Checking In

It has been 2 months since I published a post to my blog.  And I have been absent from reading blogs.  My apologies to my readers who visit and wonder where I am.

Gaps in my blogging have happened a number of times previously since I started writing in 2009.  I will admit this is the most uninspired I have ever been since I have started.  September and October were pretty busy with a variety of commitments.  The chances of getting a blog post published were pretty low.  So maybe that is all that is going on. Does that mean I am quitting?  No - I cannot honestly say I am done with blogging.  And I still take pictures to save and share on my blog at some point.  But I have clearly slipped into a different level of participation for the near future.

But to give you a few snippets of what has passed this way while I have been gone from my blog.

COVID

I finally managed to catch covid in September.  I was pretty bummed, as I am sooo careful but luckily I got tested early and got the “magic pills” - the antiviral medication - in time to turn the infection off rapidly.  My husband caught it from me and he also got the antiviral medication quickly as well.  I struggled with some lingering fatigue for a week or two, but that finally lifted.  I feel very fortunate that I got this pesky and dangerous virus after medical science figured out ways to minimize and manage it. 

THE ESK REQUEST

So this conversation happened during a recent visit - while I was knitting ...

Esk:  Grandma is that for me?

Grandma:  No, Esk.  This is a shawl and little girls don’t wear shawls.

Esk: Grandma, will you make me a sweater?

Grandma: (sputtering and surprised) Sure, Esk!  I thought maybe you had out grown ... uhh ... or maybe lost interest or whatever ... uhh, .... so what color?

Esk: (and Grandma at the same time) Pink and Purple

 I set aside the two “promises” I made to myself this year: 1) finish the 5 works in progress I had sitting idle for too long and 2) avoid purchasing any new yarn because my stash is too big.  Unfortunately there is a significant lack of pink and purple in my stash, so yarn was purchased. And I launched into project number 6 - a sweater for Esk.

CLEANING OUT

In an effort to jump start my general malaise, I fell back on a tried and true method of refocusing my perspective: paring down my stuff.  Downsizing always makes me feel better.  Expanding the space around me by reducing the clutter usually sparks enthusiasm for other endeavors.  So far it hasn’t sparked much of anything, but it has felt good to exercise that “enough” muscle - getting my belongings and life expectations down to “enough.” 

CHANGE OF SEASONS

I am happy the weather is finally cooling down.  Of the 4 seasons, summer is my least favorite. I will miss that fresh produce that comes with late summer - but that is pretty much it.  Heat and humidity are not my friends.  Love that January time after the hubbub of Christmas has passed and the really cold weather sets in and a chance of a winter snow storm increases.

That’s all for now guys.  I can’t promise when I will be back again.  But I will try to keep in touch with bloggers whose commenting function allow me to leave a comment.  

Making Space #1

So yeah!

  I missed the first week of decluttering!  

Thank goodness this is a relaxed kind of challenge!  

Sigh!

I am joining Beckie at http://www.Fieldlilies.blogspot.com) on an informal challenge called Making Space - Declutter 10 items a week - and if life gets in the way - you might miss a week, but the goal is to post 10 items weekly on the day of your choosing.

It wasn't hard getting 10 items together this first week.  These items are things I have kept for absolutely no good reason.  

• Three magazines all from 2018 - that have been sitting on my end table in the living room.  It is 2020 last I checked! Never opened!  I should never buy magazines.  I never read them.  
• A bag of red mechanical pencil refills.  I don't even own a mechanical pencil and I never write in red. I have no memory of when those refills came into our house.  
• Two mayonnaise jars I saved for some really.good.reason!!! (Not!) Do you save jars?  Am I the only crazy person that saves that kind of thing ... and never use it?  
• A fairly nice piece pottery for storing garlic.  Why would I get rid of that?  Well, I always buy my garlic in jars - already chopped and ready to go.  I did use it once or twice but kept forgetting it had garlic in it!! I threw away a lot of dried up garlic using that pottery.  Stopped using it years ago.
• A pink bag clip that held absolutely nothing closed.  
• And a jar candle.  That candle was used as a door stop in the condo and was left by the previous owner.  I couldn't throw it away because it was perfectly fine.  But I seldom burn candles and when I do I prefer soy candle wax because it leaves less soot on my walls.
• A pair of drug store readers - from my husband when he could partly see.  They were #5s - they don't sell #5 in the store.  They had to be special ordered.

Some of this is going in the trash and some of it will be donate to my local church thrift shop!

Seriously, this first week has been a breeze.  I am sure it will get harder because I have done a lot of decluttering in the past.  But it gives me peace when I move stuff out the door.

Already have the stuff for week #2 collected.  I just need the discipline to sit down and do the post!!

 

S - Swedish Death Cleaning

S is for Swedish Death Cleaning

Bet I got your attention with that title.  

It is a real thing and it caught my attention as well.

Swedish Death Cleaning for Beginners:

How to Declutter and Downsize your way to a happy home and life, 

by Sara Hodges.  

WOW - I thought.  Death Cleaning!  How is that different from any of the other declutter, downsize, minimize, frugality readings I have done?  Can there possibly be anything new "under the sun" on this series to topics that I haven't seen yet.

The simple answer is yes - and I have actually seen this done but did not realize what it was!

I am a long time down-sizer, a sometimes frugality proponent, and a dabbler in the minimalist movement!  I have done my fair share of reading on all those topics from The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn (from the 1990s) up to and including Marie Kondo's recent best seller  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.

Since the 1990s I have cleaned out, organized, downsized, decluttered and drove my self totally nuts - making room in a 2,200 square foot town house for returning family members to live.  First it was for my mother-in-law who was in hospice for lung cancer (yes, I was her caregiver too), then for a returning son after military service, then for a daughter during a down time, then for my mom who was no longer able to live on her own, and finally for myself and my husband as we did the traditional senior citizen downsize - to move into 1375 square feet of condo space. I thought I knew a lot about this topic - 'cause I had lots of practice.

What could this little book offer me - except the answer to what was 'death cleaning.'

Grims-ville!  I thought.

 So, of course, I read on!!

What the heck is Death Cleaning?

The author says it best on the first page of Chapter 1 ...

"To put it simply, the art of Swedish death cleaning is about ridding your home of possessions that you don't want, need or use, so when you do happen to kick the bucket, your loved ones are not left with the grave emotional task of shifting through 80+ years of your stuff.  It's a blatantly honest approach to decluttering your home and a very transparent way to look at all the things that you possess."

Light bulb time!  

Ok, I get it!

Clean out your own stuff

So your relatives don't have to do it for you.

I will say that the words "art" in relation to throwing things out ... and "kick the bucket" in relation to dying - made me smile a bit.

Before you say why should I care about Death Cleaning - let me share a story about an uncle that my cousin shared with me.

My Uncle Walter died the month before my mom.  His son, my cousin, called me a month later to offer his condoences.  We hadn't chatted in probably 30 years.  But we both lost parents within a month of each other.  It was good to talk.

Uncle Walter lived in the same house he brought his bride to in the 1950s.  He died in 2014 and his wife pre-deceased him by many years.  You might anticipate, expect, understand ... if his house was filled to the brim with all the little items of living until 90 and on his own as a widower for many years.  But you would be wrong.  At his death, he left behind a totally cleaned out house - with only the items he needed to live.  His closets were totally bare except for his one personal clothes closet, excess furniture was gone, surfaces were totally clear.  My cousin said when they entered the house after his father's death to prepare it for sale - they discovered the wonderful gift he left behind for his children ... a house that required no cleaning, no repair and no clean out!  NONE!

My Uncle did 'death cleaning' without knowing about this topic or book.

So death cleaning may not be important to you - but it is a wonderful last gift to give the ones who love you.

Yes, I have swept my life clean of things that were redundant and unnecessary in downsizing to this smaller condo.  But I am not done yet.  My downsize journey going forward with be for a different audience other than myself.  It will be for my children - so when they are in the midst of grieving (after I kick the bucket,) they won't have to be further weighed down by the weight of all my stuff.

Big Deep Breath

Its been a busy day.

Last night was the last 'hurrah' for Christmas in our house.  We host an after holiday Christmas party for a group of friends we see monthly during the year for gaming.  Whatever the first weekend in January is after the New Year ... that is the date of this party.  I'd love to dismantle Christmas before the New Year - but I hold off until this event is past.

As I put away Christmas for another year, I like to think of the weeks following as a 'purge' time.  The fact I purged greatly 17 months ago to move into this condo doesn't change the fact that stuff still travels in the front door all the time, and if, on balance, stuff doesn't travel out the front door - the clutter builds.  And it is building and building.

So here is the path I'll travel from one task to another:

• My hands are all over Christmas decos and because there are still things that never get displayed - they need to be thinned.  
• Then we move onto the single storage closet I have where Christmas is stored.  Christmas stuff is stored to the back, and I need to pull a lot of stuff out.  Once it is out of the closet - I decide if it goes back in.  That darn closet is next to impossible to step into now. 
• In 6 or 7 weeks a grandchild will grace our lives.  Room to be made - literally.  I have a guest room/yarn room with a closet.   That space is packed.  Some stuff hasn't been touched in 17 months.  My grand daughter will fit comfortably in my condo when I am done.  
• For months I have hated opening my two bathroom linen closets.  Again, again, again - if it hasn't been used in 17 months it needs to go out the door.
• Lastly the kitchen! My pantry is packed to the max.  Reorganize and consolidate.  Because it is such a mess - I find myself buying stuff I already have.  grrr ....  And those kitchen shelves,  generous space for sure ... and because nature abhors a vacuum I filled that space.  Not always a good thing.

See how one thing just leads to another?  I hope I can welcome the spring with a clean slate.  (I can hear the snickers now - 'first day of spring - in which year.')  To my nay sayers ... goals are good. So let's say I pick Spring 2018 to finish - yes, this year.

All these tasks are the perfect winter activity when you are not distracted by all the things that grab your attention outdoors.

When all this gets done - then I can take a breath.  A big deep breath, once again - until the future incoming stuff begins to chip away at my contentment and I am forced to walk this way again.

When the container drips

Have you ever had a feeling, a thought that keeps returning ... that seems to grow in size until action spills out?

Well, once again, I feel a need is growing.

When we moved into this condo all our worldly belongings fit!  Just fit!  I was amazed at the time that I 'guessed' correctly in downsizing from a large townhouse into this condo.  The decision of what would fit in a new abode was like trying to determine exactly which plastic food container to use when storing the chili that half fills your cook pot - and discovering the food container you picked held your chili perfectly - down to the last drop.  When I guess correctly with a food container, I feel like doing a fist bump with someone - except that the available  'someone' usually is my husband who would roll his eyes if I asked him to fist bump over chili in a Tupperware container!  Ha.

Now we are settled into the condo and every last drop of our stuff still fits despite increasing some of our things ... but the thought keeps growing that maybe we moved stuff we didn't really need to keep.

Yesterday my metaphysical food container - i.e. condo - tipped and dripped - the lid suddenly would not fit!

What started the drip?  My yarn.

I have a fairly large inventory of yarn.  It has been a 20 year collection in the making.  And I have loved every minute of it.  I moved all of my yarn from the townhouse to the condo.  I got rid of a lot of other things to be sure I had enough room for the yarn.  I don't separate easily from my yarn.

One yarn I purchased about 10 years ago.  It is a pretty nice acrylic with a small amount of wool.   I am not generally a fan of acrylic yarn, but these were very nice colors to my taste, machine wash and dry, and good for garments without looking cheap.  I purchased 4 complimentary colors  ... a total of 16 skeins (I don't do anything half way).  I didn't have a project in mind (always the kiss of death for me.)  Anyway, I started several projects with this yarn over the years but nothing stuck.  The yarn lingered in my stash.  The week I started (multiple starts actually) for a child's sweater in this yarn.  The yarn was perfect in weight, gauge and durability.  But no matter how I mixed and matched the colors - I didn't like how it was evolving.

The photo doesn't represent the problem well.
The brown and yellow sample
 - well the yellow reminded me of urine against the brown.
  I couldn't get passed that.
The rust color make the brown strips look green.
  Icky green.  How brown could look like green was beyond me.

 

And then the light dawned on me.

I began talking to this yarn - why do you look better wound up in the skein than worked up, why does everything I try with you fail, wouldn't you be happier with someone else, why am I keeping you????  It is time to set you free!!! (It is ok for you to roll your eyes now.)  I walked into the guest yarn room and put all 16 skeins of yarn in a bag for a charity donation.  It wasn't in a fit of frustration that I did this.  I was calm and deliberate. And I am ready to see if other yarn that resides with me would be happier owned by someone else.

Then I will start the process again to thin out my other belongings until the condo lid fits comfortably once again.

Becoming Minimalist

Inspiration!

Most people are influenced by inspiration.  They are exposed to an idea or an example and they find themselves drawn into a new path of awareness or action.  That has been my experience with downsizing and decluttering.  My personal journey towards less has been shared here in my blog - and several wonderful readers have let me know my sharing has inspired them.  Thank you.  I think that is how some movements are started - inspiring each other and passing it on.

I do not aspire to become a card carrying minimalist, but I do find inspiration in that movement.  I do strive to free myself from the weight of things for very selfish reasons.  I am freeing myself from extra work of maintaining stuff (sadly no hired help in my future,)  reducing stress (which I seem to have more than my share over the last 10 years,) and reducing distractions (the ability to focus seems to be the first mental ability to fail as we age. *sigh*)  In addition, it makes my visually impaired husband's life just a little less frustrating.

So let me share with you a blogger who has inspired me.

BecomingMinimalist.com

Joshua Becker is the writer of Becoming Minimalist and he is the author of the book The More of Less.  I love the title of his blog because it suggests that minimalism is an ongoing process not a final destination.  His blog was born from a place where we have all "visited" in one way or another:  dedicating precious time to the management of stuff rather than to people we love and experiences we desire.

He had the typical life filled with a happy family, a satisfying job, a normal house and an all too familiar over abundance of stuff.  His story begins one weekend when he decided to clean out his garage.  His 5 year old son also wanted a piece of his time to play in the backyard.  With promises to play when the cleaning was done, he proceeded to empty the garage onto the drive way to approach this task in a thorough and logical way.  Soon he was overwhelmed by the enormity of the exposed stuff and the effort it was going to take.  It was then that his neighbor casually commented: "Maybe you don't need to own all this stuff."  From that simple statement he quickly realized what mattered was time with his son and not the stuff in the driveway.  Inspiration in its most infantile form!  That experience sparked the beginning of a new way of living that he shares in his blog.  I don't have a garage or a 5 year old child, but strip away the window dressing of that story, and his sudden realization was mine as well - it just took me a little longer.  I encourage you to visit his blog and see if his experience could also be yours.

Recently he hosted a guest post from Sarah Peck.  Her story is titled:  The Story of Enough: Giving Up (new) Clothes for One Year.  Although I have never been into collecting clothes I took time to read her story.  The clothes saga is the window dressing of her story.  The underlying truths can be nailed down to a few words -  I have enough.  I am enough.  And "enough" is different for everyone.

Yes, that is EXACTLY what I believe.

I have captured a few of her quotes below.  I encourage you to check out her post on BecomingMinimalist.com - and maybe spend some time visiting with Joshua Becker.  I don't think you will be disappointed.

Quotes

Sara Peck

The Story of Enough: 

Giving Up (new) Clothes for One Year.

"Our world is filled with messages that tell us we don't have enough space, enough stuff, enough clothes, enough fitness.  We're never skinny enough or pretty enough or good enough or rich enough."

"...the idea of minimalism isn't about reaching a goal or checking off a box, or reaching a certain destination.  To me, minimalism is realizing that what I already have is enough, and that adding clutter to the pile won't make it any better."

"Stripping away the excess lets us get to the bones of what really matters.  Get to the heart space.  Get to the pieces that are important.  And that level can be different for different people."

"Untethering from the need to consume was surpassingly easy.  It was the attitude change that made the most difference: looking through my things and realizing I already had enough. ...  It was relaxing and reassuring to know that what I had was okay.  What you are is already good enough."

"Sometimes a subtle attitude shift or a small sacrifice can make a big difference.  Like taking the time to appreciate that what you already have is enough.  And your effort?  It's enough."

Sliding towards less

While I am not qualified to speak on the topic of minimalism,  it does feel like I am slipping towards a "less" style of living. Setting aside the downsizing efforts needed to move, getting less stuff off my radar always makes me feel better.  I've done this many times, but not so drastically as this time.

For the most part, I can't remember the bulk of what I have carried out the door.  Obviously if I can't remember that mountain of stuff, it was not important.  It was taking up space in my world and robbing my attention and energy.

But the remembered list of discarded things is considerable AND remarkable for many reasons.  It totally astounds me how much we held onto - long beyond our interest in them.  Passions from 20 or 30 years ago that we lost interest in and just boxed away.  Hobbies and past times my husband could no longer enjoy because he could not see.  Sentimental items that lingered because we could not let go of the emotion attached to them.  Valuable items we never touched much less saw for years and years.

Here is a brain dump of the remembered stuff that is living with new owners.

• Doll house and all the doll house furniture - this all went back to the original owner, my daughter and pictures of that lovely hobby were featured here. It is the one thing if she simply didn't want it any more, I would take back.
• Stamp Collection -  valued at over $80,000 at one time.
• Huge board game collection
• Vast library of books - near a thousand at one point when my husband could read
• Miniature hand painted soldiers - over 300 miniatures, many were museum quality
• Themed chess sets - 10 or 11 in all
• German imported nut crackers - 22 in all
• Furniture - 2 chests of drawers, 2 benches, a full size freezer, 2 desks, a head board - that was just in the last 3 months - many more pieces in the last year.
• Kitchen stuff - mugs, good china, Kitchen aide food processor, about 40 cookbooks (a ridiculous number for a person who doesn't want or like to cook) 
• Crafts - spinning wheel, yarn, about 25 books, yarn
• My work clothes are gone, boxes and boxes of shoes are gone - mostly because my sad old feet can wear only about 3 pairs without pain.

That list makes me a little breathless.  The money we spent.  Yes, we did get enjoyment at the time but really ... the space and energy it subtracted from our lives over years exceeds the balance of enjoyment we got for a short time.  Too bad I can't send a message back to my younger self and say "STOP!  You won't really care about this stuff for most of your life!"  

Well ... I still care about that doll house and my yarn, but everything else, not so much.

And still stuff remains .... photo albums and pictures I will keep because they spark precious memories.  I still have a lot of clothes.  Guess I will need to check out condition and size.  Our pantry is shrinking ... the thought crossed my mind more than once over the years that I may be a food hoarder.  At least all the expired foods are gone :-) and I check the pantry before I shop.  Ha!  There is a roughed in closet with storage items (Christmas, lamps, picture frames, ladder, shovels, etc) that has yet to be explored.  I bet I have weed killer from 1999.  And my yarn room.  *sigh* I have given away some yarn to various folks and about half my pattern books.  I could still knit until I was 97 without buying even one skein of yarn and never run out.  Here there is no doubt ...  I am a card carrying hoarder of yarn.  I think I will happily hold on to that title until I take my last breath.

Interestingly enough, ongoing stuff reduction seems to have unintentionally spilled over into other areas of my life.

For example:

I have long since given up a wide array of cosmetics, perfumes and lotions.  My approach to personal appearance is simple - this is me, the way God made me and life changed me.  My gray hair and wrinkles have been well earned. I wouldn't think of hiding them.  I am happy with myself the way I am.  All I really need is a blow drier and hair brush, moisturizer, lip gloss, a splash of blush, enough sleep to keep the circles from my eyes and a smile!  I hope all that counts as graceful aging instead of laziness.  Ha.

I have never been a big jewelry person but I did have a few pieces that were special.  I gave away some to family, kept a few, but only wear my wedding ring now.  I don't even wear earings in my pierced ear lobes.  My, how times have changed.

My personal schedule is much reduced.  I used to enjoy many social obligations and organized groups that used my talents.  I don't get the energy or enjoyment I used to from that busy schedule.  Now I limit myself to fewer external ongoing commitments and look forward them more because they are not squeezed into an over committed calendar.  I am happy with my own company, my family and close friends.  I don't seek out more just because I have time for more.

Sliding towards less ...  

a good thing.

The Big Pitch to Small Living

I am not talking baseball.

I am talking clutter, downsizing, shrinking.  I am talking giving away stuff to friends and family, trips to the dump and donations to charity organizations.

Over 7 years of blogging, I've written 28 posts about clutter.  Clearly this topic is important for me.  And it is breath taking (and embarrassing) to think of all the items that have passed through my hands over the years.  You can't inherit 3 households (small households for sure), and not have a mega highway of stuff running through you life.  Let's not forget my husband and I also contributed generously to that collection of stuff.

Some people downsize to the point that living in a smaller space comfortably is possible.  That is our goal.  But smaller can translate into tiny for some.  That is not our goal.  I have been, however, very curious about the tiny house movement.  The true tiny house runs about 120-220 square feet of space.  It is fascinating to see those small spaces and how inventive folks need to be to live in them.  I wouldn't live in one myself but it is fun to explore that option through the lives of others.  Of course, when you live in 2200 square feet of space like I have done for 31 years, stuff grows to fit the void.  Getting to smaller living is hard when you live in a bigger than average structure.

That is about to change for me.

Less stuff and less square footage.

Our goal is to shrink from 2200 square feet to pretty much half or 1100 square feet.  Not exactly a "tiny" house, but it will qualify in my mind as smaller living.

And to get to that goal, the "big pitch" is underway.  This time it is not just stuff at risk... furniture is also getting the boot.

I always find this effort to be so rewarding.  As I pare down my belongings, I feel lighter, more in control, and in a strange way - very appreciative of the stuff that makes the cut.  It is like seeing 'the keepers' with more clarity remembering why I loved that item to begin with.  Truly, too much stuff seems to distract me from what I really care for.

I have made pretty good inroads in cleaning out stuff, but much remains to be done.  I am so grateful that I did so many decluttering sessions in the years before this one.  I can't imagine how hard this would be if I had a house that was literally stuffed to the rafters.

A month ago I gave away a full size spinning wheel that I purchased 7 years ago - during a time when I was coping with stress by buying stuff.  When I think of spinning I am drawn to spinning on a spindle.  Spinning yarn is in my future - just not on a wheel.  My spinning wheel was a gift to my cousin - and she and Agatha (yes, the wheel's name is Agatha), are spinning away joyfully together.  Never have I had so much fun sharing of my belongings as that gift to my cousin.

Yesterday I gave away a collectable bear dressed in a Marine Corp dress uniform.  It was a pricey bear I purchased when my son entered the Marine Corp.  It when to a family with a new born boy - the father was a Marine.  The perfect home for my Marine Corp bear! (Wish I kept a picture of him for this post.)

Today I gave away my Kitchen Aide Food Processor.  God knows that I was thinking when I bought that.  I cook only to eat - certainly not out of enjoyment - and that kitchen gadget was pricey.  It is not going with us.

Tomorrow we are having a "give away" for friends.  My husband and I collected Chess Sets for many years.  Our kitchen table is stacked with them.  We kept a special few - maybe 3.  I really love those 3.  But the others, all beautiful and unique, will find new homes soon I hope.

I am not sorrowful or pensive about any of these departing items.  In fact I can't even remember most  the stuff that I carried out of this house in the years preceding today.  Its been freeing and fun.

I am excited about this move to less and smaller.  Yes, it is being forced on me by circumstance, and the steps needed to get their are tiring and scary, but the end result will be positive!

Your shopping DNA!

It is funny how touching every single thing you own in the world can change your behavior  ...  at least a bit.

While recovering from back spasms, I took the time to look at my local town newspaper.  I seldom do this anymore - I am just not a newspaper kind of person.  But the paper is free and shows up on  my door step every week, so I settled down to see what I had been missing.

Nothing!  I doubt I will be looking again any time soon.

But I did notice a few advertised sales and it did prompt a reflection or two.

The act of shopping logically results in something that comes into the house.  Recently I have been focused on things going out of the house.

As I was checking out these sales I realized that my perspective has changed.  In fact, I was so changed that I stopped looking and just discarded the paper.

I got to thinking ...

• There is nothing that I want/need at present - but - looking at the sales I saw some interesting "this or that" at a great price.  Hmm ...
• I generally hate shopping in brick and mortar stores.  It takes up too much time.  You have to get in the car, drive, park, walk into the store, look around, maybe stand on line, or maybe discover they don't have "this or that," then get back in the car, and repeat the process at another store.  
• Trips to the store or reading sales literature often results in extraneous purchases not on my current need list -  totally impulse buys - and are potential clutter once brought into the house.

I used to LOVE to go shopping!  Not so much now.  I much prefer to order on line and let someone deliver the item to my door.  

Yikes, when did this disconnect happen?

For example:  A few years back I was very focused on reducing our grocery spending.  In my typical fashion I read up on ways to save on this expenditure.  I clipped and sorted coupons.  I periodically purged for expiration dates.  I had a big box for coupons!!  I looked for double and triple coupon days at our local stores and I visited many stores seeking the best price using sales and coupons.  I even kept a price book listing our staples by name, size, and best price.  The book helped me identify if a sale was really the best price based on history.  The whole process was so time consuming it became almost a part time job.   I was never able to buy $125 worth of groceries for $30 like you sometimes saw as examples to aspire to.  And here is how crazy it was ... I don't even like to cook and yet here I was deeply engrossed in a cooking related activity.  During that time our food expenditure mostly went up.  We purchased more food than we needed because it was a "great price" and we would use it in the future.  Ironically those rock-bottom priced items sometimes got tossed after a time because we had more than we could use and they would go passed their expiration date.  It was a total fiasco for me.  Looking back I can see it was a nutty use of energy.

Now we grocery shop at one store only each week, I seldom use coupons, I will shop sales, but I don't buy ahead and I seldom check the ads for sales.  Our bills have gone down.  But even with those changes, we still seem to have too much food in the house.  I am working to correct that.

Sadly that grocery example has played out in other purchases as well.   I am hoping this is all in the past.

Apparently decluttering has done more than just injuring my lower back.   My "want/need" level regarding items has been significantly lowered.   

It is like my shopping DNA has been chemically altered.  Nuts!  I wish this had happened many years ago.  Just think of how rich I would be now if I hadn't spent all that money shopping.

So how do you shop?

Is it for need or want?

Is it for amusement?

Are you an internet shopper

 or do you prefer "brick and mortar stores?" 

Personal Disclaimers (or the devil is in the details):  :-)

• My hobby stuff is exempt from this whole discussion.  :-) My old shopping self is still very much alive in my hobbies.  Baby steps, baby steps  ...
• I value the brick and mortar store as a necessary part of our economy - I do support several despite my aversion to shopping in them.
• Clothing and food for me are best made in a brick and mortar store. 

A breather

I think I am ready for a brief breather.

It has been interesting discovering, touching, re-purposing, deciding, repacking, moving, discarding, displaying, and/or gifting all our belongings.  Small untouched pockets of stuff still remain - a small storage closet in the basement, the linen closet, my kitchen cabinets.  But the lion's share is done for now.

A Good Will bag stands at the ready in the kitchen - already full again - but the stuff-movement has reduced to a trickle.

The painting is done - and the rooms are mostly back to normal.  The kitchen renovation is contracted  probably for August.

The yard guy arrived this week.  Our front and back yard should be brought under control soon.

However ...

After all is said and done ... and the house looks the best it has looked in many years - we decided to stay - and not sell - at least for this year.  Part of me is very relieved.  To sell this house I love ... and to face further upheaval - it is not a pleasant prospect after everything we have done.  And my husband, while he supported the idea and the need for a move, he seems relieved too.  But the reason for a change of residence is still a reality.  Each day I wonder how long we have until a fall by my husband makes our choice to stay a foolish one.  So the topic is not closed - just deferred.

On the joyful side of this discussion ... the main de-clutter goal has been achieved.  Minor improvements towards downsizing will continue.  It has finally become manageable.

Now the real work remains - maintaining!

But first ... a breather!

Lesson Learned #5 - Attachments

  I've spent many precious life hours over the last 10 years moving stuff out of my house.  

In the last year, the highway of departing clutter has become an absolute speedway.  

Here is a lesson I have learned in the process.

Lesson Learned #5

Lastly
Attachments to stuff - does it love you back?

I get attached to things.

I attach to people and animals as well, but I have a history of loving things ... attaching to them like they have feelings.  Once you start attaching to things, there is a slippery slope you must manage.

Here is my slippery slope.

Like most people,  I save bits and pieces of things that hold memories for me.  Children's art work, old school papers, a first communion veil, the small worry-stone my son gave me on entering the military, a beautiful greeting card from my daughter with cherished sentiments - just to name a few.  I am fairly successful at managing stuff in this category.  For example, I finally discarded my 56 year old girl scout sash with achievement badges last week.  I wasn't a scout for long, and it wasn't a special time. To this day, "camping" or roughing it for me is staying at a Days Inn.  :-)  The sash went out the door las week.  The stuff I own in this category is down to a reasonable quantity.

Managing attachments in other areas of my life result in limited success.

I give cars names.  My last car was a Maxima.  Her name was Maxie.  I was in tears when I traded her in.  Maxie and I were buds for 10 years.  We got through a lot of bad weather together, but her high-heeled attitude made her designed for speed.   She had a passion for it (notice I didn't say I had a passion for speed - just Maxie!)  At her 10th birthday when she started to burn oil, our trusted mechanic of 35 years could not find the problem.  A fix would have been hard and very expensive. My new car is a Subaru. It (not she, not he) handles the road great in all weather.  It is reliable.  It is transportation.  It does not have a name.  I learned my lesson with Maxie.  And more importantly, I believe the Subaru doesn't care one little bit.  :-)

I have a tough time I throwing away pictures.  I am sad when I see old family albums abandoned in thrift or antique shops.  I have many old family albums myself and boxes of pictures, many are duplicates. I also have old family documents - birth and death certificates, military papers, baptismal documents, certificates of achievement, an old driver's license from the 1930s. Not sure what I will do with all of that - right now they are all in one closet.  But these images are staring at me from the end of the long de-cluttering road.  They know I have a soft spot for family history.  They are keeping their collective fingers crossed that they will make the next de-clutter cut in a few weeks.  We shall see.

The attachment to my townhouse is strong.  Although I yearn for a smaller place - one with less steps, less extra costs, less upkeep, this home holds all my memories of the last 30 years.  I have lived here longer than anywhere else.  I raised children here.  My mother-in-law died of cancer in my living room.  I remember my son stepping out my front door to enter the military and coming in that same door when he returned.  My daughter recovered here from one of life's black clouds.  My husband stood in the kitchen and told me he would one day go blind.  The house has seen parties for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings.  My mother lived here for 5 years and I watched her decline here. I cried at my kitchen sink the day I knew she would need to move to assisted living.  There were joy filled Christmases - and a few sad ones too, like last Christmas when mom died.   This house is tattooed with my life.  I can't imagine letting another family put their marks on it.  And yet ...

How do you avoid attachments to an inanimate building when it feels like more than that?  I will continue to live in and nurture this house for now - and deal with the fall out that will inevitably come later.

The topic of minimalism is cluttered with the principles of letting go and living small.    But minimalism discussions sometimes miss the point that stuff can make your life "more."  Yes, less is more, but sometimes things are also more.

I think the trick is to pick and choose carefully!  And if you pick and choose everything, then that is when problems start.

Keep only what you love ... and what loves you back.

I believe my house loves me back!  

Lesson Learned #4 - Stress and Stuff

  I've spent many precious life hours over the last 10 years moving stuff out of my house.  

In the last year, the highway of departing clutter has become an absolute speedway.  

Here is a lesson I have learned in the process.

Lesson Learned #4

Less stuff equals less stress ... at least for me.

For myself, I truly believe less stuff equals less stress.

But this may not be true for everyone.   I know folks who take comfort in being surrounded by all their many belongings.  In fact it is said that very creative people are usually surrounded by lots of disorganization, and they seem to function just fine.  I worked for a woman who hired me specifically because I was an organization greek.  She wanted me to organize her.  I discovered that although her office was crazy with clutter, she could easily put her hand on any item I could name.  Once she realized that her methods worked fine for her ... and my methods worked fine for me ... we got along famously!! Accepting each others differences made us a great team.

But an over abundance of stuff can have a very different outcome.

At the far end of the "stuff" spectrum is a popular show called The Hoarders.  It always made me a little sad to see these folks who allowed things to overtake their lives so completely.  Their stuff did not make them happy.  They were miserable.  I stopped watching when the show spilled into examples of animal hoarding layered on top of stuff hoarding.  Animals who had died in the house and the owners did not know because the stuff was so mountainous.  Cats who had litters of sick or dead kittens and the owners had no clue.  Sad was one thing.  Disturbing was something else.   I stopped watching.

I have never been near the level of clutter as the TV Hoarders.  But this week I was face-to-face with my own personally created clutter monster who was hiding in my yarn room.

For newer readers, a little bulleted background on me can demonstrate the problem.

• I am a knitter.
• I am a rigid heddle weaver.
• I am a sometimes fiber spinner.
• Crafters like me usually have stashes of craft related stuff.  
• I have a massive large medium small-ish to medium (???)  hoard stash collection selection of knitting yarns, weaving yarns, fiber for making yarns, books, knitting needles, binders of individual patterns, kits (knitting and weaving), many looms, many spinning spindles, and a full size spinning wheel.  (OK, "massive hoard" fits - just don't tell my husband.)
• My hobby once was housed in a small basement closet.  Then it was moved to a small room with closet (we call the den.)  Now it is contained in a moderate size bedroom (we now call "the yarn room") with 2 closets that once belonged to my mom.  I sort of maybe have my eye on largest room - our master bedroom.  I wonder if my husband would notice ... oh forget I said anything.
• I consider my yarn room to be a luxury and a joy.
• I LOVE LOVE LOVE my hobby.  

I think that sets the stage for you.

In preparation for painting the yarn room I had to MOVE . ALL . THE . LOVED . STUFF out of the closets and into the center of the floor so the closets could be painted. It took me a whole day.  It filled the center of the room and was stack about 4-5 feet high.  After I finished, I stood back and surveyed the stash.  It did not fill me with joy.  I was agitated.  I was discourage.  How could I allowed something I cherished to fall into the "too much stuff" category.

I have already started the process of thinning the stash.  There are no ugly items in the room.  But the stash does fall into two categories:  like and love.  The likes are finding their way to new homes where they will be loved.  And I am happy to make space for my loved items.

And what is true for my yarn room has been true for the rest of my house.  Space is good.  Less is good.

Less stuff is less stress - even if it is yarn.

Lesson Learned #3 - Over stuffed?

  I've spent many precious life hours over the last 10 years moving stuff out of my house.  

In the last year, the highway of departing clutter has become an absolute speedway.  

Here is a lesson I have learned in the process.

Lesson Learned #3:

Live with less stuff than your house can hold.

I have never been a big proponent of Rental Storage Units. This lesson has not been learned from actual experience - just common sense.

Yes, these rental storage units serve a short list of purposes.  Temporary storage of household goods between moves or inventory storage for small businesses are two examples that quickly come to mind.  I bet you could suggest a few other good uses as well.

But too often families use these units for years to store household items they cannot contain in their home.  Apparently the need for external storage is a growing trend because the sprouting of "You Store It" buildings continues to grow.  If there wasn't a demand for this kind of storage, the buildings of this type wouldn't be built.

It boggles my mind that folks pay money for these units every month for years to store personal stuff - stuff they don't use and probably don't remember they have.  It is an over-stuffed life for sure.

I also scratch my head when I drive by a house with cars that are always parked outside of full garages. Now I am not talking about garages that function extensions of living space - like a place for large exercise equipment or an expansive tool collection with workbenches ... those changes make sense.  People actually use this space.   But folks who leave vehicles ($$$) outside and use their garage as storage for old bikes, boxes of broken and/or discarded toys, old unused refrigerators, old unused kitchen cabinets, party decorations from last New Years, an old kitchen chair with the broken leg, trash, and the like ...  so that there is no room for their cars - well, the garage is protecting the wrong stuff.

We have never had a garage or a storage unit.  But about 5 years ago we were floating in a sea of our stuff, my mom's stuff, other inherited stuff and there wasn't one space that was open.  My husband causally suggested that maybe we should rent a storage unit for a while - just to give us some breathing room.

Imagine ... paying for breathing room.

We did not get that storage unit.  What I did do was reorganize stuff and buy more things like containers to snuggly store our stuff into our current space, giving us the sense of breathing room.  Not actual breathing room, you understand!  Just the appearance of breathing room.

Ha!

Lesson Learned #2 - Stuff and your heart

  I've spent many precious life hours over the last 10 years moving stuff out of my house.  

In the last year, the highway of departing clutter has become an absolute speedway.  

Here is a lesson I have learned in the process.

Lesson Learned #2

Keep the stuff that speak to your heart.

My mother was raised in a family where a Hope Chest was part of her preparation for marriage.  Knowing some of my mom's history, that hope chest probably represents a happy time for her - a time when she was preparing for marriage to my father.

 Little could she guess that happiness with my father would be in short supply.  Although my dad was a charming, handsome and loving man, he was also sick with alcoholism, and when under its influence, he was none of those things.  He died in 1970 and I have many bad memories of him, but I also have many wonderful ones.  The fact that this balance still exists so clearly in my mind ... and I still love him ... is tribute to the wonderful man he was while sober.


But mom's cedar hope chest was "born" at a time prior to that marriage.  In my mind and heart her chest represents the beautiful and smart young woman she was then - with dreams of happiness and family

 

During my clean out, I unearthed mom's cedar chest in her former bedroom closet.  It had been buried  under all her stuff while she lived in my home, and under all my yarn after she moved into Assisted Living.  I knew this chest needed to be out where I could enjoy it and use it.

As you can see, it has wear - and some damage - but plenty of beauty.  I feel in my heart this chest mirrors how my mom's life turned out.  Much wear, some damage, total beauty.

Because I miss my mom every single day, I want her chest to be part of my everyday life - to help me remember what a wonderfully strong and caring woman she was, how her life started out with hope, and the tarnish of her marriage didn't destroy the underlying strength of who she was.

Her chest is now open to the air and loved again but this time by her daughter.

In this marathon event of seeking to have less but enjoy what remains more ... questions remain.

• Do I need a chest?  No.
• Is need and function the only qualities to consider when de-cluttering your life?  No.
• Will I use and love this piece of furniture all the days of my life?  Yes.

It stays.

Lesson Learned #1 - Good Stuff Bad Stuff

  I've spent many precious life hours over the last 10 years moving stuff out of my house.  

In the last year, the highway of departing clutter has become an absolute speedway.  

Here is a lesson I have learned in the process.

Lesson Learned #1

Not all stuff is bad stuff!

While reading about minimal life styles and the joys of "less is more," you can get swept up by the hype.  Some self identified simplification gurus put a high premium on getting your possessions down to the bare minimum ... being able to contain all your belongings is your car ... or the joys of brushing your teeth with soap ... or having empty surfaces and shelves throughout your living space.

I have a much more middle-of-the-road picture of minimalism..

I have had a decent life where disposable income was the norm.  My husband and I had a broad range of interests and hobbies.  We enjoyed collecting stuff around those pursuits.  In some regards, we still do.

But over time we packed away many of our passions.  Sometimes we no longer enjoyed the ownership of an item, but it wasn't junk so we just boxed it up and forgot about it.  Usually we didn't have space to display everything that 45 years of marriage could produce.  Or our tastes changed and our interests evolved.  On we moved to the next endeavor.  Do you recognize yourself anywhere in that description?

One remarkable side benefit of diving deep into your stored belongings is a discovery of a long forgotten treasure that you forgot you owned.

This chess set is one such item.

My husband collected chess sets.  We must have 15 of them.  This was not a cheap hobby.  Most of the sets we purchased were several hundred dollars.  But over time we packed them away.

This beautiful hand carved and painted Camelot Chess set was created by a wood carver called Whittle Works.  Holy Cow!  These figures haven't seen the light of day in probably 15 years.

Gosh!  I still love these!!  Why the heck aren't they out where I can enjoy them? Well, they are now out.  I will tell you why they weren't out.  The set was "out of sight out of mind" in a box buried deeply behind a bunch of bad stuff I didn't care one twit about and now does not live here anymore.

Some minimalist minded folks would question keeping this chess set.  They would ask:

• Have you touched this item in the last year?  No.  Not touched or seen in the last 15 years.
• Do you enjoy playing chess?  No.  I am an embarrassingly bad player.
• Will you play chess with it in the future?  No.  Not my game.  I prefer Checkers.
• Do you find beauty or get enjoyment out of this set?  Yes!  End of Story.

So, there you go.  

The chess set stays.  

The bad stuff goes.

Miss Minimalist

As a blogger, it should be no surprise that I follow a few other bloggers.  And lately I have reduced my blog list considerably.  In fact, I have stopped using my on line blog catcher and just subscribe to blogs using the email option.

Keeping the lists of subscribed blogs small has been part of my "smaller is better," "less is more" change of heart over the last few years.  One blog has been helpful in inspiring me in this direction.

Miss Minimalist

Living a beautiful life with less stuff

This blogger and the book she wrote on this subject have been featured in many well known news vehicles such as CNN, BBC, NBC Today, Forbes ... just to name a few.  Certainly there are a large number of excellent web resources on simplifying and minimalism, but Miss Minimalist seems closest to my own middle-of-the-road mindset on the subject.

There is one feature I really enjoy.  Each Monday she posts a piece contributed by various followers about their journey to reducing stuff and adopting minimalism.  I love reading about others and the paths they chose for their lives - even if I wouldn't necessarily follow in all their foot steps.  It is amazing how many ways you can approach the minimalist life style.

Today I noticed her post was about moving from one residence to another with a minimalist mindset.  How timely!  We have been contemplating the wisdom of making a move to a smaller more senior friendly place the last few months.  That decision is still a big question mark for us.

However, as I am cleaning out my own abode - I kept these thoughts in the back of my mind ...

• Have I used this item in the last year?
• Would I keep this item if I were moving next week?
• Would I pay money to pack, transport, and unpack this item?  
• Would this item be worth the time to wrap and box up ... and unbox and use in a new home?  

If the answer was "no" to any of these questions ... why would I bother keeping it now?  I have my hands on this item right now.  Does it make sense to keep it and face this decision again at a time when I am actually moving?  Why table this action to discard an item to a time when the stress of an actual move would weigh me down with all the stuff I kept today? And even if I don't move ever again, is it fair to leave this task to the loved ones I leave behind?

I will say that going through this downsizing process has been exhausting.  I typically spend about 3 or 4 hours a day working through our possessions, touching and deciding the fate of each item, and then I am just too tired to continue.  I don't make good decisions when I am too tired.  After about 4 weeks of working through this, I am glad I have the luxury to spread it out over time and do it right.  I am very glad I am not facing a pending move with the deadline of a mover's truck at the end of the line.  Now there is a nightmare in the making.

If you are going through a similar stage in life - desiring "less is more" - then check out the blog Miss Minimalism.  Take the time to window shop through her site.  Pick and choose the topics that interest you.  See if it doesn't crystalize your thoughts about stuff ... and how you want to live with yours.

I am currently reading her book, The Joy of Less.  I have found that books on simplification and  minimalism run "hit or miss."  Sometimes it is just a rehash of what you logically already know or what you have read a bunch of times elsewhere.  And to be fair, learning to live more minimally only happens if you can consistently take the actions to make it so.  There is no substitute for changing behavior.  Just reading about it - isn't enough.  These are hard lessons I struggle with regularly.  I will say, however, this book is highly rated on Amazon and so far I would agree with those ratings.  I will report back when I finish the book.

Dust of Ages ... and ages ... and ages ...

Dear Blog Friends,

Just when I think I'm done with blogging, I get another push to write and bore you to death with all my life "adventures."  Hopefully you aren't bored to actual death, as that reduces the number of readers significantly.  And I will admit that "adventures" is a stretch for my life right now.

Since visiting with you last I have not been idle.  In fact, I have been busy to the point of exhaustion as of late.

Over the last 8 years, my caregiver focus has been almost totally aimed at my mom.  After her passing in December, it took awhile to get my "sea legs" back.  As the list of mom related to-dos dwindled, I had trouble focusing that "caregiver laser-beam" on anything else.  I was adrift.  I felt like a gang leader without a gang!

(Can you tell I have been watching the violent TV series Sons of Anarchy?

  ... which by the way is pretty great!  Sort of like The God Father, but not.)

In the last month a major shift of energies and focus blossomed out of me.   Hmm ...  I guess it was more of an volcanic eruption, than the blossoming.

I finally focused my "laser-beam" around my own house and decided  -

Not . Good . Enough .

• Too much stuff.
• Too much furniture.
• Some areas not painted in over 20 years.
• Some possessions not touched about 10 years.
• Some possessions overdue a transition to the dump, or Good Will, or to another home.
• Some repairs and renovations ignored or lived around for way to long.
• Some items not even mine, for gosh sake.  
• It is stifling.
• It weighs me down.

Not . How . I . Want . To . Live!!

We did some stuff last summer - hardwood flooring and some painting ... but real issues still remained.  So I pulled up my big girl panties and put on rubber gloves - and attacked the real issues of my home head on.  

The Goal

I want to live lighter ... with less stuff ... with only the things that I love. 

I want space around me and around the things that I love.

Like a ball and chain,
I don't want to drag along possessions on the assumption that maybe, possibly,
 I might need them at some indefinable point in the future.

I want to adopt the life style attitude now of "less is more."  

When it is time to move to a smaller more senior friendly environment,
I want to be ready.

  And when my time on this earth is done, 

I don't want my kids to left with a house full of dusty junk to manage and/or discard.

Now I am on a first name basis with the dump guy, a healthy contributor to our local Good Will organization, and many worthy former belongings are now loved by others in their houses.   Summed up at least 40% of our stuff-occupants no longer reside in this house.  

We . Have . Breathing . Room!!

And the odyssey is not over yet.  In the near-future ...

• Some cocky "stuff-occupants" that made the first cut this go-round, won't be living here come the New Year.  As my husband noted just this morning ... "It is amazing but despite the mountain of stuff we have moved out of the house, we STILL have a lot of stuff."    Not for long, Kemosabe. Not for long!
• Our kitchen will get a major face lift this summer.

Oh ... and there is less dust as well.

Reducing Life Static

There are many blogs on minimalism and simplification.  It is a real movement for sure.  Broadly speaking, the movement to reduce the clutter of life in all its iterations is a desire probably born from our consumer culture where the "cult of big, better, more" is still fully in charge.

My own journey to reduce what I call "life static" has been ongoing for years and feels like it is finally picking up steam today.  It is time for some observations on my current efforts to calm my world down - especially when a big responsibility and focus of life has recently disappeared.

It started quietly when I needed to thin out the inherited stuff from the death of a grandmother-in-law and a mother-in-law during the mid 1990s.  Next came the "newly-adult-children-returning-home chapter," so space was made for them.  In mid 2000s my mom moved in with her stuff.  Although I decluttered and decluttered and decluttered over the last 20 years, the stuff continued to increase like rabbits.  I never got ahead.  I just stayed even.  Now the adult children are fully independent, all older adults have passed away, and my decluttering efforts seem to be making a difference.

It continues to astound me, however, at the volume of stuff that has passed through my hands in the last 20 years.  I don't remember one single thing that left this house.  Not one single thing. That understanding underlines emphatically just how little we really need to be happy.  Decluttering creates a feeling of lightness, almost like a drug high.

It is trite but true - less is more.

While decluttering is a big part of my efforts, it is but one small part of my life static picture.

Time is precious - more precious to me now than when I was 30.  It is human nature to think there is plenty of time left to do what you want, but no one has a promise of more time than the current moment.  I used to think I would return to work in a fun part time job when mom was gone - now she is gone - no job for me.  No, no, no!  (see a previous post on The Power of No.)  I suspect all retired folks worry about money and if it will last. I am no different. But I would rather adopt a frugal life style than fill my free hours with a job to gain a pay check.  Time is precious.  Time is the goal ... not money.

Travel was always on my radar - especially after retirement.  But now my husband is not comfortable with his external environment.  His vision is very very compromised now - what little he has.  And I find I don't miss travel.  I love my home and my life.  I don't need to seek out ways to escape from it like I did when I worked.  It is an interesting evolution I would never have predicted.

I dream of less living space.  I love my townhouse.  All 2,000 feet of it has served me well in raising a family, supporting elderly relatives and giving children a safety net while they established themselves in the world.  But my current dream is less house.  And less will definitely be more if this dream is ever achieved.  More on that topic another time.

Busyness is way reduced.  My "to do" lists still get made, but some days they are never looked at.  Thank goodness there is always tomorrow (hopefully there is tomorrow, but if not, will the "to-dos" really matter all that much to me?)  And thank goodness for "to do" lists, because once something is on the list I know that it will eventually get done (if there is a tomorrow - but if not - oh well.)

Time to think and dream have filled the vacuum left by my mom's death.  Wow, what a concept - time to think.  That still blows my mind.

My "20 years and 20 goals blog theme" born years ago is now down to a "20 years and 2 goals blog theme":  (1) keep fit and healthy, and (2) enjoy living every minute. How's that for symplifying!  Even if my mind starts to fail me like mom's did, I should be able to keep track of 2 goals!!

So that is the wrap up for Reducing Life Static.

Someday I might even get good enough at this simplifying thingy

 to get this whole post down to one sentence!!! 

(ok, maybe not.)

Making Room

The constant internal theme of my life seems to be "Make Room."  It has almost become a mantra.

Clear those counters.

Pick up those items.

Give away stuff.

Pitch that clutter.

Step down from leadership.

The last example is the newest in the ever expanding theme.  

When do you feel that your stuff and your life's activities

 comfortably equals the space and the time given to you? 

Over the last few years I have focused on the obvious!  Make my environment less cluttered.  As I look around my kitchen I have a long way to go.  It is hard to wrap my mind around what life would be like right now if I held on to everything I discarded over the last 4 years.  Flashes of The Hoarders - a TV show about folks who can't let go of anything - pops into my mind.  The "de-clutter bug" is starting to eat away at me again.  I can feel another purge coming on soon.

Today I am focusing on the less obvious.

Time and guilt.  

Today I will be telling my Knitting Group that I am stepping down as their coordinator and handing over that role to another member.  This group holds a special place in my heart.  They are fun, interesting, non-judgemental, supportive, creative (big time creative) and welcoming.  They supported me through my most difficult days in caring for my mom.  My hope is that today ... after I tell them this news, they will be happy for me.

This change will allow me the flexibility to "drop in" as a fellow participant rather than be the linch pin that connects everyone.  I've missed too many meetings this spring - time continues to be a commodity  in short supply.  I need to make room in my life to participate in this wonderful group - without the guilt that comes when I miss meetings.

They are wonderful people.  They will understand!

Fingers crossed!

Band Wagon Thinking

If you read blogs, you can't miss the January theme of the month - simplify, de-clutter, organize!!

Image:  julielomoe.wordpress.com 

What is it about the simple month of January that brings out this clean-up, clean-out feeling in folks?  Why does everyone jump right on this band wagon very single January?

• Is it a reaction to the rampant consumerism of November and December?
• Is it that the pathway from your front door to your refrigerator has gotten too narrow to negotiate?
• Is it that you bought yet another hammer, because you can't find the 5 others you own?
• Is it that you are trapped in your house for the first really cold month of the winter, and you are forced to face down all your crap? 

 "Holy Crap!!

  Where did all this crap come from?

  Is the crap multiplying on its own?

  Have 5 other families moved their crap in when I wasn't looking?

 Crap, crap, crap!!

  Guess my new favorite word!

  :-)

No, I am not going to bore you with my January Simplicity Post du gour.  I have already done that 16 times over the life of this blog.  It is not a new topic for me.  In fact, to be successful at de-crapping cluttering, it shouldn't be a new topic, or a January topic, or a seasonal project.  

It needs to be a life style!

So, how is that for NOT blogging about de-cluttering!!