“The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now. Not for the person we were in the past.”
– Marie Kondo
You are worthy of a life that feels peaceful and expansive. You are worthy of a life that the universe has room to work in.
Life can become cluttered very quickly. We gather junk – both internally and externally> We gather clutter without meaning to and then without us even realizing, it takes up space in our mind and energetic field.
Whether you are an avidly organized minimalist, or a beautifully expressive maximalist, or anywhere in between, chances are there is some area of your life that could use a “Life Edit”. While clearing space is a process, not something that happens overnight, a lot can happen in a very short amount of time when we truly commit.
We know that our external space reflects and affects our internal landscape, and vice versa. We could spend days, weeks, or months in each area, deeply decluttering and tending to each dusty corner of our homes and minds.
Today however, we are going to focus on simple action items. These can be as intense or brief as you’d like. You can tackle all of these items in one day, or spread them out over a week or so, but please DON’T skip this! Don’t cheat yourself. There is power in taking even a few minutes to create more space in your life.
You are worthy of taking time and energy to clear space. Regardless of what your life or your home or your brain feels and looks like, you are worthy of calling in all that is meant for you.
What is meant for you wants to connect with you, but you have to give it the space to come in. Show up for yourself.
“Make space for the life you want to have.”
– Shawna Scafe
Things that take up space:
| Internal Space Vampires. | External Space Vampires |
| – Upcoming To-Do’s and things you might be putting off – Worries and anxiety about situations in the past or future – Finances that are out of control – Toxic relationships – Activities, responsibilities, classes, jobs/chores, etc. that feel draining – Habits you know are not serving you | – Clutter in your home – Junk in your car – Having too many things – Not having enough places to put things out of sight – Holding onto clutter because you may need it in the future – Excess on your phone: apps, photos, text threads, etc. |
Action Steps:
- Create a list of your own Space Vampires – both internal and external.
Sometimes this can start to feel like a to-do list, and that’s okay. Just having it written out, bulleted, or voicenoted can in itself create more space in your mind for peace. Don’t feel like you have to write down EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING right now. Spend five minutes on it and then add to it as you think of things, if you’d like, or if it stresses you out, put it away and never look at it again until you want/need to.
- Pick three things off your internal space list to clear. Commit to doing it and then DO. IT. Remember that it’s not necessarily the items, situations, tasks, or people that are draining or toxic in and of themselves, it’s the dynamic of you two (you and the clutter, you and the other person, etc.) together that creates the heaviness and takes up space.
Examples of ways to clear internal space: Tackle one item on your to-do list that you’ve been putting off but you know would be relatively painless if you just sucked it up and did it. Go through your recurring expenses and re-do your budget. Reassign your least favorite chore to your partner or someone else in your household. Feeling ready? Give up that nightly doom scroll, pack of cigarettes, or daily can of soda. Only you know what will truly open up space for you, and you may be surprised at how far a little bit goes.
- Pick three things off your external space list to clear. Commit to doing it and then DO. IT. That voice saying “I’ll do it in January”? Don’t listen! You don’t have to do EVERYTHING for it to matter.
Examples of ways to clear external space: Clean out your car. Go through one drawer and organize it. Fill one trash bag with items to donate. Find or purchase a few decorative baskets and utilize them to store that eyesore pile of clutter always sitting around (sometimes I use reusable bags for this trick too!). Spend a few minutes deleting excess apps and photos on your phone. If what you really need is just to dedicate an hour to cleaning your house – do it! Put on some banging music or a podcast, set a timer, and get ‘er done. You will feel so much better when you do.
Resource: The Life Edit with Krista (There is also a Spotify version of this episode and she has a program that I haven’t taken but would love to in the future called “The Life Edit”.)