Empty Days (Another Call to Stillness)

I've been told I'm a Golden Gal, defined as a woman fifty or older.  I like that term because it has an uplifting ring to it!  I must say, however, that I've been challenged these last few months with a sense of emptiness that comes with age.  My youngest is now off to college, leaving the house quiet, and while the first month was very freeing, I found the second two months leaving me feeling a little empty, especially in the afternoons.  Because I work from home, I enjoyed my kids coming and going, especially coming home from school mid-afternoon.  Now no family is with me until my husband gets home from work.

While I've added some freelance work to the work I do from home, it still leaves something to be desired during this afternoon space.  It's been suggested that I write during this time, but I do my best writing really early in the morning.  While this empty space is only a few hours, some days it is daunting.  That's why I wasn't happy when the twenty-four hour silent retreat rolled around.  Usually I long for it and love the November ones because it is right before the start of the holidays.  I had signed up for this one months ago, though, and now wasn't so certain about it. 

But of course it was just what I needed.  Twenty-four hours of silence can give us time to listen to our spirit's hunger, and for me, surprisingly, God/Spirit* said to "trust in the blessings of God's presence in our most empty days" (excerpted from the Opening Prayer the first evening of the retreat).

If you've been following my latest posts, you might have noticed a running theme which is a call to stillness.  Spirit keeps reminding me right now because it's in my nature to run full speed and fill this space.  But I haven't.  Not even at the retreat.  I didn't write prolifically like I usually do.  Instead I mostly read for pleasure and I tooled around with watercolors and then consciously left the paintings behind.  Bringing them home with me would have meant that I needed to do something with them, but that didn't feel right.  After all, Spirit had spoken.
 -----------------------------------------
Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
-----------------------------------------
Reflective questions:
1.  Do you long for or fear empty days?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).