Fear of the Void

I would be willing to bet money on the fact that you or someone you know suffers from kenophobia. It is awkward, debilitating, messy, distracting, and it’s an invisible killer that is all around us. Kenophobia is also known as horror vacui which in relation to visual art from Greek translates as “the fear of the empty”. I first became aware of my kenophobia during my first portfolio review as a young designer as I thoughtlessly filled up every part of a canvas with unnecessary detail because I believed that’s what a designer’s role should be. Here is a canvas, go fill it. I’ve touched on this subject a tiny bit in a past article, but it wasn’t until a professor quoted Miles Davis, “Music is the space between the notes. It’s not the notes you play; it’s the notes you don’t play”. DAMN MILES.

I started paying closer attention to this and realized I did it in conversations as well as my work. As soon as there was a moment of silence I would panic. It was like the conversation that was once lively and bubbling over was now dying and needed reviving. I would fill the silence with a sigh, a new topic, another question, and in some of my best moments a stupid noise just for the sake of making noise. I began to restrain myself both artistically and personally when it came to empty spaces and something magical happened. I didn’t die when there was open space or more commonly known as “negative space” on my canvas, or when there was a lull in conversation. More importantly the message of what I was trying to communicate was far more effective when it was allowed space to breathe and speak for itself.

Often times clients ask “Can you move this thing down so there’s not so much empty space?” I will gently push back and ask “What about the space is bothering you?” even though I’m really asking “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Not really, but sometimes.

Open spaces play an important role in our hearts and minds. No one goes to the grand canyon and asks “WHY IS THERE SO MUCH EMPTY SPACE, CAN YOU PUT A BILLBOARD HERE SO IT DOESN’T FEEL SO BLAH. HOW ABOUT A SIGN TELLING ME IT’S THE GRAND CANYON? MAKE IT BIGGER.” Instead we find ourselves standing staring and appreciating the void because it creates a space for us to think, ask questions, have our own experience and hopefully be inspired. Why can’t this translate to our work, our schedules, or cadence of conversation?

It doesn’t just stop with visuals, we are afraid of empty spaces everywhere. I can’t speak for the nation, but 99% of Silicon Valley is meeting addicted, and the more we have the more we need to get our fix of a sense of accomplishment.

There’s an awful lot of conversation happening around innovation yet we offer ourselves no real time to actually dedicate to this. It’s not going to happen in the 30 minutes in between meetings. Decline meeting invites, and if you must go, make sure that there is an agenda, and oh my god stick to it. Deep work and creation takes time, silence and space.

If we don’t create this space then we are merely keeping up mediocrity. I remember as a kid when I would complain to my parents that I was bored. “Good” they would say, “go find something to do” and off my brothers and I would go and attempt to create an airplane out of our Radio flyer wagon and an old refrigerator box.

So how do we find open space in our noisy, filled up, over scheduled world that’s constantly beeping, dinging, chirping, pinging at us? Most days I would like to set it all on fire. Ok maybe that’s a little dramatic, but how about a proverbial fire? Wildfires can occur naturally and although they’re extremely destructive, they clear out all the dead brush to make space for new growth, make room for sunlight to come in and provide the soil the nutrients it needs to support a thriving ecosystem. A lot of plant species depend on the effects of fire for growth and removing all the crap on the forest floor helps established trees grow healthier and stronger.

Every once in a while we need the equivalent of a wildfire for our lives, our inboxes, our slack channels, iMessage, gchat, Facebook Messenger, AIM, calendar invites, friend lists, desk space, hard drive organization, social media outlets, everything.

Let it burn, make space, decide what you want to shed light on and get creating.

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