Do you run away from feelings of emptiness? It’s time to face them head-on

People try many things to fill the void, but respite is short-lived. Learning to tolerate and understand these emotions will give you a more solid sense of yourself

I just read an extraordinary article by Anna Parker for this website, and it set my mind on fire. Parker interviewed Yannick and Ben Jakober, whose daughter died at 19. In their grief, they began building a unique, 165-strong portrait collection of children from the 16th to 19th centuries, many of whom did not survive to adulthood. The paintings are devastating, captivating, at times disturbing; I was moved and unsettled by this unusual monument to parental grief.

There was one particular line in the piece that floored me. Exploring the drive to continue adding painting after painting to the gallery they had built, Ben spoke of kenophobia, the fear of empty rooms or voids: When there was aspace there, we had to fill it.'"