Have you ever thought about the composition of music or art? What distinguishes it from anything else? Recently I was reminded through an example in a Sunday sermon.

If you think about it- what makes music, music? It it the rests or the pauses between notes. If you didn’t have them, you would have continual sound not a musical phrase. It would just be noise.

That example made me think of sculpture. It is not so much of what you see, but what you do not that defines the piece.

Michelangelo said that with his sculptures he was just freeing the image within the marble. "The idea is there locked inside. All you have to do is remove the excess stone." Pieces of marble must be carved away, leaving a “pause” or space so that the image shines forth.

I really needed those examples this week. I needed to be reminded that in order to be effective, pausing is important. If I do not find rest in and from my activities, I will just be one continual noise.

Some situations I need to allow the negative space to be discovered; space where nothing is happening, yet without the nothingness, nothing can happen. The more stress I am under, the harder it is for me to wait: wait for responses to inquiries, wait for situations to resolve, wait to do the next project. Under stress I feel that there is not a minute to waste and that I have to be “busy” every second of the day. I forget that if I do not put pauses into my daily life, then life becomes one giant blur of activity with nothing being remembered or enjoyed.

I am reminded that lately I have not “rested” between one demand of my time to another. I find that if I go back to back with no down time, I become cranky at best and a downright meanie at worst. When I do not have pauses, I become the noise- continually complaining and getting down on myself for not protecting some resting time.

I know that I am in a season of life where some things just have to be done and some responsibilities are present. But, like they say with saving money- you have to pay yourself first. I have to make a priority to protect the pause time that I need to be able to go forward. If I want to make some significant or distinction from all the noise, I need those pauses.

I also realize that when I do not give myself rest, I am not capable of looking beyond the negative space to see the light or image through it. When I am stressed, my positive attitude becomes horrid. My attitude blocks any light shining through me. I become incapable of seeing any image or joy within the block of my endeavors.

What about you? Do you have a pause button for your daily lifestyle? Do you strike it? Or does it need to be reset? When you eliminate the negative spaces, does that allow the light to shine through?

What positive (in the) negative space or rests do you find?