Origins
Derived from the Latin vacantia, meaning emptiness, vacancy, or unoccupied time. The word shares roots with vacant and vacation, reflecting the paradox of free time that should feel restful but instead invites old patterns to rush in and fill the space.
Meaning
Vacantia is the moment when a stretch of unstructured time opens up and our mind instinctively reaches for using to fill it. Nothing is wrong and nothing is pressing, yet the silence itself feels incomplete, almost demanding a familiar solution. In Vacantia, we see how addiction once functioned as our default scheduler, stepping in whenever life left a blank space. The experience exposes how deeply the habit was woven into our sense of time, not just our coping, and how recovery requires learning to let empty hours remain empty long enough for something healthier to take their place.
Usage
When the plans fell through and the evening opened up, Vacantia hit, and we felt the old urge to fill the hours the way we used to.