Why Space Matters In A World Addicted To Doing
We’re addicted to doing. We fill every space - with tasks, with noise, with thoughts and whizzing through YouTube rabbit holes.
But what if the real magic, the real change, happens in the space we keep trying to avoid?
Last Sunday, I co-hosted a gathering in a bell tent on the edge of Edinburgh. Twelve of us sat on the ground, on hay bales, the hills rolling around us, a buzzard calling overhead. It felt like the perfect setting for what we were exploring: the space between thoughts.
The event location itself added another layer. We were literally on an edge — between the city and the hills, between civilisation and nature. And among us were people who care deeply about the state of the world and living sustainably. So the conversation naturally moved into a bigger question: how can we find peace with the world as it is — and still act to make it better?
It’s relatively easy to retreat somewhere into the countryside, and feel a sense of spaciousness. But living that spaciousness — holding it internally — is where it gets interesting. Especially in a world that thrives on clutter: not just material clutter, but to-do lists, repetitive thoughts, and planning activities that may never happen.
And if we’re not doing something, we feel guilty. That becomes a triple guilt trip for those of us who feel responsible for saving the world (it’s just not fair is it).
I’ve been thinking a lot about this space — this “edge” — all year, both in my own life and in society as a whole. The old structures of our capitalist, goal-driven, rationalist culture are cracking, yet the new way forward — if there is one — still feels unclear. There’s no shortage of books, panels, and podcasts telling us what needs to happen — but who can really say how it works?
If you’re reading this, maybe you’ve felt something similar.
This space is not easy to sit with. It can feel like being in limbo, a zone of disorientation or stuckness. The temptation is always to fill it with something, anything. Because space can feel uncomfortable. It asks us to pause, to listen, to wait. And in a world that screams for speed and productivity, that can feel like failure. Or even reveal hints of existential terror (eek!).
This topic interests me all the more because those of us promoting rest, reflection, and inner work often face a mixed reaction. Some people agree, and others will comment it’s self-indulgent, and that “we don’t have time for this, the world is crumbling!”.
So, how do we hold that paradox — the drive for action and the invitation to pause?
For this gathering, we invited my dear friend Jared Franks, a spiritual teacher and therapist from Australia. Jared prompted us to focus on the space between our thoughts — a kind of stillness that reveals something deeper about who we are. He led us in a simple exercise: noticing how object-focused we are — treating thoughts as objects too — and shifting our attention instead to the space that surrounds them.
You can try it yourself, right now. And maybe you will see that it’s a presence in itself — one we’ve been trained to overlook.
And isn’t that part of the reason we’re in this mess? I can’t say for sure, but what I do know is that even framing this as a debate — action vs. pause — is misleading. I’ve been guilty of that too — trying to “figure it all out” — but it’s a trap.
It’s not about choosing one over the other. It’s more like music: the notes and the spaces between them. Without the pauses, music would just be noise. What if the same is true for change-making - that the space doesn’t stop action, but gives it shape and meaning.
And that more space leads to more meaningful action.
This is what I try to bring into my work with Impact Sweet Spot. From the outside, it looks like a very practical framework — choosing priorities, partners, and actions to have real impact. And it is. But beneath that, there’s something more foundational: the willingness to not rush, to touch the essence of real peace, and to stop filling the gaps just for the sake of it.
What if events like ours — and the thousands of gatherings, meditation circles, and workshops happening across the world right now — are less about the words or the tools, and more about what happens in the space between us?
Just now, I watched a butterfly land on a flower outside my window. This is it, I thought. Observe. Tune in.
To be honest, I love listening to podcasts and reading books about societal transformation, and I’ll continue to do that. But the paradox of action and pause is not something I want to resolve or debate anymore. I want to live it. I want to create opportunities — through my work, through Impact Sweet Spot, and through the retreats we’re planning — where we can together lean into that discomfort and potential of the space between.
Because I sense a hidden revolution. A messy, unknown, simple, terrifying, pregnant one — and the only way through. A revolution happening with and without our constant trying to change it all.
(Photos below are my own, from our event)
