Nothing
Item No. 11
“We’ll leave it up to you to determine what to do with nothing.”Nothing is the absence of anything. Nothing is the complete opposite of something.
Nothing is what is left when we remove everything.
When every thing is removed.
It shows up as a nonappearance.
(Like the space between these lines.)
It shows up as a void. But is it? Because if it was a void, it would be something.
But it is not something.
(Not even the space between these lines.)
That’s the point.
It’s no thing.
Not even a point.
It is like a dark starry night, without the stars.
It is like music that isn’t playing on the radio.
It is like a puddle of air.
But air is there. Air is something.
Stars are something.
Un-music is silence. Silence is something.
But it is not something.
It isn’t anything.
No thing.
Not even a breath.
We’ll leave it at that.
It seems that might be all that’s necessary in a catalog entry about nothing in a world where there is always something.
We list nothing in this season’s catalog because indeed it seems there is always some thing. A thing here. A thing there.
Things everywhere (see Catalog entry: A Thing).
And there is always something to do. Something to see. Something to buy. Something that calls our attention. Somewhere to be. Someone is asking something. Someone is texting something. A message. An email. A class. A WhatsApp. A meeting. A deadline. Someone going somewhere. Projects. Tasks. Obligations. Grooming. A problem. A solution. Responsibilities. Opportunities. Emergencies. Duties. Decisions.
Something to do.
Something to buy.
Someone to see.
These *somethings* come at the cost of nothing.
We live in a world of many somethings.
Such things distract us from remembering that we can’t describe everything.
Like no thing.
Nothing.
No thing is present in nothing.
We can speak about nothing. We can think about nothing.
But we can’t know it completely, can we?
It is not anything.
So perhaps, thus, it is an opening.
Where there is always something, we miss nothing. Nothing may not be a breath, but it leaves a space for us to breathe. It allows room for possibility.
In a pause there is potential for anything.
In a pause, the place between things, perhaps something pure, a beginning.
Or perhaps just an opportunity to contemplate, nothing.
(With) humility. We don’t (yet. will we ever?) know everything.
Other specifications:
None.
In other words. . .
What is nothing?
Benefit:
Something. We’ll leave it up to you to determine what to do with nothing.