Gratitude for Emptiness

It may seem strange to be grateful for emptiness, but think about it. When was the last time you were able to sit in a clear area and just take in the room to breathe? This morning we endeavored a great clean up. I decided to move the boxes and piles of "stuff" out of the way to sweep behind them.. Wow! What a large amount of dust balls to be able to gather!
In doing so, I managed to shift all the clutter from its' normal place to a different place. I did a nice thorough sweep and we washed the floor. Then we sat down to rest. As we sat there, I realized that I was admiring the clean empty space. I pointed it out to the kids and asked them to consider which they liked better.. the empty space or the pile of clutter. Which did they want to live in? Breathing great sighs of relief, they pointed to the empty space.
I reminded them that we had to get rid of toys, clothes, junk.. lots of stuff to be able to have that empty space. This afternoon, we are still working on our great project, and I am being grateful for the emptiness.