simplify, simplify, simplify

I have reduced and reduced and reduced and yet I still have a ton of sh*t. All the little knick knacks and crap really add up. The goal, really, is not to get rid of it all, but to have a place for it. It would be cool to NOT have tons of stuff in storage.

It’s a process more than anything and I am doing it. Even the paperwork is getting reduced. 19 months ago

Tons of the stuff went to consignment last week ( since it was so ugly, they offered to take it and not charge me for the transportation, which was fine. ) A few things went to friends, a bunch got thrown away and a bit is coming back here to be sorted through and then given away or disposed of.

That will be one less thing to worry about and $73.00/mo I no longer have to spend. 2 years ago

Next will be to get the stuff from the storage unit moved into the basement. After that, I can start going through it. I will keep a dresser for Indhira and probably grab the bunkbeds to put where needed. If we move, Allie wants to share a room with Indhira but I will need a crib for her.

I will grab a few keepsakes for Indhira and the rest for Traci’s kids, but the rest is going to go to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. 2 years ago

Ever since I started to recycle ( which was years ago now ) my trash output has certainly dropped. I did not realize just how much, though, until I started to keep track. On the 14th, I brought two bags to the recycling center. 10 days later, I have one bag ready to be taken out of the kitchen. If that is my average, then I am only producing three bags of trash per month. The recycling center charges 75 cents a bag. So, given that there will be heavier months, we can assume an average of four bags per month or $3.00 per month to throw away my non-recyclable trash.

I used to pay $42.00 per month for curbside pickup.

And once I get something to start composting with, the amount will drop even more. I do try to look at everything with a critical eye when I buy it. How cool would it be to bring it down to 1 bag per month? 2 years ago

So .. I had a huge folder ( 85 gigs worth ) of data that needed to be sorted. I also had a huge archive of files I had downloaded and wanted to save. Vrrrrmmmmppp! 90% of it is now gone. The music files are almost sorted as well.

Everyday, I see new ways to trim the fat in my life. I went through the kitchen utensil drawer and removed the stuff I rarely used. Now, it is so easy to find what I am looking for and it all fits.

For me, I feel best when life flows. If I can walk easily through my house and not have to dodge around things, if I can find what I am looking for easily, if I pay the bills when they come in ( that is the new challenge, more to pay than I have coming in right now ).

Removing things from my view that I don’t need to be looking at. Visual and other distractions need to go. In my home, only the things I actually need and/or value. So much that really means so little to me but that has been reduced by so much.

I see areas on the walls where movie posters and other artwork can go, and that is huge to me.

My goal, is for everything to have a place, get rid of all the paperwork and other clutter, know where it is when I need to find it.

Not such a difficult goal, is it? 2 years ago

The house has been stripped of all that is unnecessary. The basement is almost done. A few more trips to the recycle center and that is finished. I don’t look at my house and see clutter anymore, my mind is mostly free of distractions. Most of the people who clutter my life ( that is, the unsupportive and negative ) have been removed or their access to me has been limited ). I watch very little TV and read more. I’ve started to make friends with the right types of people and rekindled friendships I should have never let go.

There will always be more I can do. I still ache to only fill my car once a week. I still need to get in more walking and exercise. There are more meals to learn how to cook ( I have to break my fear of chicken ).

But really, it’s all pretty simple.

I’ll be closing this goal soon.

Oh! and dare I mention that I still have not eaten at mcdonalds? Almost two whole months. I don’t even miss it. In fact, I did go to BK a week or so ago and hated it!

And I love clementines! 2 years ago

Last week I organized the basement to some extent. It has been restacked but we still need to go through all the boxes and chuck the chuckables.

I’m gonna bring the kids down in a bit to make some headway on that.

I can look around this apartment and I feel like there is nothing in there that doesn’t need to be in here.

Life is so much easier these days without all the junk overpowering my senses. Still working on the less material blockages in my life, but by getting rid of the stuff, I find the mental stuff flows easier too. 3 years ago

The basement, which is another goal, is in even better shape. Traci gave me permission to get rid of the old chair which I will do this weekend.

Went shopping and got a lot for only 2/3 of what I had budgeted.

No McDonald’s in close to a month.

Only one coke in all that time.

The bank account is so much easier to read without a ton of nickel and dime purchases.

So nice. 3 years ago

At least since I spent money on fast food. I think it’s been longer because it was ten days ago it posted to my bank account.

I’m all kinds of excited. I wonder, all those days without McDonald’s … Is that why I am feeling so much better right now? 3 years ago

This is going to be my year. It is already happening and I find that simplifying is going to become a lifestyle and an internal way of being. I can’t think of how many times in the past week I have wanted to stop to get a coffee, only to change my mind. $1.65 per cup is not much, but $4.00 gets me a can of grounds and how many cups do I get out of that in comparison. Yeah, this way I don’t get to see the cute waitress, but honestly, that is part of my simplification as well.

No McDonald’s in the past few weeks. I’ve brought food with me on the road. Paperwork has either been scrapped or organized. Pared down. All in one drawer.

Invoices are being printed and mailed the day I do the work.

I have made bread and am learning how to cook.

I spend more time with the kids.

Money is still tight, but I am paring down my needs in order to fit in. There is a sense of freedom in not needing things that I thought I used to need. I came across a list of wants today that I had written up years ago. Not one thing on the list did I still want.

For Christmas, the kids asked me what I wanted. I couldn’t think of anything. Not one thing. So they got me drawing supplies. It was perfect.

Just more of a sense of freedom in getting rid of the stuff.

It feels good. I feel more light. More free. And I also feel like I have more power. Odd, huh? 3 years ago

simple pleasures for me:

holding my son’s hand while we walk to the car in the morning. buying the pretty stamps instead of the plain old stamps with the flag on them. watching the squirrels scamper across the lawn in the morning to chase the chipmunk that lives in the railroad tie lining my garden. black & while photos of my children as babies. sidewalk chalk pictures. patches sewn on to my backpack from junior high. the velveteen rabbit. ritz crackers with cheese slices. iced tea. a birthday card mailed to me from my grandparents- they always put confetti in the envelope for me. finding a penny heads up. mr. sketch scented markers. my favorite Gap blue jeans…they are a size 2 & that is amazingly blissful to me. james taylor songs. pepperoni pizza. going to the zoo & having a picnic. swings at the park. seeing a full moon.

lately i have a new found comfort in compiling lists of things that makeme happy or things that are important to me. i am not sur eif this is me taking stock in my life since the adoption or if i am just taking the opportunity to remind myself that life truly is simple & phenomenal all at once. i am so lucky to have all the people in mylife that I have, all the privileges that have come my way & most importantly each day that has been given and those yet to come…life itself is a simple pleasure. 3 years ago

I made 24 cards by hand this year, and bought another 15 but also “fiddled” with those to make them more personal. Grand stuff, and I’m really proud of how they’ve turned out and the effort I’ve put in, but there is no telling as to the amount of time which goes into this. Incredible. Finding a poem (‘cause I want something meaningful on there), finding ideas for a design, fiddling around with that for weeks, buying all the supplies I need, starting making them, then writing them, then finding all the addresses, putting stamps on, ... Seems like I’ve been doing nothing but this for the better part of a month. And some people really appreciate this, but I also know some who just chuck this in the bin come early January.
So next year: I buy the cards, I am allowed to add something simple (stamped, or glued) and can still add a poem, but will only make them from scratch for my parents, sister, grandparents and perhaps one friend who even frames them! That’s it. Promise :-) 4 years ago

I finally took down all the little post-it notes and such from my walls, stowed the extra never-going-to-use-it-but-i-have-to-keep-it-just-in-case junk in the closet out of sight. Feels better! 5 years ago

For years I have used things , having things as a way to insulate myself from feeling.
The casual amusement and distraction of shopping second hand was way beyond any personal need for economy. It was a drug, to get me out of feeling anxious, or to buy something that would make me more attractive to other people.
I ended up being all dressed up with no where to go, because I was afraid to reach out to others, and be a true friend… Lets do lunch some time…
Mouthing the idea of helping, and not showing up.
Now I am ready to unburden myself of things, and make room more room for people. Extend myself.
Care, love, empathise, support like never before. 5 years ago

And yet, people call for you being “complex” and “profound” and “meaningful” and whataver the standard is these days. 6 years ago

Quite another in practice.

Simplify, organize and prioritize.

How much smoother will my life become as I put this into practice? 6 years ago