Create Space for the Life You Desire

If you recall I started this month and this year in not the greatest of moods. I was unenthusiastic (to say the least) about the new year. But that has changed.

Our bodies are intuitive. At the beginning of this month, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I just knew I felt claustrophobic and trapped. I was trapped in my home, my body, my mind, my circumstances. All I knew was that I needed to breathe. So I did the only thing I knew how to do – create space. 

Benefits of Creating Space

You may think that creating space sound hippy dippy. Don’t worry. I’ve been called worse. Here are a few ways creating space can elevate your life:

1. More room to purchase. – Can’t buy more clothes if there’s not room at the closet right? Don’t be afraid to let go to allow something else in. Maybe something better.

2. More room to think.- Believe it or not physical clutter can cause mental clutter. Removing excess around you can free up the mind to think bigger and brighter. 

3. More room to create. – It could be a physical clutter or a mental clutter. Mental clutter could be all the worry and anxiety you’ve been holding on to that’s preventing you from creativity.  

4. More room to love. – Relationships can be some of the move heavy baggage we carry with us. They are difficult to let go of. But if it’s toxic or draining, those relationships must go. 

5. More room to enjoy. – An open and free physical, mental and emotional environment is the key to being able to fully enjoy life without the weight of stress and circumstance hindering you. 

At capacity

Think of yourself as a computer or an elevator. You have a pre-set capacity for storage/ baggage (physical, mental and emotional). One you hit that threshold things start getting a little wonky. 

Signs you may be at capacity

• Sense of stagnate energy (you aren;t growing or developing like you should)
• Things around you don’t “fit” the person you’re becoming
• Longing for freshness – something new
• Feeling heavy and sluggish
• Easy things seems to be outrageously difficult 

How do you create space

When you hear the term create space, most people think about decluttering. It’s a physical thing. While that’s true, creating space goes beyond the Marie Kondo method of organizing. It’s a process that can take place physically, mentally and emotionally.

Clearly, physical was the easiest thing for me to start with. I took down my Christmas decorations the first chance I got. Instead of placing the tree back in the beat up box, I opted for a solution from Amazon. This bag fit my tree and the decorations perfectly. Then I had bae slip the bag in the attic instead of the Harry Potter closet it’s been stored in for the past 5 years. 

Then I moved on to my clothes. I went through both my closet and my armoires and purged any and everything that no longer fit. As I sorted through the clothes I not only asked if the article fit me size wise but fit me personality wise. Did it fit the person I am at the moment or the person I envision myself becoming? Anything that didn’t fit or brought up negative memories had to go. 

Next I focused on decluttering mentally and emotionally. I bought a Happy Planner Mini to start organizing my mental space and all the things I want to accomplish. Integrating my sleep tracker and mood tracker with my nightly journaling to express all of my worries, concerns and emotions I was feeling. It’s overlooked but getting that emotional and mental weight off me helped create space.

Give yourself the gift of space

I don’t claim to be a minimalist by any stretch of the imagination. I’m actually a recovering product junkie and partial clothes hoarder (never know when I’m going to lose these last 50 lbs and get back in that dress. However for some reason I felt truly compelled to purge.

While I choose a more intuitive route, with a little introspection, you can identify the areas that need to be cleared out. This could be in any form: relationships, ideals, material objection. Anything that’s no longer serving the person you are becoming – chuck it. 

It’s only been a few weeks but I honestly feel lighter already.