On the extended version of a recent episode of The Minimalist’s podcast, there was a caller who phoned in to talk about how living out of a suitcase really helped their mental health by completely eliminating clutter and allowing them to be more present in the moment.

To be honest I didn’t find the discussion that followed to be especially elucidating, but the call itself resonated with me because that’s something I’ve discovered about myself between multiple extended hospital visits and hotel stays spanning the past few years. Even though it was challenging to be away from home, and at times I yearned to return to something comfortable and familiar, I really did love having all the possessions that I truly needed available to me, with everything else completely inaccessible and out of mind.

Since returning home I’ve been on a relentless downsizing and decluttering kick, which can be a challenge because I already live my life fairly lean in terms of personal possessions. I grew up in a single-wide trailer with relatively few possessions and not much access to money, and I learned early on that I don’t need that much to be happy. Plus, as Tom from Car Talk once said, “if you don’t use much, it don’t take much.”

My wife doesn’t care for this way of living, though. She mentioned that it really bothered her whenever I said something like “everything I own fits into this little room,” or “all my stuff lives in this backpack.” To her, that made it sound like I was ready to leave; that I was already packed, and at a moments notice I could be gone. I took that to heart and have tried to at least not speak about it in those terms, and I try not to literally live out of a suitcase or bag by keeping my things in drawers and giving them homes throughout the house so I have a bigger footprint in our home. That said, I can’t help the fact that I prefer to live that way, and ultimately I think this compromise is healthy for us both.

I’m not suggesting that everyone should be able to live out of a suitcase, or that getting rid of almost everything is ideal or even beneficial. What is clutter to me might not be clutter to you.

But for those who are like me, make more space adds mental clarity and calmness, and living “out of a suitcase” with only the essentials can be quite freeing.