Vacuum Law of Prosperity

in the space there is choice

Vacuum Law of Prosperity  

You know those lessons or conversations that stick with you? I have a few of those. One is that things are sometimes gonna be awkward and it’s ok to let it be awkward. Another is something my uncle told me like 8 years ago that visits my thoughts a few times every month. I mentioned it to my cousins a little while ago and they ALSO remember this which is so fun. 

It’s called the vacuum law of prosperity, and describes a truth/concept that can be and has been examined throughout history by many people, in many ways. This is how my uncle explained it to me. 

The vacuum law of prosperity says that when you can identify that you want something new/better/different in your life or home, you must make the space for that new/better/different thing to come in. Once you’ve cleared out what was there before, you can choose what you fill it with. He gave the example, “when you want a new couch, you gotta get rid of the old couch to make room for the new couch.” 

There’s obviously more to it — sure you can try to cram in both couches, but do you want or need that many couches? Do they fit comfortably in the room or is it now too cluttered? If you have two couches, that extra couch is taking the place of something else that might be really lovely and enhance your life dramatically. But unfortunately, it cannot come in because it won’t fit. So you don’t even consider getting a new thing, because there is no place to put it. 

So once you realize that you want a new couch, get rid of the old couch! 

Intentionality 

To me, the vacuum law of prosperity reflects the broader lesson that you can be intentional and selective about the people, activities, and things you allow to take up space in your life. To a greater or lesser extent, you’re allowed to decide what matters to you, and how you want your life to look and feel. 

And because we are not stagnant beings and things shift all the time and our bodies change and our consciousness changes and we have different needs and preferences at different points of our lives -- there will always be space and opportunities to fill that space (or allow it to be filled) based on Who You Are Right Now. 

When does space come

The vacuum law of prosperity can be applied to many aspects of life — jobs, relationships, time, energy. There are a couple of aspects I want to draw attention to in regards to having space in your life. 

Essentially: 

• You can choose to make a space (quitting, leaving, getting rid of) 

• Life will naturally create spaces all the time for you 

• In either case you can be intentional about how to fill it 

I’ll chat about quitting later (love quitters, more quitting please) but first:

Life will naturally create spaces all the time for you - things you can’t necessarily control.

• Nature’s patterns affects everyone (it’s raining, cold, a tree fell and you can’t get to work, etc)

• someone cancels plans on you and you now have an open schedule

• you’ve been working on a project or a movie and it ends

• the semester of school is over

• someone dies

• your favorite café closes down

All of these things create space. And the space will be filled eventually — something will take its place. With every space there is an opportunity to let it be open, for as long as it takes to decide what you want to do with it. 

It’s like when you have finals and are so incredibly busy studying or you’re an actor and the show ends. And then you get sick. Your body had to release — you had time to feel. Or maybe you have an epiphany or become incredibly anxious because now you have mental space to think about different things. 

Soo what do you do with space? How can you choose to fill it in ways that make your life more peaceful or satisfying or exciting or chill? (an open-ended question, I don’t have the answers).

Quitting 

Quitting tends to get a bad rap. Being a quitter is colloquially understood as a failure, something wrong, etc. 

No thank you, don’t like that at all ! !

There is CHOICE in quitting that I think is often overlooked. Quitting is a choice you make, just as not quitting is a choice you make. 

Quitting — leaving something that is no longer working.

The people I’ve listened to and like to learn from have led me to understand quitting as one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself. Quitting is truly the most magnetic thing you can do — you’re literally SHOWING the universe that ‘hey I want something different, this is no longer working for me, I don’t want this anymore’. 

Quitting usually means that now there is space for something better to come along and fill the space. (note the usually, there are exceptions and nuance to EVERY SITUATION!) The glaring exception I’d like to name is if you quit because you’re really afraid of succeeding, or you don’t believe in yourself and give up. 

But even here, you probably just have to go collect some more lessons and learn something else before you come back and try it again. If it’s aligned for you, you’ll come back to it. Giving up can also be a beautiful surrender to allowing help in.

You are allowed to quit! And when you quit or leave or the show or semester ends or the seasons shift, there is SPACE. And that space can be really scary. And there can be a tendency to try to fill it immediately with plans, drugs, clutter, etc. 

I’ve recently experienced this in the transition from summer to fall. My dear love Jen described this summer of 2021 as a fever dream and I fully agree. My summer was intense and filled with people and plans and love and I had so much fun and also! It has ended. The Fall is here. In the weird space transitioning into fall, I had a little freak out. What do I do with this extra space? People are staying in more, it’s darker earlier, I don’t want to go out and DO things all day long anymore. The energy has shifted. So because I’m a recovering anorexic perfectionist who can easily be incredibly rigid and restrictive, it is very scary to me when there is too much space in my life. Turning to unhelpful rigid patterns of being is something that has previously been what I turn to in times of transition.

(so, to round this out but really I don’t love talking about this, I decided to get more jobs (more toddlers) and start this newsletter and watch Netflix shows that make me audibly gasp 4 times an episode like ‘Dare Me’ and ‘You’). That’s how I transition now I guess!

Anyways.

 “what do I do with the space in my life ? !”

Let it be there. It’s ok for space to be here. It’s not always going to be empty. But if you’ve intentionally quit, or ended or whatever, you can intentionally fill the space -- or rather, allow it to be filled based on what you’ve identified as what you want and need. 

Maybe your life is filled to the brim and you feel like you have no space - ok that’s fine. But are you satisfied with everything in your life? Do you need to make space for something? 

Up to you. Obviously we can’t be happy clappy about every thing and person and event in our lives. Shit happens. But what we do have control over, I think we might as well be intentional about the choices we are making.

You can also just breathe and see what happens and that’s a beautiful way to live as well.

xx maggie

p.s. part 2 of this will hopefully be next week, but because I cannot guarantee what I will feel like writing about, I cannot guarantee that part 2 will be next week. Just gonna breathe and see what happens.