Open Space for Well-Being
When heads-down working in an amazing job, or when job searching in this wonky market, open space is often ignored. Until it hits you: overwhelmed, checked out, irritated, or even a variant of depression. Time flies and if this goes on for too long, we can really get stuck. Frozen.
Open space is not a luxury or a practice for those who are less busy than you. Open space is a practice to boost and maintain your well-being and creativity. And if you are currently stuck or frozen, it’s a way to help you get unstuck. Not the only way, but a very powerful practice, if you are willing.
What is open space? It is time to rest and then grow.
- Space to not want
- Space to love others
- Space to love you
- Space to notice abundance
Whether you are chugging along well at your current job, or searching in earnest for work, you must rest and get out of mode of want. Yes, finances and impact of being laid off are real. And so is your mental health.
Real-life ideas for open space are deceptively simple:
- Time away from screens. All of them.
- Time with people you love.
- Creative time that is not about work or job search (what hobby have you ignored? play musical instrument, draw, ferment, a new body strength class).
- Read fiction
- If you can afford a small trip, take it.
It’s hard to override the good feels, the compulsions of screens, even though they are mostly empty promises. Scrolling social media (aka engagement) is how media grabs you and pulls you in. It’s like slot machine mentality: you scroll anticipating that a good thing will happen (it likely won’t!). Hijacked! So, it’s hard to break away, but you can absolutely do it.
Perhaps you are avoiding down time because it is hard to face the things that have been ignored for far too long. Avoiding quiet time with your thoughts is easier than facing them. This is true until the storm of being overwhelmed arrives, and then you cannot ignore it any more. There are many resources to help you dig in and unpack what holds you back.
Outside search is a big part of the standard work of The Intentional Job Search, which you can learn more about here. It’s a way to integrate your work and life into a durable, powerful way of living. If you can do this work under the incredible stress of looking for work or surviving a difficult job, you can do this in times of more abundance, too. Your wild and precious life is waiting for open space!
