It seems like (at least) once a year, I do a declutter of sorts. Both in real life and on digital platforms.

Typically these moments happen around the time of a physical move – since my mind is already in declutter mode…it’s easier to relocate those energies to digital spaces.

But, this year I felt a bit more pressing of a matter…one that I’d neglected for many many years in the past. Mental decluttering.

What do I mean? Well, let’s walk this out.

In my move, I had to get rid of old books, I got rid of old clothes I didn’t wear anymore, I got rid of old kitchen stuff, and dishes, and cups. I even threw away my old couch.
What this allowed me to do was, to make room for the new, or to make room to be open to things that could come into my apartment in the future. Too much clutter being moved around would mean that the access to fresh space would be taken up. Not good!

It is important for us to do this with our mental space.

What old friendships do you need to let go of? What expectations in friendships and relationships do you need to let go of? What access do you need to limit? What fresh boundaries do you need to set up to help create margin and free space in your mind?

Do those things.

What will happen, in the end, is your mind will be freer to accept new friendships and relationships, new access, and your mental health will improve.

Now, I am no expert at this, and I only recently started taking a mental inventory of my life. Past expectations, past hurts, past relationships, past friendships, that I need to fully purge and push out of my mental-space boxes….to make room for the new, OR to make myself more open to the things I really do want in my mind and headspace.

When I moved, I kept quite a few great things that I enjoy, have positive memories attached to them, or that are useful to my daily life. You should also keep this in mind when clearing your head-space. Don’t throw EVERYTHING out. Take the time to evaluate things that you feel, think, remember, and need. This will serve you well.

Shalom.