Comments on: Moving Through the Void

By: Anaïs Laurent

Anaïs Laurent — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:21:03 +0000

I find all this discussion about stability, losing one thing to grasp another, manageable things and what not, difficult to understand. Each day of my life is filled with change that never lets me become comfortable, habit-ridden, because I’m not in the same place or time frame long enough.

There is a lovely word I learned sometime ago, Shushumna. As I understand it, it is that moment where we no longer are what we were, nor are we what we shall become, it is the moment of becoming, the process of becoming. It is the wave at its peak, the instant before it collapses upon itself, or unfurls letting go of the immense energy of the surge forward to reuperate a new energy in its return to the ocean through an undertow that can be destabilizing. Perhaps this would be a moment of void, but it is not empty for me, it is a renewal of energy in a new direction.

By: Dickran Guerguerian

Dickran Guerguerian — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:04:11 +0000

The Tarzan example is great, but somehow doesn’t get to the void, as I know it.

I would change your analogy a little bit when describing the void. It’s more than just letting go of one vine to grab another. In fact, I wouldn’t even say that the void is that moment in time just after you let go of the vine and just before you grab the next one. That weightlessness between vines when you are literally flying, is also not the void.

Sure It might be scary because if you don’t grab the next vine coming, having already let go of the last vine, then you will fall to your peril, or so you think. And for us over-achievers, it means if you don’t grab the next vine, then that fear of failure will rear its ugly head.

For others, taking that leap of faith to grab the next vine is thrilling. In many ways, I have come to enjoy that, having switched careers, and allowed myself to use my experiences to ready myself for that next vine.

But you know what? The true void is not the vine to vine. It is not the weightless moment either, in my opinion. If is the failing to grab that vine, only to smack the earth hard. Only to feel yourself question your surefootedness. I think it is the falling part, which is the void. When you are on the ground. But once on the ground, you can rest. You can re-train. You can take on the vines again, assuming the void hasn’t traumatized you to the point where your resiliency fails you…and of course assuming when you hit the ground, you didn’t die.

All in all, I would say the void is manageable, whether a bad economy or a natural disaster. What may not be manageable, however, is when it is a person waiting to cut the vine as you grab it. But that’s another story altogether.

By: Valerie Hausladen

Valerie Hausladen — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:56:24 +0000

@Karen:
Thank you for sharing your story. Sounds like you emerged transformed with some cherished lessons from that painful experience. We gain great strength when we realize we can live through extremely challenging times.

By: Karen Kalisek

Karen Kalisek — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:02:32 +0000

The void you speak of is actually very relevant to those who are in financial despair and/or foreclosure as well as those who are experiencing uncertainty in their professional careers. These things are all interrelated.
Having gone through the void, I can now appreciate the process. Was it painful? Yes. Was it devastating? Yes.
It was a death of another way of life, and it came with the grief associated with death. There is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution. There is not a ‘quick fix’. Everyone has their own discoveries.
It has been 24 years, since we lost everything, but the memories are raw with the current economic and employment conditions. I understand that the numbers quoted on the nightly news are a reflection of real people living the life I once lived.
What I know now is that it helped me become the woman I am today. I appreciate the process, cherish the lessons learned and I ‘Pay It Forward’ at every opportunity.