Reduce, declutter and simplify. My new mantra. It began after a conversation with my
charming husband. He was telling me about a book he was reading titled The Power of Less by Leo Babauta. While I am all about books that make me laugh or ones full of beautiful photos (in which I rarely read the text, I know, I know, it's terribly boring of me) my darling husband habitually reads three to five books a month that enrich his life either intellectually, professionally or spiritually. The poor dear, usually when he tries to discuss them with me he can almost see my eyes glaze over or my mind wandering to shallower waters. He's intense that way and what can I say, I'm a simple girl. I guess opposites attract :-)
But his latest read caught me at a good time. Lately I had been feeling very overwhelmed and couldn't put my finger on why exactly. After our conversation it was clear, crystal clear. Stuff. How's that for putting my finger on it? To make a long story short (I see your eyes glazing over!), I have too much stuff needing my daily attention. So much so that I am trying to keep too many plates spinning at once and thus a few are dropping. I have stuff on my metaphorical plates, stuff in my e-mail, stuff on my project list, social media stuff, stuff on my to-do list, stuff on the counter, stuff in the mail, stuff in my truck. All this stuff is in addition to regular mom stuff, which as we all know can be overwhelming all on it's own. But the monkey on my back has been all this extra shop stuff. So I decided it's time to reduce the stuff, declutter the stuff and simplify my life.
My first plan of attack was my Twitter account. It took me all of 1.5 seconds to contemplate the decision. I clicked the "delete my account" button. Did you hear that? Social media experts everywhere all gasping at once? Sorry. It's a "time sucker" for me...had to be done for my sanity and there is real value in that. I can't tell you how good it felt to hit that button! And honestly, how many are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for Tweets? Are you? I'm not either.
Secondly, I took aim at my email inbox. Twenty to thirty "commercial" emails make their way to my inbox every day. After "unsubscribing" to all that I found annoying and repetitive, I have the number down to just two (why don't thier "unsubscribe" links work? hmmmm, I wonder). Next in the email arena is to check it once in the morning and once in the evening. Easy peasy while on vacation but not so much at home. This one will require some weaning.
So, following the web cleansing was my truck, which was full of broken down cardboard for recycling, lamps to go to the repair shop, and a stripped, raw wood table top that is slated to be repurposed as a coffee table, but has been a passenger in my suburban for just under three months now. Oh yes, hundreds of Hall's cough drop wrappers. (Hey, it's cheaper than being addicted to Starbucks!) Next was the garage. It was then I realized I had a Chair-A-Palooza going on and I didn't even know it. I am pretty certain I only put two chairs in my garage at the beginning of winter...come spring there are eleven...what are they, rabbits?
So the "project" chairs are being purged too...one went to the garbage as it took a nasty fall that broke a leg, nine are up for grabs and one is on deck for the Bryn Du show. My unfinished projects/my loss = your gain/your masterpiece = my life simplified. See below for pictures and prices.
I could get used to this simplifying stuff...and I know charming husband likes the emptiness of our garage! Except for that table top right smack in the middle on the workbench. It's okay right? Unless I put another table in there with it, then who knows, will I have eleven tables in a few months? Stay tuned!
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