Negative Space

I was looking out the window a few moments ago, and I saw a gigantic cat climbing up in a tree. Clearly there was a huge cat head, with a paw playfully heading up the tree, batting at something.

The image was in the negative space between the limbs and remaining leaves, and now that there's been a little wind, it's gone.

Images appear to me all the time, and always have. My grandmother's bathroom had this tile with little squares of different colors on it, and I would bide my time doing my business by finding various items among the squares. Horses, cows, dogs, cars. Whatever my mind made an image of. Sometimes I could find it again, but often times, I could not.

One year, apparently a particularly bad year for me as an elementary school student, I found solace in a dinosaur made from a brush pile along a fence that I saw every afternoon on the school bus. I did not see it in the morning, but each afternoon on that hour-long bus ride, I would stop doing my homework and look for my dinosaur.

The dinosaur was there all year, and it brought me great solace to see it every school day.

The following year, though, I could not find the dinosaur. I wasn't even sure where to look for it, and I never saw it again.

I see dancing horses, gargoyles, and faces in the bathroom mat or in the bathroom tile these days, though they are gone after I blink. They are not really there. I simply have an overactive imagination, one that sometimes comes out through my eyes.

Negative space is an art concept. Sometimes it is called "white space," the area around and between the main subjects of an image. Negative space can significantly impact the visual effectiveness of artwork, photography, and design. Apparently, you can also see images in it when you look at trees.

I use negative space sometimes in my photographs. Landscape photography in particular can convey feelings of solitude when you have a single subject, like a cow or a deer, surrounded by huge fields, my wonderful Blue Ridge Mountains, and a blue sky. Negative space enhances the emotional tone and makes the subject seem more significant given the scale and context of the picture.

Sometimes what is left out can be just as impactful as what is included. Occasionally things left unsaid, left undone, left unseen, have great impact upon our lives, only we may not realize it. Some think these voids must be filled, but they may be better left alone. The truth may be out there, but that doesn't mean it has to be spoken. Rather than rushing to fill silence with words, leaving space for reflection or simply being present can often communicate more than words ever could.

Negative space teaches us to let go of unnecessary distractions and focus on what is essential. Just as I might zoom my camera out instead of taking a close up, we can edit our lives by eliminating what doesn’t serve us—whether it’s physical clutter, excess commitments, or unhelpful habits.

There is beauty in simplicity, balance, and intentionality. What we leave out - the things we don't say or do - can be as meaningful as the things we do say or do. Sometimes the most profound growth comes from the spaces where we allow ourselves to simply be.