mahinui in California is doing 23 things including…

Stop holding on to the things that clutter my home and my life

33 cheers

mahinui has written 6 entries about this goal

clothes swap  — 1 week ago

http://www.clothingswap.org/

A couple of weekends ago I went to Suzanne’s swap at a Pinole restaurant.

I mentioned it somewhere on 43 T, but not on this goal, where it belongs.

Your donation pays for lunch and mimosas, and money went to help earthquake victims in China.

You take clothes that are in fine shape but not right for you anymore. I took lots of shoes I wore once, three bags of clothes, and an armload of clothes on hangars. I think I counted over 36 contributions.

I came home with a shirt and a jacket.

It was a fun way to divest. I met some women who live around here. And I’m totally pleased with the results. The clothes that didn’t get picked up on the trade all got donated to a women’s shelter. So it works out fine all around.

procrastination  — 1 week ago

This is what I want to let go of.

Paralytic procrastination.

This is particularly problematic around money matters, and I have no idea why, or when it started.

But if I can be successful in this one thing, it will change my life.

I like plans. So I am devising a plan for this.

It starts with a box. A nice box that I like to look at. Into this nice box goes all mail that should not thrown out. Mainly bills.

Every Saturday morning, first thing, I go to the box, open the mail, and take care of it. Bills are paid, and paid bills go into their drawer and folder.

Plus, a little on line sheet gets updates for tax time.

That is it. Simple, tidy, and I can do this.

Now I am going to get my husband aboard, and this system is a go.

The final step on it will be the to do list at the end of the little on line sheet I keep. When something needs attention, it will be annotated to the list, where I will see it Saturday mornings and make sure I do not keep procrastinating.

out of context?  — 2 months ago

My life is cluttered right now by stress induced discomfort.

Even sickness.

For weeks now I have had a bladder infection. I tried homeopathy, and for the first time in at least a decade, it did not work. So, I went to the MD. Got drugs. Took drugs. They did not work.

I contemplated what this meant. Chronic inflammation? Please say it’s not that!!! Cancer? yikes! I had about made my mind up to go to the acupuncture doctor, and talked it over with my husband.

He thought it might be a good idea to go back to the MD and get some more tests. So reluctantly I went. Turns out this thing I am holding onto is an infection. A resistant infection, and I now have a two fisted Rx that hopefully will knock it out altogether on the first punch. And lots of food supplements I am supposed to be taking.

OK!!! Much better than the alternatives.

So, I am going to let this infection go, and along with it my ideas about what should work. And hope there is a nice ripple effect in the rest of my life.

divesting myself of thoughts that don't work  — 3 months ago

One of the most ludicrous things I do is about this place in Hawaii.

We have a manager who is very good at keeping the place rented out. She has a fondness for it, and suggests it to people who call asking where they should stay. She has a popular website for Hawaii vacation rentals.

But when it comes to taking care of the small stuff, she has her own ways and cannot be shaken loose from them. For example, switches break on lamps. At rentals, people seem particularly harsh on switches. When the switch goes, she retires the lamp.

So horrors, the switch just went on the big signature lamp. If we leave tomorrow and the switch is out, we’ll find the lamp in the shed when we return, the silk shade all moldy & the base corroded. I was on the verge of switching our flight to Sunday, but my sweetie drove a half hour into Hilo to his favorite place the hardware store that stays open late, for a new switch assembly.

And I worked until it got dark planting orchids and ferns and bromeliads.

So here is the “stop holding onto…” part of this.

All the orchids I bought when I was here last and left in the house were dead when we got here. Their pots were shoved into corners of the lanai behind the large ti plant.

So this time, this afternoon, I planted all the new orchids outside in the hapu’u ferns. I am over my sadness that the guests won’t have blooming orchids inside the house, as the view into the garden is now full of orchids in the hapu’u. When you take a shower outside, there are not only anthurium and bromeliads in the giant ferns, but also fragrant orchids.

I have let go of the idea that my manager who keeps the house rented out so it pays for itself should also manage indoor plants. Let her keep her bouquets going, and thanks to my honey who was willing to drive an extra hour after we already spent several hours on the road today, the lovely lamp will still be working tomorrow.

at last  — 10 months ago

I tackled the closet this morning.

So you will all know I am not being a deliberate slacker, this is all done while standing on one foot. So I did not finish.

However, I removed and folded seven slacks, two casual pants, four skirts, six dresses, two shorts, and six blouses. When my honey returns from his day, all that is needed is to slide them into bags and take them to Goodwill.

Afterward, I massaged my double duty doing left foot with olivina cream and slipped it into a nice furry tall boot, just to say thanks.

now to do it  — 10 months ago

or begin to do it

My goal for today will be to fill one kitchen bag with stuff from my closet, for donation.

mahinui has gotten 33 cheers on this goal.

 

I want to: