Who knows when?
I had a client pass away unexpectedly last week.
Sigh…
What an abrupt reminder of who knows when it will happen to any of us.
With the news came a wash of thoughts, emotions and questions.
Two of which I want to share with you, hoping to get you thinking or move you to action.
First, despite condolence cards being one of the most challenging to write and send, (what can one possibly say that doesn’t sound trite, or remind the person of their recent loss) having been on the receiving end; I know it isn’t what people say, it’s knowing that they acknowledge your loss and are offering you kind words or a remembrance of the one who is gone.
So please, the next time someone you know passes away, or someone you know loses someone they care about, send a card. Just a few words, reminding all of us about our heartfelt connections.
Second, coping with the emotions of losing someone is hard. Don’t make the mechanics of it be an addition burden.
“Get your papers in order!”, I say in my bossiest voice.
This is the one area where it’s okay to do things Justin Case.
Decide not only on who is going to take care of the legal end of things, but who will handle the personal tasks and obligations.
Give someone a key to your house, let people know where to find your important papers and documents. Make a list of your bank account numbers.
Figure out who needs to know, and who’d you’d like to know, if something were to happen to you.
Need some help figuring out just what paperwork might be important?
Erin Doland from UnClutterer has this article.
Lynda Schrager’s Caregiver Blog offers this advice.
And here is a Checklist of Documents, Including Forms.
Because we really don’t know when the last time will be when we’ll see someone, or which might be our final conversation, be as kind and loving as possible-in every moment.
Death makes it so obvious that it isn’t about our stuff.
It truly is about our connections.
You get to choose.
Karen
This week’s idea: Ten @ the end.
By choosing to spend ten minutes at the end of your day doing a mini decluttering you can start the next morning in a calm organized space.
A quick putting away of items that have been left out, or set down and forgotten, dishes that didn’t make it to the dishwasher or toys that were abandoned, keeps small messes from becoming big clutter.
On a daily basis putting things in their homes, tossing things in the trash, recycling and letting go of items you don’t need, use or love reinforces the habits and systems of a simple, less cluttered life.
A ten minute evening ritual, involving everyone in the family (its their stuff too) gets everyone in the habit of remembering to ‘Don’t just put it down, put it away’.
By learning and practicing the Two Minute Rule: If you can do something in two minutes or less, do it now; decluttering may not even take ten minutes each evening!
For those of you who work at a desk, it’s a great idea to plan in a five minute desk decluttering at the end of your day also.
Organize the papers, files, notes and projects. Put away the supplies and clear space so that you can start the next day with a clear head in a fresh space.
Spend a few minutes every day and you’ll keep the items of daily living from turning into the nightmare of clutter.
If you want things to change, you have to make different choices.
Karen
What you see.
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.?”
Thomas Merton
Just as we get habituated to the piles and clutter in our homes,
this can happen with the art we have on our walls, the photos on the book shelf and the mementos on our desks.
When we chose to display these various items it was because they had meaning and we felt connected to them and the memories they evoked.
Perhaps it is time to revisit these decorations.
Thoughtfully consider if your taste is the same, the book shelf is over crowded or your mementos have just become dust magnets.
Simply rearranging some items could give new feeling to a room or space.
Or editing a collection down to just a few of the most special items.
Reframing the photos in similar frames would unify the look and draw your attention to the subjects. (Perhaps it is time for updated photos of the people you love and care about?)
We each get to decide what is art in our lives.
The items we hang on our walls, display on our shelves and have homes on our desks should be things that make our hearts happy.
Choose to surround yourself with those items which continue to have meaning, inspire you, remind you, and make you feel at home in your own house and life.
Happy rearranging.
Karen
More space in under ten minutes.
Three things you can do in ten minutes or less to create space in your life.
Remove all the empty hangers from your closet.
Toss the cheap and flimsy ones.
Take ten of the good ones to the laundry room so you’ll be able to
hang items directly from the dryer.
Gain space in your closet without having to try on a thing.
Sort the container of pens on your desk.
Sort the contents.
Remove anything that doesn’t really live there. (I won’t ask how some of that stuff ended up in there…)
Test every pen/pencil.
Throw away the dried up ones, cheap ones, stubby little pencils.
Figure out how many is enough and limit the container to that amount.
Clean out your wallet.
Take out every item, scrap of paper, card, receipt, photograph, fortune cookie fortune.
Toss/recycle the expired, unnecessary, unreadable and irrelevant.
Decide what really needs to live in there. How many credit cards do you need? What id needs to be with you all the time? If you’re keeping receipts-why?
Choose one little project.
Spend a few minutes.
Change the look and feel of one space in your life.
Feel happy.
Choose less to have more.