Reading time ~ 5 minutes Please don’t laugh, or think less of me when I tell you that I’ve been trying to complete a home inventory since 1988. Yes, you read that right, 1988. 1988 was the year I was married and the first time in my life that I really owned anything of value. Only 22 years old, my husband and I began to amass the stuff that served as proof of our adulthood: tables … Read More
Reading time ~ 5 minutes Until recently, our minimalism journey has been focused primarily on releasing stuff we no longer need or want. My focus shifted a little last month though after noting how many people commented on a particular topic on a professional organizer’s forum I subscribe to. The topic was Ethical Consumption. Unfortunately most of my organizing colleague’s comments related to the back end of consumption, which I’ll call ethical disposal. This encompasses recycling, reusing, … Read More
As of May 1 I’ve completed one-third of my year-long clothing shopping ban. Through this experiment I’m learning quite a bit about my shopping, wearing and purchasing habits. Any of you out there who might be trying to curb shopping, reduce spending or just be more mindful about your purchasing might find what I’m learning helpful. 1) Shopping Habits: As expected, I continued to notice during the first few months of not shopping how strong my celebratory … Read More
Reading time ~ 4 minutes Sometimes people in your life have a hard time understanding choices you make. There is a woman I knew, we’ll call her Jill, who was frustrated with a friend of hers, who wasn’t available as often as Jill expected her to be. The friend was happy to hang out with Jill during the day, but every time Jill invited her to dinner or an evening meeting or event, she was turned down. … Read More
Once upon a time… I owned the beautiful antique reed pump organ in these photos*. It was black walnut and oak with intricately carved panels and delicate calligraphy lettering on the red velvet encased stops. It provided a workout when played, because the air forced through it to create sound was produced by pumping its large pedals. It was one of the first antiques my mom purchased back in the 1960’s and it was the first “piano” … Read More
Note: I drafted this piece on creating a simplicity statement back in January 2016 as we were preparing to renovate the smaller home we had recently purchased and expected to move into in April 2016. Having spent a week in a 1000sq ft condo in Kauai this past week, I was reminded I can live with a lot less than I thought was possible. Home for less than 24 hours, my initial urge was to begin … Read More
I think deep down I’ve always tended towards the idea of less being more. I was the kid who actually wanted the smallest bedroom and who loved to declutter and rearrange my mom’s cupboards. I was the college student who thrived within the confines of a dorm room, where life was all about living tiny and having only what you needed and loved. The first home my husband and I purchased, a 600 square foot condo in … Read More
Why Do You Shop? Have you ever thought about why you shop? If not, I urge you to give it some thought. We all shop for different reasons. We shop because we need things like food or shelter. We shop because we want things, like tools to make our lives easier or trendy clothes so we can feel stylish. We may even shop as a means of coping, what some term “retail therapy.” There was a time … Read More
This has always been among my favorite days of the year. The day we turn the clocks back an hour is the day that gives me more of what I value most ~ TIME. At the risk of sounding weird, the old time-starved me always looked forward to this day with the same anticipation as a kid looks forward to Christmas morning. While other people accepted this gifted hour as an opportunity to get some extra sleep, … Read More
We recently started what we hope will be our last round of home renovations. As you know, the first stage of any renovation project is clearing everything out of the spaces being renovated. I’m noticing that clearing out the master bath, guest room and my office is giving me a great opportunity to continue Phase Three of our minimizing process. You may recall that during Phases One and Two my husband and I whittled down our belongings by … Read More