Friday, April 1, 2016

The Value of White Space

I remember learning this interesting theory about the way modern readers set about choosing their books. We unconsciously scan the appearance of the page layout, and make decisions based on the amount of white space visible as we flick through.

When the pages are dense and blocky with enormous paragraphs, we subconsciously feel daunted. They appear like huge mountains to scale, and the more-fainted among us may chicken out and put them back on the shelves. It looks like too much hard work.



However, if we see generous white space in the form of shorter paragraphs and plenty of dialogue, it gives a friendlier impression, as if somebody has thoughtfully chipped steps into the side of that mountain. And paving the way for our readers may be as simple as breaking a couple of 7-12 line paragraphs into several shorter ones, of about 3-6 lines.



Since I learned the value of providing plenty of white space in books, I've noticed the need for it in several other areas of our lives too. There's the time aspect, for example. If every hour of the day is accounted for with long to-do lists, appointments and urgent work, we're thrown right off our feet by sudden curve balls. When a friend calls needing a shoulder to cry on, or a family member suddenly becomes sick and needs to be picked up, or we get an impromptu invitation for coffee, then our day is really thrown out of whack if we don't have white space.

Another need my family struggled with was financial white space. When our kids were small and my husband had recently left his job, every cent was accounted for in rent, food and general living bills. Sudden expenses left us reeling. A toothache requiring a filling, a fridge break-down, some beneficial group membership fee looming, or a birthday present for a son or daughter. They seemed to be petty annoyances to others, but were huge catastrophes to us, because we simply had no financial white space to absorb the added costs.

I've become such a strong advocate for white space in all areas of our lives, I prefer to call it by that name rather than brushing it off with a term I've heard others give it, which is 'nothing.' At first I thought the financial side might be the exception, since the white space we needed seemed to be more money. But no, on further reflection, the white space isn't the money itself, but the fact that it would have been nice to have some left over with nothing to spend it on. White space is actually a very vital form of nothing we would do well to fit into our lives. I've often found that many of my creative ideas have come to me in moments of white space.

I'm no scientist bu white space reminds me of the infinitesimal gaps, or synapses, between nerve cells which are constantly firing messages from one to another. Or they're like the short bursts of silence between the mighty notes of music in a symphony, or even the empty space which takes up some of the nucleus of a cell. White space, meaningful emptiness, room to breathe, whatever you choose to call it, it would seem God knew it was necessary in all of creation, so it's worth fighting for in our own lives.

I'd be interested to know if any of you have ever had to struggle to fit more white space into any area.     

11 comments:

  1. Hi Paula - Yes, I know exactly what you mean. A number of years ago I presented at a women's retreat on 'Margins' - with much the same idea. One illustration I used was seams in clothes. If seams are skimped on, the clothes are more likely to pull and tear. I also like the idea that creativity often happens in the margins (like doodling) - so as writers, we need white space to reflect and 'incubate' our ideas :)

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    1. Hi Jenny,
      I totally agree. That makes me a bit worried about celebrities in creative fields from time to time. They get so busy doing all the things required of celebs, they must sacrifice some of that incubating and doodling phase which helps make them creative.

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  2. Great post, Paula. I remember hearing a speaker at a writer's conference talk about the importance of leaving white space in the layout of pages in a magazine. One well-meaning member of the audience just couldn't wrap her head around that. She thought it wasn't good stewardship to leave white space on a page. She told us of a newsletter (or newspaper - I can't remember) she used to put together and she was very proud of the fact that every centimetre on the page was filled. I wonder how many people read those newsletters? I think I would have given up pretty quickly.

    Lately, God's been challenging me to take more control of my schedule, which includes leaving those white spaces so I don't get 'thrown' when something unexpected comes up.

    Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Nola,
      I don't think I'd find that lady's page layout easy to read. It's really interesting though, I've also come across people with the same attitude, who congratulate themselves for cramming so much in.

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    2. Oh, and I think I've been similarly challenge regarding the white space in my schedule.

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  3. An excellent and thought-provoking post, Paula.

    The irony is that it becomes a vicious circle: the lack of white space in time or finances means that when something comes up, we then have even less white space, which makes us stressed. It's a downward spiral that we need to work out how to prevent by having that white space to begin with.

    Perhaps that's why God instituted the Sabbath . . .

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    1. Hi Iola,
      Yes, I've been caught in that spiral, and it's hard to find a way out once you've been drawn in. Maybe the Sabbath is another of God's clear message about the value of white space.

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  4. Though there is the often irony that those who have time (temporal white space) don't have money, and those that have money (fiscal white space) don't have time. Life often is about finding balance - or doing what we can with what we've got :)

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    1. Whoa, that irony is possibly one of the biggest in life. What a balancing act that one turns out to be.

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  5. Thanks, Paula. I think this is very pertinent in our crazy busy/work obsessed culture... I've been thinking about this a lot lately, especially about what faithfulness to God and 'good stewardship' means in our context. Some would say that faithfulness to God = busyness, but I'm not so convinced... though it definitely doesn't mean laziness either. I think we can easily go too far one way or the other. I'm trying to work out what it does mean, what it looks like in my life, and in the lives of those around me. I pray that God would give me/us wisdom!

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    1. Hi Kristy,
      For sure, the fact that all the crazy, busy work is seen as a badge of honour in our culture makes the problem even harder to deal with for individuals. I agree that it's something we should consider carefully, especially since we can't easily decide by looking at the examples of other people in our lives. For all we know, they may be struggling on either end of the spectrum you've mentioned :) I echo your prayer, and hope we work out a balance which suits us.

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