KarenJane
The Perfect Holiday
“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” Voltaire
The tree,
the house decorations,
the gift for your mother-in-law,
your contribution to the pot luck,
the hostess gift,
your child’s behavior,
the Christmas letter,
______________fill in the blank.
Often we wait to do something until we can do or be it perfectly, and we never take action.
We have expectations of ourselves or others that can rarely be met, are unreasonable and unnecessary.
This time of year it is especially important to not get caught in the trap of trying to create the perfect Holiday.
Having to find the perfect gift, wanting each gift to be wrapped perfectly, hoping your contribution to the pot luck will be fabulous, baking each cookie to perfection, hanging every ornament in your collection, or expecting family and friends to accommodate your schedule and expectations.
This Season be happy with Good.
Let go of your expectations and feel your contentment and joy rise.
See the Good-ness in others.
Feel the Good-ness in yourself.
“Beauty is the shadow of imperfection.” Simon Van Booy
Be Beautiful.
Karen
Ditch the box.
| Forget the gift in the box this year. Give them an experience instead. Why? People will remember them.
They build stronger relationships.
They are fun and often funny.
They get you out of the house, off the device and into the world around you.
They can support the Arts, artists, local businesses, good and worthy causes.
They extend the Season into the New Year.
They don’t contribute ‘stuff’ to other people’s houses.
(When was the last time you did something for the first time?)
Need some ideas?
Give a gift that creates time to be together.
Give presence this year….. Be Merry and Bright! www.LifeUnstuffed.com
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It’s Hard.
“It is hard, so terribly hard, to please yourself. Far from being the easy thing that it sounds like, it is almost the hardest thing in the world, because we are not always comfortable with that true self that lies deep with in us.” Christopher Alexander
As the pace of the Holiday season quickens and you feel yourself doing many shoulds, have tos, obligations or guilt induced activities; pause.
Ask yourself what’s seasonal clutter?
What parts of the festivities do you truly enjoy?
Who do you want to make time to be with?
What activity, celebration, ritual really fills you with joy and wonder?
There is no correct answer for everyone.
Just the answers that resonate with you.
Ignore the din of voices in your head: The consumer media messages, the Perfect Family script, the whisper of messy craft projects, the rumbling of finding the perfect gift-for everyone.
Take a moment and consider what would really really please you this December?
Yes, that first thought that popped into your head.
Only you know what’s really true for you.
Go ahead, please yourself.
Everything else is just clutter.
No apologies, explanations, justifications.
Hold sacred space in your life for your truest self.
Karen
Grateful actions.
Be grateful.
Say thank you.
Give praise.
Be generous.
Respond with kindness.
Let someone else win.
Just listen.
Bite your tongue. (if necessary)
Look for the humor.
Believe you have enough.
Thank you.
Karen
A new kind of Gift Exchange
It’s that time of year when family, friends, or co workers decide to arrange for this year’s Holiday Gift Exchange. (I hear some of you groaning)
Last year friends of mine at Martingale participated in an exchange that proved to be fun for the staff and provide toys to less fortunate kids.
(And didn’t end up creating more ‘stuff’ in everyone’s office or home)
Co workers names were exchanged. The participants then bought a toy or a game for the person that they thought reflected their personality/interests/idea of fun.
The gifts were wrapped, tagged and exchanged during the Staff Holiday Luncheon.
People laughed, a lot. They got to be kids again, delighting in opening up toys and games. People reminisced about playing with certain toys as kids. People were charmed and delighted by how their co workers gifts reflected their interests and quirks. Did I mention they laughed?
After the presents were all unwrapped, the toys were donated to a charitable organization that distributed the gifts to kids.
I loved hearing about this idea.
(Almost makes me wish I worked in an office!)
I thought it captured many of the best parts of gift giving: Imagination, fun, knowledge of the recipient, anticipation of their reaction, and being generous.
And the gifts got to be unwrapped and delighted over twice! How fun is that?
Choose to make gift giving fun.
Karen
Rich!
“He who knows he has enough is rich.” Lao-tzu
We each get to decide how much will make us rich.
If six pairs of back jeans makes you feel rich, you don’t need to buy a seventh pair.
If four is enough, give two pair away.
Relationships, time, money, art, books, adventures; you choose how much is enough.
Your time, energy and attention are limited, so your actions and choices reflect what you value.
The more clear you are about what’s important to you, the easier it will be to have a richer life.
Who do you want to spend your time with?
What kinds of activities engage your head and heart?
Which things create an atmosphere of richness in your home?
Make conscious decisions about how much is enough.
(Ten of one thing isn’t ten times as good as one.
It’s just one thing, ten times over.)
It is your choice how rich your life will be.
You decide how much is enough.
Choose wisely.
Karen
Pesky precarious piles.
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Pick a pile.
Chances are somewhere in your house there’s a pile.
Perhaps several!
Mail, clothes, magazines, folded laundry, books, empty dvd cases, newspapers, dishes.
Choose one of the piles.
Before you dig in, and start sorting and rearranging; consider what caused it in the first place.
Were you in a hurry and tossed things there thinking you’d deal with it later?
Did you get distracted in the middle of a project?
Was the storage place for the item too far away from where you used it?
Did you lay something on the pile so you’d know where it was, only for it to get buried beneath other things you were leaving out as reminders?
Do you not have an effect system for dealing with things you encounter on a daily basis?
If you want to eliminate the pile it on, pile falls over, pile finally gets dealt withscenario, you need to change the habits behind the actions.
Not as daunting as it may at first seem. Really.
The most important habit you can develop is to pay attention.
Don’t be so fixated or distracted by the next thing you have to do that you ignore what’s in front of you.
Dealing with items one time, while you have them in your hand, beats having to come back later, rummage around for where you hurriedly dropped it, or deal with a falling over/slid to the floor pile.
Have homes for things in the rooms where you actually use them.
If you read in the bedroom, have a bookcase in there.
If you take off your robe in the bathroom, have a hook on the door so it doesn’t end up piled on a chair.
Figure out where you drop the mail on your way in and create a simple, easy to follow system for dealing with it, right then, right there.
Be honest with yourself-do you really need to have the newspaper delivered every day? How many unopened issues of a magazine are in the pile?
Are you ever going to take that pile of clothes to the consignment store?
Stop the piles before they start by:
Paying attention. Be present in this moment.
Use the Two Minute Rule.
Close the circle. (Take it out. Use it. Put it away)
Set up and use simple systems.
Okay, now go and deal with one of those pesky piles!
Your life, your choices, your results.
Karen
www.LifeUnstuffed.com
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Outdoor clutter. Before and after.
Before
After
Okay, this is a whole other kind of sorting, prioritizing and organizing…
In truth, it was just a chance to Go Outside and Play!
I invite you to take time for Play-however you define it…..
It’s your life, your choices.
Karen
Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy and the documentary Rivers and Tides.
A feat for your feet.
The change in seasons means a change in wardrobe.
Sandals move to the back of the closet, shoes and boots move to the front.
With that comes daily visits to the sock drawer.
What a great opportunity to do some sock wrangling, sorting and purging.
I know you’ve all been practicing
Decluttering Rule #5: Make your bed everyday.
So, spill the contents of your sock drawer onto the bed and let’s have some fun!
Have a trash container and a donation bag standing by.
Start by tossing all the single socks in a pile.
Next, grab all the pairs you know are too big, too small, too baggy, too tight, too ugly.
Add any of them that still show promise to the donation bag.
Toss the rest.
(Remember to only donate items that are clean and in good condition)
Now, ask yourself, “How many is enough?”
(Dressy socks, athletic socks, fun or themed socks)
Decide on a number or a spatial amount.
The drawer one pair deep, so all the socks are visible when you open the drawer with a bit of room still available, is a reasonable goal.
With your limit in mind, sort through the remaining socks; choosing your absolute favorites, until you reach the number (or you’ve filled the space).
If among the orphan socks you sorted out at the beginning there is a favorite, and you think its mate is in the current laundry, set that sock aside.
If its mate fails to appear at the end of the laundry cycle, send it on to One Sock Heaven.
(And no, I don’t know where all those single socks hide)
Take the bag of trash socks and throw it away, put the bag of donate socks into your car so you’ll actually give it away.
Open and close the newly organized sock drawer a couple times just to bask in the glow of a task completed. And know that now, every sock in the drawer fits, has a mate and will give you happy feet while you have them on.
(No more exploding drawer when you try to open it, or trying to stuff just one more pair in before four jump out!)
Oh, and if the laundry chore of sock matching, folding, pairing up is too tedious or frustrating for you, here’s an idea to simplify it:
Get rid of all the socks you now own.
Buy a multi pack of white socks and a multi pack of black socks.
When these socks come out of the dryer, toss them into your sock drawer.
Grab two whites or two blacks when you get dressed. You’ll always have a matching pair.
In a year or so, toss all the socks, buy two more packs and start again.
Organizing your sock drawer is a ‘little bite’ out of the big project of decluttering and organizing your home. Spending a small amount of concentrated time now will reward you in the future.
And you’ll be able to find your special Halloween socks, now, instead of in December!
Today the socks, tomorrow?
Karen
Knowing all the answers…..
You are not here to judge or know all the answers.
You are here to be the creative conduit of heaven and earth, as Chinese Medicine likes to say, and dance with the great mystery of life.
When you feel the pure wonder of the inner and outer realms coursing equally through your own veins, and experience your life as a series of joyful learning experiences, you are fully embodying your true nature.
You become a cascade of gratitude, a font of appreciation for the majesty of life pouring through you. Terah Kathryn Collins
Dance with a joyful heart….
Karen