What we may perceive as nothing can be different from person to person. Nothing is not always one thing. It could be no thing. It could be something. Which is not a thing. Nothing can be something which is nothing which is also no thing, which is also nothing in itself. What could nothing be? No thing. It’s not a single concept. It’s nothing. No thing. Absolutely nothing, absolutely not. None things. No things. Nada. Zilch. Nothing more. No, not at all. Null. Void. Null and void. Positively negated. Nevermore, never was.

Do you want something else out of this? This piece? Now, why would you want that? Do you seriously want something out of nothing? That is a ridiculous thing to ask for. What you get is what you receive, and what you have received is nothing. What more do you really want? You don’t deserve anything at this time. Frankly, I don’t even know who you are or what you are. You could be anything. In actuality, you are really nothing to me. Not to sound rude. Nothing personal, really. You don’t exist, as I don’t to you. What do you know of me? I cannot see you, and all you see are these words on your screen/paper.  

I cannot hear you.

I do not understand you.

To me, as said before, you are nothing.

All that I am able to see are four walls of pure slate, emptiness. What else is there for me to say? I have nothing else to speak about.

You may be thinking of nothing as of right now, but you could also be thinking of a concept of what I am to you. The mind will try to find a concept of what it may not understand. Perhaps to you, dear reader, I appear to be male and have a suit on. Maybe you see me as female in attire fitting whatever construct your needs dictate.. In actuality, I am none of the options. I am perfectly non-binary as I am whatever is perceived by you or others. My physical properties are nonexistent. I’m not gas, solid, or liquid. My “form” is solely what you think it is. I am YOUR creation.

So perhaps I, in and of myself, are nothing. Maybe I am something. Something of nothing. Nothing of something. Something. Nothing.

I got it. Something out of nothing. It just seems semi-pointless to ramble on like this without a purpose. I must find a way to keep both you and I entertained so that we can make something out of nothing.

A story. Perfect! I don’t know what level of intellect you possess, nor do I know if you even have a mind. Ergo: I shall find a basic type of story. Now, are you interested in classical tales? I have a story called “Jacob and the Abnormally Large Bean-Producing Crop”.

It goes as so:

There once was a child named Jacob. His mother was quite typical by all accounts, and they lived quite an uneventful life on a farm. Do not question the whereabouts of the child’s father. Jacob was a child of beans, and for beans. The child demanded beans. He craved beans. All he wanted was to taste beans, talk of beans, dream of beans. It was rumored he was sired of beans, or more specifically, a singular bean. Eating all the beans was to be the magnum opus of his entire life. He needed them. They were his raison d’etre. The child said to his mother one evening, “Mother, I need beans. I cannot live on without having beans any longer.” Jacob’s mother was quite confused with his exceptionally odd statement as Jacob had spent the day doing nothing but eating bucket after bucket of beans, so she just ignored her odd child went to bed, exhausted by another long day of parenting her legume-obsessed offspring. Jacob did not take her silence as an answer though. He knew that he craved beans with a burning desire, it truly was the center of all he knew.. He knew well he was going to get said beans, sleep be damned. So he went off into the night, searching for his heart's desire. He had found a cow wandering alone of the road and the first thought that went into his bean-hungry mind was to sell the cow for his precious and much-desired morsels of heavens abundance. He was going to sell that cow RIGHT NOW. At night. Specifically around 11 at night. He went into the obviously empty marketplace and encountered a hooded figure. The hooded figure said; “ Hand me the cow so I can perform blood rituals, child. In return I shall grant one wish directly from the devil himself. ” Of course, Jacob completely neglected the advice of his mother involving not speaking to strangers and just handed the cow to the hooded figure. The cow was whisked away in a cloud of red smoke, presumably dead. In response to the recent events, the figure continued speaking.

“ Excellent. Now what is your wish. Of course, since they are from He Who Bears Horns, I shall warn you whatever you wish for will have a significant downside. You play with fire and thou will be burned if not careful. ”

Think of choices Jacob had! He could have wished for his mother and himself to be out of poverty, rich beyond measure, but would the catch be insurmountable taxes? His choices were endless, but needed to be well-thought out. We never said the child was smart. He literally had a brain full of beans. What did the child wish for?

“Beans. Give me beans. I only require beans. NOW”, said Jacob as he bounced around in gleeful anticipation. “BEANS, BEANS, BEANS”!

The hooded figure, as confused as the mother of Jacob, threw three beans at the child, then burst into the same red smoke as the cow. The child let out a cacophony of clear joy as to have finally obtained his beloved beans. He then proceeded to scarf down all three beans in one gulp. Jacob then shriveled up immediately, writhing and contorting, and turned into a goblin. You don’t eat beans from a cultish minion of the devil.

Well? Did you like that story? Did you? Your opinion means nothing to me anyways. Who am I? This story is probably better than whatever you could accomplish since you are sitting here reading this, not actively writing yourself, and it’s better than nothing. Right?

Hmm.

You clearly are not okay with just a single story. I expect that you wish to hear another story so you can feel that your time was not wasted reading this. Do you really deserve another story? I don’t even know your reaction to the last story. You may have thought it was too childish. It may be unlikely, but you may have thought that story was far too difficult to comprehend. Your response may also be that the story is obviously quite odd in structure with a brief conclusion that arrived without fanfare. The story could be considered an oddity by it’s moral and characters. The sudden jump to a religious front, specifically cults, can be considered unorthodox in story structure. The title of the piece hints at a bean producing plant, most likely, a beanstalk. Yet in the piece, there is nothing involving beanstalks, and only beans are spoken of in the piece. Was the title chosen to take your mind to that fairytale of old, to take you back to the innocence of childhood days, only to disappoint you with the lack of its appearance in the text?

Obviously this may not be the original classic story which has been told for generations. Rather a modified variant. A version which is unlike the original. Something which was made out of something else.

Something out of something else?

Something out of nothing?

The phrase which keeps coming up again and again and again. Four words which keep showing up. Improvisation. Renewal. To make something out of nothing is not to simply copy and paste whatever comes in your path. To do that is to make something new and fresh out of something considered lacking or…nothing.

Sometimes making something out of nothing means more than just working off of something else. Sometimes you could work from scratch. This means something entirely new, out of what is considered void or “a void”.

How do you think the universe was made? Obviously, something was made out of nothing. What was once considered void was made full. Something into nothing. A phrase which means so much and yet even if someone doesn’t know what the phrase is, the meaning of the phrase is present no matter how you see it. Something into nothing. Full into null. Empty and (then) filled. Create from what isn’t there. To summarize this phrase: What wasn’t, now IS.

The essence of all, from nothing.

We could make something out of nothing. Like I have just done. Like what you just read.

What other choice is there?