As I’ve mentioned time and again on the blog, I have declared 2014 as the year of creating space.
The fall season has been getting to my head lately. Autumn is a time for harvest, and for shedding what you don’t need anymore. With this in mind, and realizing there’s just two months left in the year (holy buckets, when did that happen?!) I’ve started to intentionally wind down and check in on the goals I set for myself this year. Before the rush of the holiday season hits, it’s a wonderful time for figuring out which ones I want to continue focusing on in the time that remains.
One thing I know for sure: the decision to devote a year to making space is among the smartest choices I’ve ever made.
In fact, in hindsight, I don’t think I *actually* realized how crammed full my life was until I look at it now, in comparison. (I kind of can’t believe the clutter, and full-ness, and busy-ness I once put up with, day after day.)
While I still have a long way to go, I’ve made mammoth progress this year in the Making Space department.
- Our home has at least two carloads less clutter (maybe more)…and I can feel it, particularly on the main floor of our house and in our bedroom. It’s pure delight, and so much more serene.
- I left my day job to be self-employed, thus blowing my schedule wide open (getting used to that kind of new space has been staggering, to say the least).
- I get far fewer emails, and I’ve made a habit of clearing out all the emails in my three inboxes…nearly every week.
- I’ve also been learning the unexpected but crucial lesson of letting the space be there once you create it. It’s harder than you’d think to not just fill it right up again, but a worthy practice.
- I’ve made space around mealtime by honing my meal planning practice, and also developing a repertoire of dead simple meals for days when I’m too busy to enjoy cooking. (I have also been expanding my selection of wholesome, pre-prepared foods. Because even though I love to cook, sometimes I don’t have the space in my schedule or in my daily energy quota to make it happen).
- I take deep breaths more often. It’s amazing what an underrated action that is in making your body itself feel more spacious.
And the effects of this newfound space. That’s where things get really exciting.
When you intentionally cull your todo list, there’s an immediate effect of feeling lighter and less overwhelmed. But there’s also new potential in that space, for things you haven’t even imagined yet.
Three different occasions this year, I stayed in bed reading captivating books ALL DAY LONG…simply because I felt like it, and because I had the space for it. It was divine.
For years, I didn’t have time for spontaneous get-togethers. I’d schedule lunches out a week or two or more in advance, because that was the best I could do. But this year, things have shifted, gradually but noticeably. It’s completely new, different and amazing to see wide gaping holes in my schedule. Amazing, I tell you.
And a couple months ago when one of my loved ones had a bad accident, I found that I had the space—and then some—to drop everything to be at the hospital. It was a test, in a way, and I found I was able to leave my day-to-day appointments and tasks and “obligations” for days at a time, with ease, because I was needed elsewhere.
Creating space has a wonderful side effect of making room for the things that really, really matter.
The beauty of that equation moves me to the core.
(My loved one is perfectly fine, now. I thank the angels for it every day!)
My latest project, 101 ways to make more SPACE in your day, is coming along along swimmingly. I can’t wait to share it with you. In it I’ll share many of the methods I’ve used this year to make space for myself, by making tweaks and changes—some teeny-tiny, and some rather huge and sneakily paradigm-shifting. And of course, I’m baking in a healthy dose of ease. Rather than having the task of “Making Space” be just one more thing on your to-do list, I’ll show you how to approach your changes as experiements to play with and try on for size (because this is not a one-size-fits-all scenario). If you’re interested in this project, be sure you’re signed up for my email list so you find out first when it’s published.
Tell me, friend: Where in your life would you appreciate a little more SPACE?
Leave a note in the comments below and tell me all about it.
