At first, I thought it was about junk drawers.

Just a few minutes a day, Devon said. Tidy a shelf, a corner, a catch-all bowl you stopped seeing two years ago. Make a little space prettier. No need to overhaul your house. Just notice something, and give it a little love.

But like so many good things, the visible changes were only part of it. The real shift happened inside.

I joined Devon Ervin’s 21 Lovely Little Living Spaces program this spring, thinking I might clean up my office a bit. What happened instead was a quiet recalibration; not just of my home, but of how I relate to it. The three week experience wasn’t loud or urgent. It was gentle. Daily prompts, supportive group check-ins, room to breathe. I rearranged my workspace so I could see the river. I accepted the half-finished mural project as it is. And I finally tackled one of those “I’ll get to it eventually” projects: the succulent garden under my monitor.

A few years ago, I’d found a shallow corner shelf that fit perfectly in the triangular space between the feet of my ultrawide screen. I filled it with baby succulents and enjoyed looking at them whenever I was seated at my work. But over time the plants thrived and outgrew the space, and the container began to look a little worn. For months, I looked past it. During the program, I took a Saturday afternoon to replace the whole thing: a new iridescent shelf, some gold-painted clay in the holes for mounting it, coarse white sand, fresh baby succulents, and some glitter because I love sparkles. Now it’s again my favorite thing to look at during long days at my desk.

 

It wasn’t urgent. But it was worthy.

The Shift Beneath the Surface

Somewhere in the rhythm of Gather, Clear, Notice, Reflect, Act, I began to understand what I was really doing: not fixing, not performing, not hustling, but participating. My home is a mirror, and this program gave me permission to look closely and kindly. To tend to the neglected corners without needing to justify them. To do the small thing instead of waiting for the perfect moment to do the big thing.

Other participants reflected on how seemingly simple actions—clearing a bedside table, sorting through a junk drawer, rehanging a favorite piece of art—unlocked something deeper. Some found clarity around long-postponed decisions. Others reconnected with a sense of agency. These were “little” tasks only in the sense that they didn’t require a demolition crew. The emotional architecture they supported was anything but small.

That’s the thing about space: when we make it, something always grows.

If you missed it, I shared some early reflections in The Muse Has Room When the Clutter Is Gone.

After Giving Myself Space

We often talk about decluttering as a kind of subtraction. But this program reminded me it can be an opening. Every cleared spot is a door to something else—a moment of ease, a decision finally made, a creative idea finally able to stretch its wings. Presence, even in the smallest way, makes room for transformation.

I’m grateful to Devon, and to the community who shared this journey with such honesty and tenderness. If you’re thinking about joining the next round, my only advice is this: show up however you are. Make a little space. Then see what grows.

Because where we live is where we live. And that includes the place inside us where something new is always waiting to begin.