The Body Keeps the Score✨️
Our relationship with our physical spaces often mirrors our relationship with trauma. Research shows that trauma lives in our bodies, affecting how we move through the world. Similarly, our home and hearth can become repositories of our past struggles. After my Mom died I took most of her kitchen stuff and just added it to mine. The cups reminded me of tea & cookies & I remembered her and I baking and cooking. It was easy to just add it all in. But, during a period of low self-esteem and sickness – I realized it was all too much. I was overwhelmed. The drawer wasn’t shutting. Lids were avalanching. I had no idea where anything was. These items accumulated during times of depression were spiraling me down deeply. Items we hold onto “just in case,” reflecting a scarcity mindset born from difficult experiences was huge. My mom was a hoarding mama + she saved everything. Now I do too. I am ready to change that.
Small Steps Toward My Freedom Begin by a journey gently:
Start with just 15 minutes of sorting if the process feels overwhelming. PS : it feels overwhelming!!
- Hold each item and honestly ask: “Does this still serve me?
- Acknowledge the emotions that arise without judgment
- Celebrate small victories in creating more functional space
- Notice how physical decluttering affects your mental clarity
Remember that healing isn’t linear.
Some days you may feel ready to let go of many things, while other days a single item might trigger unexpected emotions. Go sloooooowwwwwww: You don’t need to rush. I do 15 min…. Unless – your motivation is amped and ready… then DO IT! 🤪!!!
This process is as much about self-compassion as it is about organization.
By approaching your clean-up as a healing practice rather than just a chore, you transform a mundane task into an opportunity for profound personal growth.
Each item you release creates space not just in your home, but in your heart. 💙
The Challenge: Clearing The Kitchen Chaos
From Kitchen Chaos to Culinary Calm:
The Art of Letting Go
The kitchen—
heart of the home, gathering place for loved ones, and all too often, the final resting place for countless mismatched containers, mysterious lids, duplicate tools, and broken items we can’t seem to part with. If your kitchen drawers and cabinets have become archaeological sites of cooking endeavors past, you’re not alone. Today, I’m sharing my journey of reclaiming kitchen sanity by learning to let go.
The Container Graveyard- yuk! I threw out so many lids !!! We all know the scene: a cabinet bursting with plastic containers in various states of staining, warping, and mismatching. For years, I held onto these “just in case” pieces, convinced that someday I’d find the corresponding lid to that perfect-sized container.Reality check: If you haven’t used it in months, if it’s stained beyond recognition, or if opening that cabinet causes an avalanche—it’s time to release yourself from container purgatory.
The Solution: Lay out every container and every lid. Match what you can, then immediately recycle the orphaned pieces. For what remains, ask yourself: Do I need 25 containers, or would 10 high-quality ones that actually stack properly serve me better?The Lid Labyrinth is Perhaps the most mysterious phenomenon in any kitchen is the disappearance of lids. Where do they go? Why do we have seven pot lids but only five pots? And why do I keep that wobbly lid that never quite fits right?The Solution: Match each lid to its pot or pan. If they don’t have a mate after searching thoroughly, they’ve served their purpose. Consider it their retirement day.
Duplicate Tool Dilemma: Three can openers, three wine openers, four spatulas, multiple measuring cup sets—how did this happen?
Often, we accumulate duplicates because we forget what we have, buy “upgraded” versions, or receive well-intentioned gifts.
The Solution: Group similar items together. Choose the best one or two from each category—ones that feel good in your hand, that you reach for naturally. Donate the rest to someone who might be just starting their kitchen collection.
Broken Dreams
The blender with the cracked base you keep meaning to fix. The knife with the wobbly handle. The second coffee maker that works “if you jiggle it just right.” We hold onto broken items out of optimism, frugality, or attachment to what they once were.
The Solution: Be honest—if it’s been broken for more than six months and you haven’t fixed it, you probably won’t. Either repair it this week or thank it for its service and let it go.
The Emotional Ingredient Letting go of kitchen items can stir up surprising emotions. That dented pot might be from your first apartment. The quirky mugs might remind you of a loved one. These attachments are valid, but they shouldn’t come at the cost of your daily peace. For items with sentimental value, consider: Taking a photo before letting go!!!
Keeping one representative piece rather than the whole collection!
Passing beloved items to someone who will use and appreciate them
Remember that letting go creates space—not just physical space in your cabinets, but mental space free from the subtle drain of disorganization.
The purpose of your kitchen isn’t to serve as a museum of cooking past, but to be a functional space that supports you now. Helps your family help you by putting things away in a proper place – because there is one!
What kitchen items have you struggled to part with? Has anyone else found freedom in finally letting go of the lid collection that never quite matched up?
#traumalovesclutter #letgoletgod #springcleaning #decluttering #declutter #luvnl888 #cosmicimprov