2040's Ideas and Innovations Newsletter, Issue 51: Why Do We Struggle with White Space?

The Fear of a Blank Canvas

Issue 51: April 14, 2022

Here’s an existential question: How do you fill an empty/white space? Spoiler alert: First, ask yourself is it worth filling? Second, is what you’re filling it with valuable, relevant and meaningful? Lastly, don’t hold back if you’re worried whether the full space is going to be accepted by others or will we be ridiculed and sequestered to the back of the room.

Too often our default behaviors kick in and we feel anxiety and stress when we have to fill an empty space because our base level of comfort and security are upended when presented with a blank canvas. Our comfort is further threatened when we feel there is an expectation to perform, and we’re not confident we can succeed. We worry if what we are about to add to the canvas will be right, credible and accepted by others. Filling an empty space is inhibiting because we are programmed to avoid ridicule, reveal our faults or expose what we don’t know.

What Holds Us Back

We typically fa…