Come Come.. We’ve Got the Space!
A few days ago, I heard something that stayed with me. Someone was talking about a productivity class she had attended, and one idea in particular caught my attention: If you want to move forward, you have to keep making space. At first, it sounded like a very ordinary piece of advice about clutter. I let it sink in and started looking around. There were cables for devices, clothes, things that had broken but somehow never made it to the trash. And then I thought about something from childhood. Whenever I wanted something new, I would often hear: “Where will we keep it? There’s no space.” Maybe there was space, always. It was just occupied by things that had already finished their job. That thought made me wonder whether our minds work in pretty much the same way. We don't just accumulate things. We accumulate space. It could be a conversation, our past self, or it might be one of our past relationships that changed, yet we are still carrying them with us. Perhaps the strangest thing about all of this is that we don't always notice what is taking up the space. We simply say: “I can't let that go.” However, sometimes letting go doesn't mean forgetting. It could also mean acknowledging that something mattered, and accepting that it no longer needs to occupy the same amount of space in our life. A mistake can remain part of our story without it becoming our identity, even grief can change shape without disappearing. I guess growing older is, in part, learning the difference between remembering something and continuing to carry it. I sometimes wonder if, we humans are like that. We change our homes, jobs, friendships, perspectives and circumstances, yet we sometimes continue introducing ourselves to the world using an old version of who we were. Maybe we need to discard some of that versions too, because its job is done. Not because it was worthless. Space is not merely emptiness. It is also a possibility. A little space in the mind can make room for curiosity, forgiveness, creativity, or simply peace. This morning, let’s look around our life for a moment. Is there something you have been holding onto, simply because you have held onto it for so long? I have decided to start my own discard list. Some of it will go into the trash. And some of it, I guess, will simply need to be released in my mind. It already feels lighter, that is the curious thing about letting go: You don't always lose something. Sometimes, you get yourself back. So… What are you carrying today that once mattered deeply but no longer deserves to take up space in your life? Happy Sunday, Bob
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