How do you Take up Space?

When was the last time you took up space?

In December, I was at Austin’s Kindergarten Christmas concert. It was the first indoor, in-person event the school had hosted in two years because of COVID.

An important adult in the building mentioned that in a previous performance - they had done performances two grades at a time to limit exposure - one boy kept bowing. 

I was smiling thinking how wonderfully confident this little boy must have been, and how much he was soaking up the experience.

I mentioned how great it was that this boy was taking up space and it became clear that the adult thought I was referring to this boy’s physical space. She said, “Oh no, he thought that the applause was just for him.” I responded with a smile and moved on. 

It occurred to me, after that interaction, that people don’t necessarily understand what I mean by the phrase, take up space.

To me it means to feel the fullness of your spirit, to enjoy your fullness, and to share it with others; to be fully you, to live out loud, to be a light in the world, to energetically, and sometimes physically, be a presence in the room. 

For a long time, I have known that my energy is my superpower. My smile lights up a room, my being is contagious.

More and more I’m coming to the understanding that when you see me shine and you think, I want what she’s having, what you’re really seeing is God’s light shining through me.

Meaning, I’m walking the path that’s meant for me. I’m living with my fists open rather than clenched. I’m not trying to force outcomes to be rich, happy, thin, worthy. I’m doing what I would call God’s work, and listening to the whispers. 

What whisper keeps whispering, and how can listening to it allow you to take up *your* space?

With so much love,

Sarah x