Is it Possible Not Everything Needs a Plan?

Lessons from spring cleaning

This weekend, I found myself deep in a spring cleaning project.

Not the light kind—swapping out a few sweaters or clearing a surface—but the kind where everything comes out at once. A closet filled with layers of life: extra household supplies, holiday decorations, gardening tools, clothing for seasons past and future.

At first, I approached it with a plan.

What should stay. What should go. What should be stored more efficiently, more accessibly—visible and ready for its proper use.

Especially excited to help out were:
My inner judge, joyfully pronouncing sentences on what stays and what goes
My inner fixer, delightedly designing an elaborate system to house the survivors
Their work was excellent. Highly committed. And all too familiar.

Because if I’m honest, that same energy has been showing up in other places in my life.
The impulse to think things through from every angle.
To prepare, to anticipate, to plan for all the ways things might unfold.
The prevailing belief that if I can just find the right system, nothing will fall apart.

And yet, standing there surrounded by piles of things that once felt essential, I had a different realization.

In my recent mindfulness reading, I came across a simple but powerful reminder:

“Insight is the goal. Calm is the means.” As Ayya Khema says:

And sometimes, the most skillful thing we can do is pause long enough to notice when care has turned into control.

I’m still clearing the closet. Slowly, imperfectly. But I’m also noticing where I can put things down not just on the shelves, but in my mind.
More than any perfectly labeled shelf, that feels like real order.

Here’s to making space for what matters and letting the rest breathe.