The following is the first part of a 12 week series based on the book 12 Tiny Things: Simple Ways to Live a More Intentional Life.1 For the next 12 (or so…) weeks we’ll be focusing on the 12 themes outlined in the book: Space, Work, Spirituality, Food, Style, Home, Sensuality, Nature, Creativity, Communication, Learning, and Community. Each offering will include a new reflection or deleted scenes2 book excerpt along with a worksheet and audio exercise to help you delve more fully into the theme in your own life.
First up, we create space.
Clutter drives me crazy. I know I’m not alone in this phenomenon, but I think the influence that clutter has on me is getting stronger as I age. I used to be able to leave dishes in the sink or a coat on the floor or papers all over my desk and not bat an eye. Now when there is excess stuff in my immediate area, or even in an area that I can’t see but that I know is cluttered, I feel anxious and a little twitchy. On Saturdays I have a pattern of swooping around the house, first picking up everything that’s on the floor or out of its designated area, then vacuuming, then pretending to dust, then moving more items around in an effort to free up some space. I always feel better when it’s done. But it always needs to be done. There always seems to be something extra taking up the space that I want to be empty.
Several years ago, I heard Buddhist teacher Cynthia Jurs speak. What stood out to me most was the way she spoke of "acting from the subtle" and how important it can be to stop and breathe in the midst of the chaos that seems to punctuate our world more than we want it to. She spoke of focusing on the space that is in between where we are and where we want to go. She said it’s that in between space that allows new things to come into being.