12 Tiny Things: Simple Ways to Live a More Intentional Life

By Heidi Barr, Ellie Roscher and Dr. Andreas Michaelides

In a culture that says bigger is better, it is subversive work to take tiny, lasting steps toward learning and growth.

In 12 Tiny Things Ellie Roscher and Heidi Barr journey with us through twelve essential areas of life: space, work, spirituality, food, style, nature, communication, home, sensuality, creativity, learning, and community. In each of these areas, we are invited to take one tiny action that is sure to open up growth and renewal.

12 Tiny Things guides us in curating a spiritual practice that promotes a more reflective, rooted, and intentional life. Regardless of how the ground feels underneath your feet, trust that there are roots there to tend. By trying on one tiny thing at a time, you can slowly, deliberately, and playfully remember who you are. You can nourish that being with tenderness. Together, we will reach and grow toward the sun.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Broadleaf Books
• Release date: Jan 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781506465050

Heidi Barr

Heidi Barr is a writer and wellness coach whose work is founded on a commitment to cultivating ways of being that are life-giving and sustainable for people, communities, and the planet. She lives with her family on Dakota land in rural Minnesota.

Book preview

1

Space

\ˈspās\

noun

a continuous area or expanse that is free, available, or unoccupied

Saying no to one thing is saying yes to the  possibility of another.

Ellie

In 2007, a documentary about the Helvetica font was released, aptly titled HELVETICA. I recommended it to everyone I knew and often got skeptical looks in return. How could a film about a font be so interesting? Like any good documentary, it invites the viewer into a new world—in this case the world of typography, design, and our visual culture.

While delving into detail about how the font was created, Mike Parker, a distinguished type designer who helped popularize the font Helvetica, explains that the Swiss pay more attention to the background than the foreground in design. He maintains that negative space is what makes the font. Helvetica is pleasing to the eye because of the shapes that form from the unfilled space, the empty space within and between letters. It’s as if the space holds the letters firmly in place, bringing stability and firmness. We tend to be so focused on what is right in front of us that we forget to look beyond, behind, and between. [The letter] lives in a powerful matrix of surrounding space, he says. If you allow the background to become the focus, you begin to see the whole world differently, to appreciate the beauty of the space between.

When my yoga teacher calls me into Warrior 2 pose—which incorporates a wide leg base, a tall torso, an expansive, wide reach of the arms, and a turn of the head to look out over one extended arm—my teacher encourages me to set my gaze not on my fingertips or on the wall just beyond, but on the space between. Shifting focus, the room gets bigger. The world gets bigger. Once we see negative space, we can’t unsee it, and we sense that there is room to dwell there. The space between is the connective tissue of the universe, reminding us that we are deeply connected to all creatures. In the midst of a chaotic moment, we can stop and take a breath, creating space. There is space between where we are and where we want to go. In the in-between space, new things come into being.

Other Voices

When they need a little reboot, Suzanne’s family declares a weekend day a Nothing Day. The whole family stays in their pajamas all day long and don’t leave the house. It’s against the rules to do work or hide behind screens. Their days are filled with reading, napping, cooking, eating, and playing games.

Some say music is the space between notes. Some say the space bar is the most important key on the computer because it gives meaning and rhythm to the other marks on the page. Notice the space between inhaling and exhaling. The margins of your book. The smooth tabletop. The space between you and the person nearby. The empty slot on your schedule. In the space between is potential, power, and peace. If we want more peace, we can broaden the space in our lives, reside in it, and appreciate it. We can invite the background to come into focus. There, we remember that we are not alone; we are living in a web of energy. The empty space holds us stable and firm.

As a wellness coach, Heidi helps clients see the space between. She told me about her client, Jan, who was working over fifty hours a week, managing her children’s busy schedules, and tending to her mother, whom she had recently moved to an assisted living center. She also had multiple sclerosis and was required to meet with a wellness coach to keep her insurance premiums down. Instead of being excited to set health goals with a coach, she was reluctant to add one more thing to her list. It was the last thing she wanted to talk about. Because she was so overwhelmed, it felt like her world was