Emptiness is definitely a word with negative connotations. The person who refers to the glass as half empty is labeled as the pessimist, and when people say they feel empty inside it is widely regarded as a bad thing. However, I believe that emptiness is not always such a bad thing, and in certain situations it can even be beneficial.
There is of course the widespread notion that a feeling of emptiness brings depression along with it. The sad part is this notion became widespread because it is true in the majority of cases. My mother often falls into bouts of depression when she feels like her life has not reached the type of success that she had hoped for. She feels as if her life is empty, there has been no real purpose since there has been no real contribution made. This is of course ridiculous, as she helped raise me, the pinnacle of human evolution, which is quite a significant contribution. Nonetheless, there are times where her feelings of emptiness become overwhelming and put her in a gloomy mood for days at a time.
There is a positive note to all these feelings of emptiness. Whenever I feel myself feeling empty inside, it makes me want to make more of a contribution. The only way to make that feeling go away is to fill up the emptiness with action. My mother became a teacher’s assistant for that very reason, so instead of feeling empty because of a perceived lack of contribution in the world she fills herself up with the knowledge that she is now making a difference in the lives of hundreds of children. The emptiness ended up motivating her to do more with her life, and in the end became a positive thing.
Another major cause of a feeling of emptiness is a lack of human interaction. Many people are extremely social. When they are not surrounded by people they are not sure what to do with themselves, and as a result loneliness, a form of emptiness, sets in. It is a different feeling that is not enjoyable for most. As the saying goes: “no man is an island,” meaning we are by nature social creatures and being alone for many of us is a somewhat foreign idea. It is because we are unfamiliar with it that this form of emptiness can be hard to endure. There are others who are able to embrace this feeling, and by looking at them it becomes clear that a lack of social activity can become positive.
Without the distractions caused by chatting with everyone you see it is easier to look inside one’s self. All the attention that was focused outward can be reflected in and great discoveries can be made. While it may feel lonely to not be constantly surrounded by people, it is also difficult to get through life without knowing who you really are. As such it becomes very important to be able to focus on inner reflections without distractions. It might not be fun to be alone all the time, but it can prove to be beneficial if self reflection can be balanced out with social interactions. In these ways emptiness can turn from a negative to a positive, as long as the emptiness is approached with the right frame of mind.
