Substance of Living

Minimalist Wardrobe When did my closet become no longer a place of respect for dresses, pants, shoes, tops, and become a dumping ground?  Somewhere along the line, I became a hoarder of clothes. It is time to finish the 7-7-7 Challenge and start it anew.  Hard earned money purchased all those items that are now sitting in my closet.  Seriously, with our move last year, I'd hoped to have completed this challenge. Thankfully there is still time in the year to act on this year's word - RELEASE . Not that I've mistreated my clothes, that's not it at all.  I don't wear them and that is neglect.  Every couple years it seems as though my tastes and lifestyle changes and yet clothes of the past remain.  That's not fair to the clothes. Do you still respect and love your clothes from two or more years ago?  Are they still your favorite go-to?  Does that dress that used to make you feel so slim, beautiful, and sexy still make you feel that...

I belong to a sewing group that is comprised of amazing women.  I joined the group last year but the ladies have been together for about five or six years. The sewing group is called "Sew Much Fun" .  We get together twice a month for about two hours at a time and create projects for charity.  All the fabric and notions have been donated by local businesses and people in the area cleaning out their fabric stashes. Everything we make goes to charity in one form or another.  We make items to sell at a craft fair each year and are able to give money to charities through the sales.  We also make items specifically for charities such as book bags for the library and senior center, duffel bags for children having to leave their homes, and pillow cases for the children's home. Another lady takes all our scrap fabric and makes dog beds for the local animal shelters.  Nothing goes to waste. This month we are making pillowcases, book bags, and finishing up pr...

Stuff is sticky .  I don't think I'm hoarder but I've certainly been known to collect things.  Now, I'm in the process of downsizing and simplifying. I've assigned sentimental value to my collections.  This , I received for my 20th birthday; This , I bought while visiting Texas, This , oh my goodness, I can't get rid of this - this was found on the trail while hiking on a break during a bike ride.  The memories are there every time I look at an item. What I've found over the past few months is that the memories are still with me.  I don't need the stuff to keep the memories alive.  In fact, some of the memories are allowed to slip away if they so choose. Some items were sold on Craigslist , word-of-mouth, or through a moving sale.  The majority, however, were donated to local charities .  Then some of the things were passed along to family, friends, or neighbors. Initially, the thought of having to get rid of things fo...

You've probably heard about people who have so much money that no matter how much they spend, they will never out-spend their worth.  Well, that is what we're going to work towards here.  Dedication and belief  will allow the energy of Feng Shui and the power of the Law of Attraction to escalate your wealth. There have been many books and articles written about Feng Shui and the Law of Attraction.  We are going to concentrate on Feng Shui today.  It's such an allusive thing; talking about energy and the placement of certain things throughout the house or office.  Let me see if I can help make sense of it without being too esoteric. I like to think of Feng Shui as a harmonious balance.  I've been decorating my homes with Feng Shui for over 12 years.  Have you ever walked into a beautiful room and felt afraid to touch something for fear it would be wrong?  Or walk into a store or business front and have the feeling that you need to le...

Earlier this year DH and I decided it was time for us to put down some roots and leave the highways to someone else.  We've sold all our toys, had a beautiful home built, and now in the process of moving.  In fact, we've been "moving in" for about a month now and still have two storage units of stuff and need to figure out where we are going to put everything. Originally, about 10 years ago, we put our belongings in storage until we figured out where we wanted to live.  We kept out the necessities and moved from city to city.  We thought it might take a year or so.  In fact, some moves lasted a few years while other moves were only a couple months.  We like to call the latter moves "vacations". Here is what we knew we wanted once we settled down: Park-like setting Community involvement Great neighbors Close to the city, hospitals, shopping, dining, etc. Far enough away from everything and the traffic to feel a sense of calm The list goes on....

I am a self-proclaimed candle fanatic!  I even went out and bought one of those candle warmers that you can plug in and set a candle on it.  Candles last soooo much longer and no smoke or soot. I know, good quality candles don't give off much smoke or soot.  But, sometimes, a fruity or ocean breeze scented candle makes its way into my basket at the store.  How does that happen?  lol These candles, however, were burned down to the metal wick holder so I had to melt them down, enjoying the scent from the candle warmer thingamajig.  If I'd gone out and purchased wicks, I'd be able to keep the candles and burn them in their "new" containers.  This is something I might have done if I didn't already have too many candles as well as the upcoming move. The super neat jars get recycled to hold other items throughout the house.  There's one that holds pens, one that keeps loose change, one on the vanity to hold jewelry.  Are you seeing my di...

I broke the bank today with all the items.  Man, I was on some kind of roll and kept finding more and more things!  I don't know.  Does that ever happen to you? There are some hidden gems in today's pile of goodies. Today's 7-7-7 Challenge items consist of, but not inclusive: Shape-able Straw Hat To-Go Coffee Mugs Deep-Sea Dive Flashlight Flower-Drying Crystals Traveling CD Cover Bible Books We thought that with everything we were donating, a Bible might be something someone out there is needing at this very moment. I'm not really sure if there is method to today's pile of items that were donated to our local charity but it was a lot of fun.  I felt really light when DH suggested that we add the Bible.  Isn't that totally cool of him?  Now, why didn't I think of that?  lol I feel so inspired about today's efforts that I'm going to make some healthy granola bars! P.S.,  How did you do today?  Whether you came up wi...

Please forgive me for breaking the rules yet again.  Instead of seven individual items, I've collected seven piles. I'm one of those people who does not know the meaning of MODERATION .  I try, I really do!  My excuse for not stopping with seven items today is that DH and I are closing on our new home in a few short weeks!!!  That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it... Today's 7-7-7 Challenge consists of (by piles): Hangers Books 35 Millimeter Camera, Lenses, and Case To-Go Coffee Mugs Seat Cushions Flight Manuals Instructional Books Instructional books are different than novel type books, right?  These items were all donated to our local charity. We're getting closer to simplifying our life and yet it seems as though we have miles to go.  There are still five more months of this challenge after these seven days are over.  I'm confident we will reach the finish line. How do you stay focused on your long-term goals?  How is ...

  Remember when you were first starting out and you had nothing?  I remember one time after moving into my first apartment (on my own), went grocery shopping buying all the things I could hear (in my head) my mother telling me I needed.  Came home, put it all away.  Very grown up. Then I got hungry. Going into the kitchen, grabbing a can of soup, pulling out a pan, and opening the drawer to where the can opener would have been if I were in my mother's kitchen and NOTHING!  I was in my kitchen and didn't have a can opener to even eat some soup.  Today, a lot of soup cans have pull tabs and this wouldn't have been such an issue.  No such luck. Today, I have more items than I know what to do with.  How did I accumulate so much stuff?  When did life happen?  I'm still in my planning stages! DH and I have this philosophy about life and that every now and then we must re-invent ourselves.   Our newest re-invention is t...

Ever think that your contribution doesn't really matter since you are only one person?  One vote?  Think of all the changes one person at a time has made over the years.  One person sat in front of a building, one person took public transportation, one person had a dream, one person fought for gorillas, one person has made the difference. Although organizations are made up of many people, it is each person being involved that makes the collective voice.  Here are five of my favorite websites that are changing the world one person at a time. ASPCA Change.org Caring.com PETA American Sewing Guild What are your favorite charitable websites?  What cause are you passionate about?  Do you think schools should offer gluten-free lunches?  Should companies pay for your parking or subsidize your public transportation to help alleviate the strain on the rising price of gasoline or reduce the amount of cars on the road every day? Leave your c...

"Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world." -- George Bernard Shaw Choose any five (5) days a week to do the following projects.  Try to do at least two items a day and to ensure that they are done, schedule them in your calendar.  Over a month's time, everything should have been done at least once, if not more often.  Some items won't be done at all due to the time of year. I have not scheduled the amount of time each task will take because the size of rooms, number of people in a house, etc.  The first time you do each task mark down how long it took so that you know approximately how long it will take next time.  You will probably find that each task will end up taking a little less time as you get better organized.  You might be able to complete a load of laundry in while you clean the tub, sink, toilet, and floor! Clean out the refrigerator while you're getting dinner ready or or...

I almost had a theme going until the shorts and blouse were added.  Hey!  Maybe that's how I should think about going through the challenge.  Choose a theme or color for the day.  That's what I'll do on the days I'm "not finding a thing" to purge.  :-) Today's Items: Purse Crochet Rug I made a few years ago Silk Blouse 2 Candle Jars Basket and Fruit Running Shoes Red/Purple Paper Hat These would make for great garage sale items or maybe I should have considered a consignment shop.  Instead, I donated them to a local charity.  Donating seems to make me feel good inside.  Like I'm paying forward some good karma. I enjoy shopping in consignment shops and have found beautiful dresses, furniture, and other items.  The nice thing about consignment shops is that depending on the location or their boutique status, you will only find very nice items.  There won't be any holes or dings unlike a charitable shop.  Both hav...