In a world dripping with suffering, how do we accept that we can have what we want, need, and desire? In this first of a two part series on fear, we explore the intersections of fear, desire and The Void.

First, we must know what we want, need, and desire. Then we must make room for them in our hearts, our minds, our bodies, our spirits, and our lives. “Making room” looks like saying no to anything that is not what we want, need, or desire. This will create voids. But, we can’t say no until we have clearly defined those needs, wants, and desires, or at the very least their negations, as in, the things we do not want, need, or desire. It is enough to only know that you want something different to what you have know to begin your journey through Voidwork because that knowing provides you with a map through The Void. Becoming aware of this knowledge of your wants, needs, and desires is crucial to this.

This is like when you decide you want to buy a car of a certain make or modeal. (Please excuse my Very American upbringing in this example!) More often than not, that desire will make you aware of the existence of that car. You will see it more often as you travel, not because more people started driving it, but because you have created a void through your desire. As another example, When I become aware of the knowledge that I do not want to spend my life in unhealthy relationships with friends, family, or even myself, then I will begin to see the patterns of unhealthiness, and be presented with opportunities to deny them access to the room I'm making for healthy relationships.

If there were to be any magic in Voidwork it would be that it is applicable at the personal and the collective levels. For instance, when we collectively become aware of the knowledge that we do not want to live our lives under tyrannical governments and the oligarchs who usurp our time, resources, and very humanities, then we will begin to see the patterns of tyranny, and likewise be presented with opportunities to resist. This is Voidwork.

"I am deliberate and afraid of nothing." –Audre Lorde

Voids are scary. The sudden absence of a familiar face, feeling, or thing leaves us feeling hollow. This is how we know our humanity is in conversation with the universe. That hollow feeling is the universe vibrating with the awareness of The Void. It is The Void looking for the thing to fill it, to bring it back into resonance with the universe. But if are not deliberate, if we have not done the crucial work of defining what we want, need, and desire, our hollowness will devour anything it can find to fill us up because hollownesses are voids and voids must be filled.

Making voids without one or more of these definitions at hand leaves us open to fear, especially the fear that we might say no to the wrong thing or miss out on something. This is why we often say yes when we're unsure or afraid to say no. Remember the rule of Voidwork: voids are unnatural, and nature moves to fill them quickly because the universe does not abide a void. And, as you and I are universes unto ourselves, we are constantly filling voids as they appear. So, you see, saying yes to things that you don't want, need, or desire, is Voidwork!

Fear is a signifier of a void, often of one we did not create ourselves. It arises when we are looking at the void instead of beyond it, at the force that keeps it open. Seriously, take it from me, don't stare into The Void unless you are prepared to materialize as a madthing. When you are deliberately making your voids, saying your no’s, and making room for your wants, needs, and desires, you will eventually become afraid of nothing. You become the force that is keeping that void clear for the things that will fill it because you are not the first or last powerful thing who will hold a void open.

“But perfect love casts out fear,” John wrote in his letter to early followers of Jesus in the wake of the void Jesus left by his departure. That is what is beyond the void: love. Love is what you will become as you keep your void clear, making room for what you want, need, and desire. And love is where our weapons are sharpened and where, our hopes, wants, needs, and desires find their way to this realm.

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” –Paulo Coelho

The trigger for all of this is you and the declaration of your desire. When you say a thing will be so, and determine within yourself that it is so, then it is so. The Void has been set, and the universe is in moting, conspiring to fill it. As Octavia Butler wrote in her private journals, "So be it. See to it!", both declaring The Void and provoking the universe to work. This beyond "setting intentions". This is declaring a world, and there are many ways to do this. You can, as I do, write it on your refridgerator, in your journals, and on your bathroom mirror. You can also print it out on a sheet of paper, fold it in your wallet, and carry it with you everywhere you go. You can say it with your mouth, repeating it to yourself as you brush your teeth every night and day, or you can find that perfect song that encaspulates your desire and sing it every day, or 100 times a day.

All of this is the declaration of the void, and all declarations are facilitated by words. Regardless of the language you speak, your words are forces of nature, giving you the power to create and destroy, move and remove, make voids and fill voids. I go more into the power of words in the lesson titled "What Worlds We Weave With Words," so be sure to review that if you have not already. Think of the space between you and the thing you want as a void of both distance and time, and then imagine yourself filling that space with the words of your declaration. Literally imagine it filling it up with giant letters that make up words that make up sentences that make up paragraphs that make up whole books worth of the worlds you are calling forth. The universe, tasked by its creator to fill voids, will obey.

Declare and accept the abundance of your wants, needs, and desires. Make your voids with intention. This is the work. This is how we get free.

You are surrounded by love. I hope you are moving deliberately, and declaring your voids without fear.