What does "Making Space" have to do with mental health?
- drmariecdumas
- Jan 13
- 4 min read
Assuming one is a finished product with no need to accommodate new ideas is a dead end. Read on to know more about how a "making space" mindset can boost your wellbeing and radically change your experience of life.
Many of us live full lives—full calendars, full homes, full minds. Yet fullness is not the same as fulfillment. When every corner of our environment and inner world is crowded, there is little room left for growth, adaptability, or possibility. You know that feeling you get after cleaning out your closet? That sense of space, of new opportunity, and breathing room? That can extend into your life in various ways.
One of the most powerful yet understated mental health practices is learning to make space— physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Clearing room in your life builds resilience and welcomes change. Making space is not just about giving up or losing control. It is about choosing resilience over rigidity, openness over overwhelm, and intention over accumulation. At its root, it's about welcoming opportunity and change.
As you read through the following bullet points, take a moment to consider what resonates for you. Then, complete the 3 questions at the bottom of the article. A pen and paper might come in handy.
Background
If you're not already familiar with the principles of “let them” and “let me” this helpful "shortcut" theory inspired by a poem by Cassie Phillips, then elaborated and made ubiquitous in a book and Ted Talk by Mel Robbins, a lawyer, gives a simple title to a not-so-simple psychological task.
Letting go of unhelpful judgments and attempts to control others and releasing efforts of trying in vain to keep a sense of control over yourself comes under the microscope. Examining and defining your own expectations, and disentangling old patterns from stated goals is a process that can take months in therapy to understand and then master in real world application. However, the themes are a good accompaniment to "making space" which will be mentioned in several areas in this blog.
The Cost of a Crowded Life
Clutter is not just physical. It shows up as:
Overcommitting to please others
Holding onto outdated roles, expectations, or identities
Replaying old conversations or imagined futures
Carrying responsibility for other people’s emotions and choices
When our lives are crowded in these ways, change feels threatening rather than exciting. New experiences feel like burdens rather than opportunities. Resilience suffers because resilience requires flexibility—and flexibility requires space.
Making Space in Your Environment
Our external environment quietly shapes our internal state. When your surroundings are chaotic or overly full, your nervous system stays on alert.
Making space might look like:
Letting go of items tied to who you used to be, not who you are now
Creating physical areas that are intentionally empty or calm
Choosing simplicity over excess
This is not about minimalism as a trend; it is about signaling safety and openness to your mind. Empty space invites creativity. Clear surfaces invite rest. A lighter environment reminds you that you are allowed to change.
Making Space Emotionally
Emotional space is often harder—and more important—than physical space.
We lose emotional space when we:
Try to manage how others feel or behave
Take responsibility for outcomes that are not ours
Stay attached to resentment, guilt, or comparison
This is where let them becomes a mental health practice. Let them misunderstand you. Let them be disappointed. Let them choose differently than you would.
Letting them does not mean you agree or approve. It means you stop sacrificing your inner peace to control external variables you were never meant to manage.
The Power of “Let Me”
If let them creates space, let me teaches you how to fill it—intentionally.
Let me choose my response. Let me rest without earning it. Let me change my mind. Let me take up space without apology.
Let me is about reclaiming agency. It is the shift from reacting to others to responding to yourself. When you practice let me, you create an internal environment that is flexible, compassionate, and resilient.
Why Space Builds Resilience
Resilience is not about pushing through at all costs. It is about adapting when things shift.
When you have space:
You can pause instead of panic
You can reflect instead of react
You can grieve what was and still imagine what could be
Space allows you to bend without breaking. It gives new opportunities somewhere to land.
Making Space for Change and Opportunity
Change rarely arrives when life feels perfectly organized. It arrives when something loosens. When you stop gripping so tightly to how things should be, you become more open to what could be.
By letting go—of clutter, expectations, emotional over-responsibility—you are not losing stability. You are building a foundation that can move with life rather than against it.
A Gentle Reflection
Ask yourself:
What am I holding onto that no longer supports who I am becoming?
Where could I practice let them to protect my peace?
Where do I need to say let me and give myself permission?
Making space is not a one-time act. It is an ongoing relationship with yourself—one rooted in trust, self-respect, and openness. Often, the moment you create space is the moment resilience, change, and opportunity finally have room to enter. If you'd like help in exploring the changes you wish to make, therapy is a great way to stay on track and accountable.
Be well, get help if you need it.
