Making Space

Yesterday we had our biannual clothes trade. For the last 14 years, five women have been meeting every spring and fall to “trade” clothes. This much anticipated event has become quite a tradition and serves on many levels: It’s the perfect excuse to empty our closets of all those basement bargains, unwanted Christmas gifts, and no longer size appropriate articles of clothing that are “too good” to throw away. It gives us the opportunity to find these discards a home, either to one of our fellow clothes traders, or to another organization. And, it’s great fun to spend a few hours in your underwear trying on your friend’s clothing and hearing about the history and emotional attachments that come with it.

Spring is a great time to make space in a lot of areas of our lives, besides just our closets.  Making space can give you such a feeling of freedom, order, and a fresh perspective.

Here are some places to get you started:

Garden. Turn over your garden beds and discard last year’s remains to ready it for new growth, either flowers or vegetables

Storage. Venture into your garage, attic or storage space and decide this is the year to get rid of some stuff-like the ski equipment or road bike you haven’t used in the last five.

Free Time. Evaluate your weekends and ask yourself if you are spending your time and energy intentionally, or are being carried along by a number of random events and unintentional commitments?

Relationships. Could you deepen the relationships most important to you and let go of any that no longer serve you?

Work.   Are you really passionate about the work you are doing? Is there anything you could do to have more excitement around your work?

Movement. Physical activity actually gives you more time, because you are more focused, more present, and more happy. This is especially true for me and yoga because every time I practice I make more space in my body, my mind, and my life.

When one area of your life is too full or crowded, it is likely to spill over into another area. When you start creating space in your closet, it can lead to more discernment about who you hang out with and how you are spending your day off. Start clearing the space in one area, and let me know the new things that come in!