I'm Gretchen Rubin and this is a little happier.

As I think about how to build a happier life, an idea that has really interested me is

the idea that for most people, outer order contributes to inner calm, maybe more than it

should.

You know, you think, well, there's nothing about having a credit code closet or an overflowing

in basket that's such a big deal.

And yet, over and over, people feel like if they get control over their stuff, they feel

more in command of their lives.

People tell me they feel that way and I certainly feel that way myself.

And so one of my aims in a happier life is to keep an empty shelf.

And I love my empty shelf and I guard my empty shelf.

And people say like, do you still have your empty shelf?

And I say, yes, I do because I love my empty shelf.

And I love having an empty shelf.

But a friend of mine made a very good point that I've added somewhere, keep a junk

drawer.

To get as she told me, yeah, you need your empty shelf.

You need a little space that's completely clear and open that's full of potential.

But you also have to make room in your life for some messiness.

You have to have a place where you can stumble across some unexpected treasures, where there's

some serendipity and you don't really know exactly what's there, but just everyone wants

it all.

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