Tuesday 6 April 2021

730 things — Day 26 of 365

 For me, as for most people I guess, among the top benefits of moving things out of my life is the physical space reclaimed in my living accommodation.

There's a Japanese word (isn't there always!), "Ma", meaning the space between or around things that allows us to appreciate them. I've written about it before here. That's what I get back when my stash of belongings subsides and my room can breathe again.

As my personal living space is 6'6" by 9', I have to be judicious in my choices of what to put in it and when to stop.

As the tides of time deposit a certain amount of flotsam and jetsam on the shores of my life, I acquire storage solution which themselves occupy space, never mind how shrewdly selected they may be.

So today I am sending on their way this set of shelves —





— and this one, too.




As my heap of things has reduced, I have no more need of the storage. The result is that I can move more freely in my room, which in turn makes me more inclined to make my bed and to put things away in the right place, and to get less irritable about the process of getting to the thing I next need to use. Everything becomes easier, and I can actually notice stress diminish. I like it.

4 comments:

Sandra Ann said...

Yes, there is a freeing of the spirit when the physical space becomes less cluttered - I bet your room thanked you for allowing it to breathe :-) x

Pen Wilcock said...

Oh, my! There's a thought! I had taken on board Marie Kondo's Shinto-inspired idea of thanking my things for what they have done for me — I never though about my house/room/things thanking me back!

What a wonderful thought. Thank you! xx

Sandra Ann said...

I love these back and forth conversations - far nicer than a cursory like button ❤️

Pen Wilcock said...

Absolutely! x