Published Articles

                                                  There’s a concept in visual art and design called “negative space.” Negative space means                                                          essentially, the part of a composition that is not taken up by the piece’s main subject. In a                                                          painting of a vase of tulips, it is the table the vase sits on and the wall behind the flowers. In a                                                    photograph of your son on his third birthday, it is the dark room surrounding the adorable
                                                  toddler and his big eyes as he takes in the candles on his cake.
 

                                                  Art or photography without enough negative space feels busy and chaotic. In a painting with                                                      no negative space, it is very difficult to determine what the piece is supposed to be about.                                                          You get lost. You get confused. You forget what you were looking for.
 

                                                  Our lives need negative space too.
 

                                                  A number of years ago, I was moving through a significant transition at work. It was a                                                                promotion, really, and I was excited to be stepping into this new and more challenging role. Yet along with my excitement, I also had other more complicated feelings I didn’t know how to name. Fine threads of anxiety, inadequacy, and fear had interwoven themselves with the excitement and healthy feelings of accomplishment. My inner world began to feel like a ball of knotted up necklaces one finds in the bottom of the jewelry box, so tangled that there seems to be no hope of wearing one gold chain ever again.
 

This knot of complicated feelings also impacted my relationships both inside and outside of work. None of us are only one thing. On top of my work as the pastor of a local church, I was and am a partner, a parent, a daughter and a friend and the lack of negative space in my life was impacting my ability to engage in all of those arenas. I had started to forget the subject of my painting, the things my life was supposed to be “about.”
 

It’s funny when you think about it. As a faith leader, I refer people to counselling all the time. I have seen what a significant difference it has made in the lives of people I care about. Yet it was so hard to make that first appointment; I’m not sure quite why. Perhaps because in my growing up years, “counselling” was only for extreme situations. Things had to be really bad before you would consider something like that.
 

I see things differently now. Counselling is not some sort of epi-Pen, applicable only in emergencies. Nor is it a sign of weakness. Instead, my counsellor helps me find the negative space I need in my life. Counselling helps me hear myself think. By sitting in his attentive, caring presence my counsellor helps clear away the background noise so that I remember the subject of my painting again. It helps me find my bearings when I get lost. Counselling is now a regular part of how I take care of my mental health. Not because I am in crisis (though counselling is good for that too!) but because I am human and my humanity needs adequate respect -not to mention more than a little negative space.
Author: Erin Wildsmith