The Space Within: Considering Our Deep Longings

This morning, I settled into my chair much later than usual. It being Saturday, the one day I permit myself to wake naturally, my body took its liberty. As I came to, I was gripped by an inexplicable wanting, a sense of something missing. Often, my knee-jerk reaction to such longing is to acquire something impulsively—a new book, another cup of coffee, some “thing” to fill the void. But today, I chose differently; I chose to sit with the feeling and explore its origins.

Do you ever sense that inner emptiness, a space that cries out to be filled? How do you respond to it?

I believe we all harbor these deep-seated yearnings, those that have been bubbling up from within since our earliest cries for nourishment, comfort, and affection. Embedded in our DNA, these impulses are not just survival mechanisms but are also entwined with the profound nature of our self-awareness as conscious beings in the cosmos—a cosmos that never seems quite complete.

As children, our simple longings were easily sated with more—more food, toys, friends, affection. Yet, as adults, we sometimes default to these childhood strategies, seeking solace in comfort foods, shopping sprees, and myriad distractions. Such measures offer only temporary relief, and the emptiness soon returns.

This was my experience this morning. Faced with the void, my habitual response whispered seductively, “Shop on Amazon,” or “Find that ‘new-to-you’ book on Better World Books.” In these moments, I must consciously refocus on my breath, acknowledging the emptiness without fleeing. It’s this very impulse to escape that keeps me tethered to endless, unsatisfying quick fixes.

Augustine of Hippo wrote, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you,” eloquently capturing this intrinsic, restless yearning. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin spoke of our quest for “more being,” a desire not merely for consumption but for a meaningful existence—to impact and be impacted, to love and be loved, to open ourselves further.

We are an integral part of something much greater. As the universe unfolds, we are both witnesses and contributors to its majesty. This yearning for “more being” is not simply a call to acquire more but to live more profoundly, with greater purpose and connection.

Questions to Ponder:

• In moments of longing or emptiness, how do we distinguish between the desire for material fulfillment and the need for deeper, spiritual satisfaction?
• What practices or habits can we cultivate to better sit with our feelings of emptiness, rather than immediately trying to fill them with external things?
• How does recognizing our part in the larger unfolding of the universe influence our perception of personal yearning and the ways we seek to fulfill it?