how to make space

clearing out, carrying less

Simplicity has always promised to solve our problems. In the early 2010s when ‘declutter’ was a buzzword and minimalism was a goal, I jumped on the bandwagon with the very best intentions. Like many people I got rid of every useless, unused, impractical item in my home and basked in the order I’d created. What I didn’t realise at the time is that I’d actually created space. And because I was so unaware, it inevitably filled back up. And so the cycle goes.

In twelve days time I’ll send my publisher the first draft of my book. Yesterday, I left my part-time job. In early April, I turn 40. After three years of rather intense productivity there is space opening up and I intend to step into it softly and gently, wary of frivolously filling it. In a world focussed on time savoured and time lost, we skirt around the concept of space, perhaps because it’s so illusive. Of course, it expands and contracts just as life ebb and flows, but you can intentionally create it, too.