Creates Space With Simplicity

When less is more becomes your motto, the mind feels clearer, and often, oppressive thoughts, lift.

External spaces conflict with the internal condition of the body. Crowded spaces tend to produce an uptight condition inside. Reducing the rubbish, or extras in our life creates space where we can begin to think without the brain getting sidetracked.

The power of reduction of ‘stuff’ in the home, office, car, or any closet opens the door to freedom. The places we occupy develop into a sanctuary of serenity the more we simplify and reduce the extras. What are the extras?

They are the little things, which stack up like mail, sometimes junk mail we think we might look at later, but don’t. Things such as books stacked near chairs, because you read and need them, they keep reproducing (you are the helper of this plan).

Little steps make big changes.

Some strategies to help you overcome procrastination in tidying up spaces helped me think of ways I can reduce. Hopefully, during the time of confinement, you can embrace a few tactics so you can accomplish more over the span of time.

Five different strategies to simplify your sanctuaries:

• Take some time to evaluate what life was like over the past year. Think of one small change you can do to improve this next year. As you do your thinking, consider what worked and what didn’t. Think of areas of your sanctuary (home, car, office) that seemed to pile up and you neglect. Is there some behavior you can change, which will help reduce the pile?
• Our cars are a place where we hang out often. Travel to work (now to just get out of the house in a contained environment), travel to the store, and to family and friends, we leave stuff in our vehicles. Reduce catch-all containers, bags, and boxes. Keep the car stuff to the essential items: pen, paper towels, wet wipes, spare blanket, and some water.

My experience: I had three different places I drove too each week. Each job had a specific bag. I would bring the bags in at night, and then put them back in the morning as I left the house. Pretty soon, I stopped taking them out of my truck. When COVID-19 took place, I brought them all in my house, plus a couple more large bags (fabric material) which contained more files, books, and ideas). I didn’t realize how much I had kept in the bags until I cleaned them. To be honest, I did not need all of the stuff. They became a catch-all. Finally, I cleaned out all of the bags. Freedom felt good!

• Clean out the closet for Spring! Take five minutes everyday to go through your closet and choose items you want for fall or winter and put them away. At the same time, choose three items to toss to Goodwill or throw away.
• Write down a morning routine and stick the list on the bathroom mirror. As you build a routine, you’ll start to feel like you are accomplishing goals. Little clean ups, little self-care tactics helps us to clean up our life on the inside of us, and then the positive responsibility helps us on the outside. Little steps make big changes.
• Tackle one room over the weekend. Step back and look at the whole room. What is too much? What can be eliminated? Is there anything you don’t need in the room? Take the time to focus on removing things you do not need. Then, take a dust cloth and wipe things down. Even do some deeper cleaning if you have some extra germ cleansers.

As you seek to simplify, you’ll move beyond keeping everything to feeling freedom in reduction. Life feels free when you look in areas where clutter lived, and notice the space seems less mind-crowded.

Often we make things so complex. The more we demand things to go our way the more we struggle with letting go.

Simplification is a step toward kindness and freedom. As you move toward a simple life, you’ll find the world opens up wider to you. The enclosed, trapped feeling dissipates. In time, the temptation to fill up the cleaned areas diminishes. You’ll no longer keep bringing things in if you consistently reduce the stuff and the stuff’s storage spots and containers in your life.

~Just a thought by Pamela