Koplow Avatar
    Ann Koplow

    Your posts are essential to me, Val. And this reminds me how silence in group therapy is as important as what people share.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Ah yes…. silence and holding space. Thank you Ann for this perspective 💕

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  13. Paul Handover Avatar
    Paul Handover

    Val, I so, so love your posts!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you Paul. I love it when you stop by and then think a while 💛

      Like

      Reply
  14. smilecalm Avatar
    smilecalm

    thanks for giving
    us some space, Val 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you for your smiling presence David 💛

      Like

      Reply
  15. D. Wallace Peach Avatar
    D. Wallace Peach

    This reminds me of the thought that without silence there can be no music. A lovely post, Val, and your artwork of space around the tree is stunning.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you Diana. The artwork is not mine … but it is so good. 💕

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  16. sloppy buddhist Avatar
    sloppy buddhist

    i loved pottery and teaching it…this puts a smile on my face…thank you Val… 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Perfect Hedi❣️thank you. xo

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  17. IreneDesign2011 Avatar
    IreneDesign2011

    Lovely post Val and useful in all life’s facettes ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you so much Irene❣️ I like your new profile picture!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. IreneDesign2011 Avatar
        IreneDesign2011

        Thank you Val, the photo was taken in May this year, so the most new, as I have 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
  18. amandavanniekerk Avatar
    amandavanniekerk

    I think we are too quick to rely on our 5 senses and to dismiss what we cannot experience physically. Maybe we can be reminded here that in the greater scheme of things, ‘nothing’ came before ‘something’. Thanks for this lovely post Val.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      … and something then becomes nothing. Thank you for this thought Amanda 💛

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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