This month, I’ve been thinking about . . . capacity.
It all started as I was remembering the closets in our previous house. That house had been custom designed for its original owners (not us) — and it had storage space . . . for miles! Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? Cupboards, closets, and shelving everywhere you turn? But, as we discovered, having too much space . . . can be a real problem.
Because . . . when you have extra storage space, you tend to fill it!
And you fill it with stuff you don’t need to save. With appliances and gadgets you never use. With every single paper your then-elementary-age children bring home from school. With extra dishes your grandmother sends you. With no-longer-worn clothing. With excess holiday decorations. With excess books and papers and games and puzzles and photo negatives and . . . well. Excess everything. When you have the capacity to store stuff, you WILL store stuff. An empty space . . . just invites us to put something in it!
Then we moved into our current house. And while we have plenty of storage space, we do not have MILES of storage space. As a result, we’ve become much better stewards at using our available space.
(The photos in this post are just pages from my “space” journal this year.)
It’s like that with our “metaphorical” spaces, too. (Our personal capacity; our “bandwidth,” so to speak.) It doesn’t feel good, generally, if we have too little space to do what we want to do (or even need to do). We end up craving “more space.”
By contrast, it also feels bad when we have plenty of “space” in our days – free time, open days, unplanned weekends – because we’re not always good stewards of our capacity then, either. We squander it. We don’t seem to know how to choose what to do with our time. We do the wrong things. (Just like my old closet situation.)
I have no answers here. No solutions. At this point, it’s just an observation. Having too much space – either physical or metaphorical – can cause as many problems as having not enough space.
But. There’s gotta be a “sweet spot!”
One of my “goals” for the year . . . is to figure out what that “sweet spot” might look like for me. And then try to put it into practice. (Knowing, of course, that life has ebbs and flows, and that “sweet spot” will remain a moving target.)
But that’s where I’m headed. I’m looking for space! And then figuring out how to use it wisely.
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How about you? What’s your word got you thinking about this month?
I hope that you can be the Cinderella of space and get it just right!
I have no idea what I was talking about here, but it was before my second cup of tea if that is any defense. I meant the *Goldilocks* of space!
I am on a similar journey with my word and your thoughts on space resonate with me. Also, your pages are so good. It seems this word is meeting you in the right place.
This is an excellent way of looking at how fill our time. I always say Dale can’t resist a flat surface, he’s always got to leave something there. I, on the other hand, really like lots of empty space and no clutter. As someone with only 3 closets in her whole house, though . . . I could do with a bit more!
Finding that sweet spot is a real challenge, isn’t it? It’s something I struggle with in regards to stuff — what’s the right amount of stuff to have in my home? Sometimes I’m overwhelmed by what I have, but then I worry about getting rid of/giving away some of the excess only to find I actually need some of it. I think Space is such a good word in that respect. Lots to think about over the year for you!
I love how you have taken this from physical space to mental space! Even though my word is not the same as yours, I have been thinking about those physical and mental authenticity(space)… one is easier to deal with than the other, but the mental authenticity (space) has so much more of an impact!
Thank you so much for this thought provoking post, Kym!
You said that so well… Your words about our metaphorical spaces especially resonated with me. Just this week, I was observing myself–as if from above, like in a cartoon–and I was noticing a particular challenge I have. (It has to do with what I think I ‘should’ do with my time–and not giving myself ‘permission.’ This goes way, way back for me, and I think I’m actually going to designate some time to reflect on it over my spring retreat. Because really? It’s kind of annoying. It’s kind of a PITA, this hovering thought!
And your journal pages are a real treat. I always enjoy seeing them. Thanks 🙂
Amen. Finding the sweet spot for storage space as well as other kinds is the struggle. Your journal pages are a treat and I love the quote at the end of the post. It is very wise. In 2018, we did a massive clean-out and freed up quite a bit of space. Since then it has been a struggle not to fill up the spaces. The balance between too much and too little is a precarious place.
this is lovely, Kym. sharing our OLW “findings” is definitely one of my favorite parts of the month! and oh my, your journal is off to a fabulous start.