The Space Between the Notes

French composer Claude Debussy said, “Music is the space between the notes.” As a minimalist, I love this quote: it reminds us that beauty needs a certain amount of emptiness to be appreciated.

The space between notes allows them to resonate, reverberate, and reach their full measure of expression. Without this space, noise and cacophony would result.

The same can be said of our lives: too much clutter can stifle our creativity, and make our lives chaotic and discordant. Conversely, the more space we have, the more beautifully and harmoniously we can live.

Create Your Symphony

Think of every possession, every activity, every moment of your life as a note in your symphony. When a musician composes a song, he doesn’t fill it with as many notes as possible – instead, he carefully chooses just enough to make a pleasing melody.

We can do the same in our homes, and our lives: instead of accumulating as many possessions as we can, or taking on as many tasks as our schedules allow, we can exercise some creative restraint. We are curators of our lives, and what we leave out of them is as significant as what we include.

When we cut out the background noise, we put what’s truly special to us in the spotlight. If we owned a beautiful painting, we wouldn’t crowd it with other décor—we’d hang it on its own, with enough space around it to show it off. If we had an exquisite vase, we wouldn’t bury it in a pile of junk—we’d put it on its own pedestal.

We need to treat what’s important to us with similar respect; which, in effect, means removing all the other stuff that’s not so important.

Make Space Between Your Notes

For every new item we bring into our homes, or every new task we jam into our schedules, we sacrifice a little bit of space. In some cases, our space may have disappeared entirely—causing great discord in our lives. Our mission, therefore, is to reclaim as much as we can, and restore the harmony.

Many people look upon removing the excess — cleaning out their closets, basements, or to-do lists — as a chore. However, it doesn’t have to be a tedious or onerous task. Quite the contrary: decluttering can be a wonderful form of creative expression – a chance to compose your own symphony, full of exuberance, freedom, and joy!

Here’s a few tips on how to put some space between your notes:

1. Start with a clean slate. It’s often easier to compose from scratch than fix something that’s flawed. So when you’re decluttering your closet, your living room, or your schedule, empty everything out of it first. Then, put back only those possessions (or activities) that you cherish the most.

2. Lose the “filler.” Every item in your home, and task in your day, should contribute something of value to your life. If something does nothing more than take up space, give it the heave-ho. Filling your living room with extra tchotchkes is like putting extra notes into Clair de Lune.

3. Put everything in its place. A melody depends on every note being in the right place. Similarly, having designated spots for all your things makes your daily life much more harmonious.

4. Keep your surfaces clear. Your desk, your countertops, your tables, and your floor are the instruments on which you play; they’re where the magic happens! If they’re covered in clutter, you don’t have the room to fully express yourself.

5. Impose limits. A good composition only has so many notes; likewise, a serene home only has so many things, and a serene life so many obligations. Limit the number of things you own (books, clothes, furniture) and things you do (hobbies, committees, meetings) to what’s just enough.

6. Edit. A musician, artist, or writer constantly edits her work, removing the extraneous to reveal the extraordinary. In your own life, always be on the lookout for ways you can simplify. Take inspiration from Diogenes, who said, “I threw my cup away when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough.”

7. Be mindful. When an artist creates, he’s completely focused on his work. Whether you’re writing an email, cooking dinner, or taking a walk, keep your mind on the task at hand. When you savor the moment, the excess falls away; everything you do is a creative endeavor, a celebration of life.

Get Up and Dance

So why create all this space? Because, to put a twist on Debussy’s quote, “life is the space between our things.” Recent studies have shown that experiences bring us more lasting happiness than possessions. It’s the stuff we do, not the stuff we have, that makes life worth living. And doing things requires a certain amount of space.

If we want to draw a picture, we need space on our desks to sketch it. If we want to cook a fabulous meal, we need space on our countertops to prepare it. If we want to do the tango, we need space in our rooms to dance it.

Therefore, we need to create our symphonies with enough space to stretch out, to run around, to laugh and play with our loved ones. For when we’re old and gray, we won’t wax poetic on the things we had—but rather on what we did in the spaces between them.

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}