Decluttering took organizing to a whole new level.

Growing up, I became a very organized child. As a highly sensitive person, I think organizing gave me a sense of control over my environment. I calmed things down. I organized my closet on the weekends. I put everything in its exact place.

Then, 10 years ago, I discovered minimalism and decluttering, and my life changed drastically. You can color-code your closet all day long, and that’s lovely. However, with decluttering, you’re becoming infinitely more intentional about what you own and why. You’re removing others’ expectations and what doesn’t serve you so that you can more fully experience and enjoy what matters most.

Discovering mindful minimalism gave me the tools to become my most expansive self. Like most people, I started with my closet, working from the inside out. Using my decluttering skills, I cleared 75% of the items I owned over the next few months. Since then, I’ve embraced a “less is more” mindset in my relationships, work, finances, calendar, and hobbies.

Yes, I still love trying new things and still get overwhelmed sometimes. However, I have tools, decision-making frameworks, and rituals to keep me grounded in who I want to be while releasing the rest.

Decluttering and organizing your home is a beautiful path to discovering and becoming your most expansive self. I define mindful minimalism as the ongoing process of removing the unimportant to make more space for what is important.

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Big Tech Work: I became even more organized.

So I optimized my possessions, and everything fit into my cherry red Suzuki Reno car, except the mattress. After college, I began working with entrepreneurs and using my journalism skills for content marketing. I got to work from my laptop wherever I wanted. It’s what I’d been craving: freedom and control.

As I optimized my productivity, I began logging less than 20 hours a week for work and having serious existential questions at 22 years old. What matters to me? Why do any of this? How do I actually want to spend my time?

My intelligence, work ethic, and optimism about technology led me to San Francisco, California, in 2017. I moved here with two red suitcases and one backpack. I’d enrolled in a UX BootCamp and moved into a hacker house.

After the natural struggles of working with startups, I landed a role at Google and later worked at Facebook too as a UX researcher. In each corporate company, I quickly became swamped with information and responsibilities. I remember studying David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” methodology during my first week in corporate life, and those tools empowered me even more to become very good at my job.

Amid all the noise, I kept hearing feedback about how incredibly organized I was. It’s true. I am very organized.

However, being super productive and organized can easily lead to burnout if you’re not aligned with your intuition and connected to your body. So I burned out in 2020 and took an extended sabbatical. Thankfully, my minimalist lifestyle enabled me to save up enough for a long work break and pay for an amazing Jungian therapist.

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Deep Soul Work: I learned to hold big emotions.

So much happened for everyone in 2020. For me, the global quarantine led many to deep inner work. At 26 years old, I was also in a prime life spot to start my Saturn Return (for astrology fans). That, plus a lot of Scorpio in my chart, made the last four years very intense for me.

Thankfully, I found a Jungian depth therapist who helped me heal trauma and unravel cultural conditioning. We decluttered my mental, emotional, and spiritual realms.

Additionally, I reignited my creativity with Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” program. Creativity “sparked joy.”

Releasing the old and reconnecting with the things and activities that deeply spark joy transformed my life. I kept noticing thrilling moments of freedom and aliveness. I felt like I had more space to breathe and more excitement.

Through all the intensity, I channeled my feelings into three main art forms: writing, songwriting, and dancing. I still show up for my creative outlets every day, and I love them so much. Free-form dance especially empowered me to connect with my body more deeply. I discovered layers of buried trauma stored in my body, and I was finally ready to process them.

Then, after years of inner work, I felt a push to get back “out” into the world. I began exploring how to add value in authentic ways. Decluttering and organizing felt like the perfect way to connect my passion, work style, and skills. I love offering one-on-one support for clients who are ready to make life changes and able to ask for help.

All the deep inner work I’ve done expanded my capacity to hold space. As I deepen self-acceptance for all the beautiful and ugly parts of myself, I can show up for others in that way. It’s been incredibly rewarding.

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Maybe for you, exploring minimalism or decluttering looks like sorting closets or organizing the pantry. Really, you’re making decisions about what matters to you. You’re developing a new baseline of spaciousness and calm. That clarity in the small things translates to larger decisions.

I’ve been finding so much research to validate what I’ve intuitively known. Clearing clutter drastically improves your wellness. From mental and emotional health to finances, relationships, and even parenting styles: simplifying and gaining clarity transforms things.

Think about all the time you spend looking for things or the items you purchased because you couldn’t find a tool you already owned. Maybe you show up late for an appointment because you lost your keys. Maybe your wardrobe slowly shifted to match your fears rather than your hopes.

As I learned from Marie Kondo, tidying your space is about making peace with yourself. Those items landed in your home because of you. When you bring intention into those spaces, you’re dealing with the beautiful and ugly parts of yourself. You find items you should’ve thrown away years ago or that ukulele you’ve been meaning to play. Maybe there’s a gold scarf you love that you buried in a pile of old sweaters.

Decluttering is about clearing the noise so you can truly enjoy what you love and feel excited about your life. Through hundreds of client hours, I’ve learned to support others’ journeys. I design personalized session structures, hold space for processing, and empower you to take the next best steps.

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