I’m In My White Space Era

Protecting our peace means protecting our time.

On the socials we are seeing various ‘eras’ people claim to be in but I hadn’t put much thought into what ‘era’ I’d categorize my own life as being in these days. They’re just fun (and in some cases empowering) to read about, like, and scroll past.

I opened my planner yesterday to look at the next few weeks ahead. Yes, my physical planner. It is printed on pretty paper and has the entire month at a glance - which I love. I use (and couldn’t live without!) a digital calendar as well, but this one is only for non-work-related events, and it allows me to preserve some white space each month.

White Space is a calendar square where I have nothing booked. No plans. Sometimes these are Saturdays where I ease into my morning by reading, drink an entire pot of coffee and decide in the moment what I feel like doing. Maybe Bryan and I walk down to the Farmers Market, go out for breakfast, or browse the bookstore. Sometimes this white space falls on a Sunday, when I’ll put on an audiobook and cook all day, making up meals for the freezer. (My kids love when I do this. The comfort of homemade meals all week long with just a quick heat!) Whatever is done in this white space though, wasn’t entirely planned for. That is the beauty of it.

For far too many years I had one thing planned after another and could barely catch my breath. Busyness was my blind spot. Between little boy hockey, little boy baseball, far too many social commitments and working two jobs, I had next to no downtime. I’d stay up late just to have some ‘me’ time and would sacrifice sleep to get it. Not anymore though. I’ve learned the hard way how detrimental lack of sleep is for my well-being.  Looking ahead at what is coming up on this paper calendar of mine, I realized something.

I’m in my White Space era.

Never before have I been able to protect my time like this. Events over the next month include a day in the city with some besties at the National Menopause Show, a workshop on preparing for retirement, a girl’s night in to have wine and a catch up with a friend I haven’t seen in a while, a weeknight 5pm (early bird) dinner out with another friend I want to see, a couple of live music events and an afternoon matinee with my cousin. All things that are important to me to do. I’m looking forward to these scheduled plans because I have also afforded myself the white space I need in order to be spontaneous and do what I feel like doing in the moment. I’ve scheduled it like any other event in my calendar. I’ve learned to say no to things I don’t actually want to do, or that creep into my downtime.

Protecting my peace means protecting my time. And protecting my time means planning for White Space.

Photo by Jazmin Quaynor on Unsplash