SPIRIT BY DESIGN
THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF SPACE
BY LAURA CARL
AS A FREEDOM-LOVING SAGITTARIUS, I enjoy wide-open spaces as much as anyone, but I’ve come to respect the margin. In design, margins are the empty space between content and the edge of a page. They don’t alter the content itself, but they shape how it’s received. Margins improve readability, create a more intentional experience, and keep content from being cut off in print. In many ways, they’re a lot like personal boundaries.
Margins frame content and keep it from spilling across the page. They create structure, reduce overwhelm, and help us take in what we’re seeing. Personal boundaries work the same way psychologically—they define where we end and others begin. Without them, other people’s emotions, expectations, and needs start to blur into our own.
Margins also give the eye a place to rest, making it easier for us to engage with content. Boundaries do this for relationships too. When our limits are clear, people don’t have to guess where they stand with us, and we make room for rest, reflection, and integration. Without boundaries, life becomes one continuous block of input—tasks, emotions, obligations—with no space to process any of it.
Margins can even signal value. Think of a painting in a gallery, surrounded by white space. That breathing room draws our attention and lets what’s inside that white space speak for itself. Boundaries communicate the same sense of worth. When everything and everyone has access to us all the time, it subtly suggests that our time, energy, and attention are expendable.
Like margins, boundaries require balance. Too little, and everything feels crowded. Too much, and we risk rigidity and disconnection. The goal isn’t maximum distance but rather finding the right amount of space to stay both grounded and connected.
True freedom isn’t about endless access, but the ability to choose our limits. We were never meant to live edge to edge. Knowing where we end is what gives everything inside us the room to matter. &
—LAURA CARL, ART DIRECTOR, SPIRITUALITY & HEALTH: A UNITY PUBLICATION