One is that there is an openness in the whole thing. My sense is that transformation occurs when open spaces are created in individuals or organizations so that it becomes quite clear that the old way of being, whatever that was, the old life form is no longer serviceable or useful. There's a basic concept in a lot of metaphysical writing of creating a vacuum, of clearing out and eliminating to make space so that something new can be drawn in. But somewhere along the line the perceived value of the open space switches from negative to positive and what was end and destruction becomes beginning, possibility and opportunity. Built into that is the real root of celebration and joy.
Real joy comes out of traversing the open space, engaging in the process of transformation.
Open space by itself is not nothing, but it's always bounded by something - something sets the context. Don't think about it in physical terms, like the corner of 42nd and Vine, but almost as a psychic space, and then take that one step further. What a good story does is create bounded open space within which, under the guidance of the author, you begin to experience a reality that you've never known before. For example, in The Old Man and the Sea all Hemmgway really tells you is that there's an old man, a big sea, a small boat, a large fish, a hot day and a great deal of anxiety and searching of the soul. And not much more than that.