A Grown Up’s Gap Year – The Newsletter #26

Streamline Your Lifestyle –Declutter, Create SPACE & Feel Better Now!

A podcast episode about the Life Changing Magic of Cleaning Out The Cupboards – I promise this works!

HELLO – HAPPY SUNDAY!

And here we are, nearly in December.

A busy season for all – end-of-year work finish line, gift buying, festive meals, perhaps holidays to pack for… phew.

And then I drop in with a podcast episode suggesting you also squeeze in a bit of a household declutter. Yup. “NOPE” may have been your first reaction. Fair enough – just one more thing.

But hear me out for a moment. This might be one to park until after Christmas and Boxing Day, when you’re doing the usual sweep of leftover crackers and wrapping paper. While you’re there, you can dig a little deeper into any residual excess and begin the New Year with a sense of clarity. It works to create SPACE – mentally and, yes, physically.

I know this first-hand.

By the time I was 21, I’d lived in eighteen different houses. You learn a few things from that kind of constant packing and unpacking: comfort doesn’t come from what you own; it comes from how you live with what you keep. In Season Two, Episode Two of A Grown Up’s Gap Year – The Podcast, I read the passage where I say it plainly: an uncluttered home has been my most reliable wellbeing tool.

If your head feels like your linen cupboard – chaotic, overstuffed, slightly terrifying – this episode is your gentle nudge. We’re not doing beige minimalism. We’re buying back bandwidth for a life that feels like yours again.

Love & hugs

Monique x

PS make sure you are on the list for YOUR SPACE PRESCRIPTION, below. The receipt for YOUR services rendered.

Your SPACE Prescription

Be the FIRST TO HEAR – when we go LIVE.

YOUR SPACE PRESCRIPTION

seven questions; two minutes; you’ll get a printable ‘space/travel receipt’ to hand to loved ones – when you need to claim the time-out you’ve already earned!

SEND IT TO ME PRONTO

LISTEN | PODCAST

A GROWN UP’S GAP YEAR – THE PODCAST

…Feeling better starts with space — physical first, mental next. In this useful episode, I speak about the beauty of simplicity, and get real about the sandwich-generation juggle, and a surprise moment of the bloke stepping in with calm, practical wisdom. You’ll leave with THIS WEEK’S GIVE (a 20-minute clear-out you can do today), a cut-and-paste Dear Blokes script, and a reminder that streamlining isn’t about perfect cupboards — it’s about buying back time and energy for the life you actually want.

LISTEN HERE

LISTEN | PODCAST

PRIME TIME with BEC WILSON PODCAST

…I’m interviewed by host Bec Wilson – our conversation traverses why A Grown Up’s Gap Year in the antidote to overwhelm. A time to streamline and simplify our lives.

LISTEN HERE

READ | BOOK

A MONK’S GUIDE TO A CLEAN HOUSE AND MIND

The Japanese bestseller explains traditional techniques that help cleanse not only your house – but your soul

Discovered on a cold Kyoto afternoon in a cosy bookstore, this little book has lived on my desk ever since. It’s not a ‘cleaning hack’ compendium; it’s a quiet philosophy of care – simple rituals that steady the room and settle the mind. Even if scrubbing isn’t your idea of fun (same), the ideas here are worth borrowing. Calm on the page, for kinder rhythms at home

READ HERE

DEAR BLOKES

A love letter (with checklist) from the women who carry the mental load.

And if you share life with a bloke, this week’s Dear Blokes note goes something like this:

THE BLOKE AND THE KIDULT

Whilst feeling lighter with all the household decluttering momentum under my belt, and still pondering what Dear Bloke ask I might proffer this week (it was definitely going to include a bin liner or two and his pile of golf gear to cull).

But then the universe wanted this and more – and delivered a quietly glorious moment.

I arrived back from my AM run, sweaty and raring to go mid week- possibly supercharged with orders to bark around the household (one kidult still slumbering – a night worker who manages to dodge my frequent rants).

That was until I spied the Bloke and The Eldest deep in conversation in the kitchen.

This well worthy of mention as my Bloke is historically allergic to emotionally charged chats — on this occasion he was listening. Advising. Calm.
Basically, parenting beautifully.

Meanwhile, my own version of help for the distraught young adult the night before had been… colourful.
Think “tell that bully person to take a hike,” but I had replaced hike with something way spicier.

Yet here they were: a calm bloke offering practical wisdom, a young adult son actually absorbing it.
They both looked lighter.
And me? Relieved.
Because maybe I don’t have to carry every conversation anymore. Actually I shouldn’t. Parenting (& Partnering) with Purpose might just be able to carry on without me at the helm.

So then our Dear Blokes note this week (and moving forward) is downloadable and easily attached to the fridge…

Dear (insert your Blokes name)

“I really appreciate your approach to dealing with issues that leave me reaching for emotion before practicality.
It’d be great if you kept an eye on [insert offspring name] — maybe offer an ear.
I’ve noticed they might be struggling with X, Y, Z.”

Love

Me xxx

And before anyone starts in on stereotypes, emotional woman, stoic male — yeah/nuh.

Reality is, for many of us menopause brings clarity (enter the much currently lauded ‘zero beep, beep, beep era), yes, but also that background hum of anxiety that hovers under even the best days.

So if my bloke, with his naturally stoic wiring, can shoulder a little more of the emotional load — I’ll call it a win. Especially as I’ve been the Chief Emotional Officer for decades. I’m well due a breather – and I suspect you are too.

Credit where credit’s due.
A steadier homefront and a partner stepping up?

That’s a bloody good week.