Why Your Spiritual Life Feels Empty (and what comes next)

There is a quiet kind of tiredness that settles in the soul.

You still believe. You still care. You still show up.
But something feels flat. Hollow. Distant. Incongruent with who you are now.

Prayer feels like talking into space. Scripture feels heavy. The practices that once held you now feel like chores.

And the hardest part is this question you may not say out loud.
What if this means something is wrong with me?

Here is the truth most women are never told.
Spiritual emptiness is not failure. It is information.

For many women, especially in midlife, faith stops responding to effort. The old formulas no longer work. Not because God has left. Not because you are broken. But because something deeper is trying to emerge. Midife is an invitation to take stock, examine, let go of what’s not working and open to a more expansive practice and way of being with God.

I know this because I lived it.

For years, I did all the right things. Daily prayer. Journaling. Scripture. Service. And yet I felt increasingly numb. I tried harder. Added more structure. Pushed myself to stay faithful.

Nothing changed. Except the ache grew louder. I knew the path of spiritual practices that had brought me that far would not take me the rest of the way.

What finally shifted things was not a new belief or a better habit. It was letting myself stop striving. I began to deepen the awareness of my body and how essential it is to my spirituality. My breath. My resistance. My longing. I stopped forcing words when none were there. I began to learn new ways to pray.

And slowly, something shifted, softened.

I discovered that longing and emptiness is often a doorway. It is space being cleared. Space for a different way of relating to God. One that is quieter. Slower. More honest.

Many of us were taught that faith lives in the mind. That connection comes from thinking, understanding, believing the right things. But there is another way. An older way.

A way that includes silence. Presence. The body. Creativity. Listening. Being over Doing.

When faith feels empty, it may be asking you to stop doing and start noticing.

Here is a simple place to begin.

Sit somewhere comfortable.
Place one hand on your chest.
One on your belly.

Do nothing else.

Notice your breath as it comes and goes.
No fixing. No directing. Just noticing.

If a word or prayer rises, let it.
If not, let that be enough.

Stay for one minute.

Know that in this space, you are already in God’s presence. God is gazing at you with love as you gaze at God. It’s that simple.

This is prayer.

Not effort. Not performance. Just presence.

Spiritual emptiness does not mean the end of your faith.
It often means the beginning of a truer one.

If this resonates, you may be ready for a gentler framework for spiritual life. One that integrates faith, body, and creativity without pressure.

That is the heart of The Contemplative Creativity Blueprint.
An invitation to begin again, slowly, honestly, and holistically. Pay attention to all of your life as prayer.

Stay tuned for a supportive container of rich connection with yourself and God through contemplative, embodied spiritual practices.