As summer came to a close and the leaves started to drop from the trees, I was seized, utterly and completely, by a very specific kind of nesting instinct. I’m aware of the irony that nesting is normally a ’spring thing,’ but I have to move when the spirit moves me!

Some part of me must have sensed space closing in on me and instinctually I moved to create more space in our home. I live in a small house, and at the end of summer, our home shrinks by about 20% because we lose our seasonal screened porch. It’s not that pleasant out there when the snow flies.

I became a whirling dervish of sorting, clearing and simplifying.

I spent every spare minute I could get clearing and cleaning. (No blogging or anything else optional!)

Room-by-room, I took everything out, as if I was moving, and sorted it. My ‘rule’ was that I was keeping only those things that I was madly in love with. Out went 80 to 90 percent of my books, and 40 to 50 percent of everything else. This practice was vastly divergent from the beliefs of my upbringing, which held that you kept anything that still had a useful life.

I blessed each item as I re-homed it. I was delighted to think of someone at Goodwill or some other donation center finding one of my treasures. If I thought someone else might love something more than I did, I let it go, and sent it onto its next grateful recipient.

Somewhere in this process I finally “got” that I need space to create. This is something that I have known intellectually for a while, but it was always somewhat counter-intuitive to me. Don’t you need a lot of stuff to create?

As more and more space was cleared, I noticed that the energy in the house was feeling very different, and it felt like I was opening up space for energy to flow, and for me to create new things in my art and my business.

I have a lot more space now, and I’m amazed at how big our house really is! Good to know.

My prior office is now a creative studio. Instead of books, I have boxes, with my art on the outside, one box for each new creative project.

And, right in the middle of our “great room” is my art table, with all of my art supplies neatly organized and readily available to create something at a moment’s notice. I’m looking forward to being able to respond spontaneously to inspiration.

I’m curious about this whole endeavor and, as best I can, I’m remaining open and curious about what I might be creating.

One new rule is for sure: a new book comes in, one goes out (my library will be happy about that!). And, the same goes for other categories of stuff.

I used to have a friend who had a similar rule. Every time he brought a bag of new things into his house, a bag of equal volume had to go out. He was an expert at knowing all the creative ways he could donate various items.

I want to become very discerning about what new items will really add value, and I want to keep the creative energy flowing. I need space to create.

Filed under: Being a Reinventer, Adventures of a Reinventer, Lynne's Reinvention Journey on October 3rd, 2009