At church Sunday we were instructed to pull a card containing a word. The word would be our personal word for 2012. We were instructed to not look at the cards before drawing - no picking or choosing your word - this was God's word for you. I was excited to draw a word randomly. What a concept to allow the word to choose me (or be given to me) instead of me conjuring a focus for the year. Fun! I anticipated drawing a word like Create or Gratitude or even Patience, something rather concrete that I'd know right off... Continue reading

Week 1 of my new-and-improved eating habits is complete -- and successful! As I focus on what is Good and Right in 2012, here's a recap of some of the Good and Right in this 1st week of January 2012: Flossed every day Kept a daily food journal Diet soda consumption = 2 2 servings of fish (FYI - Bronte Cafe at JosephBeth in Lexington, KY has the most incredible grilled salmon! I added it to the Pear and Blue Cheese Salad - delicious!!) Tried 2 new veggie recipes: Roasted Beets Mashed Cauliflower Focused on portion control, which allowed me... Continue reading

Here we are again, a mere 363 days since my last post. Once again we meet here at the intersection of old and new, the past and the future, closing the books on one year and planning for the new. I always have been quite the sucker for a fresh start -- filled with possibility and promise. And so here I find myself, once again, pondering the new year and what I will make of the days ahead. As I sat down to reconnect with Melonius Thunk, I re-read my 2011-The Year of Good and Right post. My immediate thoughts... Continue reading

One of the things I miss most about school is the fresh start each new semester would bring. A new schedule, new classes, new teachers, new notebooks, fresh paper . . . all organized and full of promise. So you can imagine the weight I put on the start of a new year. Every year late in December I start thinking about the upcoming New Year. I intend to spend some time reflecting on the year about to pass and planning for the new. For example, I intended to take an inventory of what went well in 2010 -- my... Continue reading

There's an African Proverb that goes something like this: "When the music changes, so does the dance". And isn't that true of our moods, too? There are certain songs that brighten my mood without fail. "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas has topped my list of upbeat feel-good songs for a while now. Recently I added Macy Gray's "Beauty in the World" to the list along with "The Sound of Sunshine" by Michael Franti and Spearhead. And I'll never forget the way I wiggled in my seat the first time I heard Nina Simone's "Funkier than a Mosquito's... Continue reading

[This post is actually from yesterday, May 11, 2010, but I had technical difficulty publishing it then.] I'm procrastinating today. Big Time. And loving every non-productive minute of it! Today my procrastination is showing itself in browsing others' blogs and reading about organizing and productivity. The irony does not escape me! : ) All is not lost on this procrastination effort today! You already know that some of my major clutter issues revolve around magazines. I LOVE magazines. And they pile up quickly.... Check out this post at Chez Larsson about how she organizes her magazines and tear outs. The... Continue reading

I was out of town for a few days and had to take a break from my daily elimination exercises (although I did get rid of a stack of magazines at my grandmother's house yesterday). However, I continue to be one grateful gal! A few of the things I've been grateful for over the last few days: Sunny skies & crisp temperatures. Sunny & 65 is perfection in my book! Having a front-row seat for the Transylvania Boys A Capella concert Wednesday night. What an awesome concert! I met several of these TBA members on the European tour last year.... Continue reading

I haven't really taken a break from my 5x5 goals the last few days, I just haven't managed to blog about it. So I'll do a little catch-up today.... Eliminations: Today I said Good Riddance! to a number of little creatures that have been lurking around and hiding out in my house. Dust bunnies! RIP dust bunnies. You will not be missed! [Out of self respect, I am declining to post photos of said dust bunnies. Use your imagination!] I stumbled across a birthday gift I have not yet delivered. I'm moving that up the list and it'll be outta... Continue reading

What a soggy Sunday! I'm sending love and good vibes to those of you dealing with flooding!!! Today's Project Elimination was all about paper -- and finding the surface of the coffee table! Things I eliminated today: 1. Paper 2. Paper 3. Paper 4. Catalogs 5. Paper I'm testing the shredder's longevity and feeding the recycling bin. Yahoo! May 2 Gratitudes: Today I am grateful for: 1. The scent of my lilac shrub that's in full bloom. It grounds me to the present each time I catch an unexpected waft of the delicious scent. 2. The peace and quiet of... Continue reading

I've decided my May needs a theme. It's the 5th month, Cinco de Mayo, . . . I'm running with the number 5 theme. My plan is (1) to divest myself of 5 things a day that are no longer of practical use to me and/or no longer contributing to my best life and (2) recognize 5 things for which I am grateful each day. Today I eliminated: 1 stack of papers that went into the shredder, 2 vases now in the yard sale pile, 1 basket, also in the yard sale pile, and 1 old, ink-stained coin purse that... Continue reading

A few things that make me happy today: 1. Blue skies 2. Riley & Dusty 3. Pre-Derby buzz 4. Lunch with friends 5. Bricks-and-mortar bookstores 6. Creative thoughts 7. Fresh air 8. Planning vacation 9. Porch swings Happy Thursday to you, too! Continue reading

Today I ran across this guest post on Makeunder My Life: Designing A Life with Intention. The post is from Ann of Glamourshoes and talks about how she designed her life through various stages of her life. As I was reading, it struck me how relevant Ann's process is to where I am in my journey. I'm stuck in that "What do I want to do when I grow up?" question. And what to do about it -- the "Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?" conundrum. One of the basic building blocks boils down to the choice between... Continue reading

I awoke at 7:30 this morning feeling better than I've felt in ages. No alarm - in fact, I did not have a clock in the room - just the sun streaming through the windows. And even though I'd only had maybe 6 hours of sleep at the most, I felt completely rested. Those of you who know me know that waking refreshed is, unfortunately, a very rare occurrence. For years I've suffered from periodic bouts of severe insomnia - difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, fractured sleep . . . . Add to that a severe case of sleep... Continue reading

Have you caught onto my routine yet? Blog a while. Stop. Blog a while. Stop. Repeat. Why do I do it? Why do I inevitably drop off the blogosphere from time to time? It's certainly not for lack of something to say. Actually, the opposite is much more likely -- I have so much to say that I just can't spit it out. So I just stop. For a while. But I eventually return. As I am doing today. So, what's been going on these last few weeks? Well, lots! I cleaned out my closets . . . . .... Continue reading

My friends call it my uniform: black pants and a sweater twin set. The twin sets were the focus of my purge today as I needed something quick and easy to tackle. With their snags, holes, and such, they're not in the best condition. Definitely not fit for donation. And yet they've been hanging in my closet all cozy with my wear-ables. I don't know why it has taken me so long to sort and toss the sweaters . . . . Procrastination I suppose. The stack may not look like much, but it's a good portion of my twin... Continue reading

"Those" Items I'm pondering two openings to this post -- both will wind their way to the same ultimate message about my quest to de-clutter, simplify my life, and purge the items that no longer serve me in functionality, beauty, or joy, in order to make space for the creative joyful life that awaits -- but they get there from different directions. So take your pick! Intro Option 1: If you've read my 25 Random Things note on facebook, you already know that I LOVE art (Random Thing #13) and that an artist's attitude is a major factor in my... Continue reading

Today's SHEDing efforts focused primarily on my kitchen. Here's a sampling of the toss/recycle/donation/yard sale bounty: 1 Popsicle Mold 1 Pair of Old Shoes 2 Candles 2 Jars 3 Empty Wine Bottles 3 Telephone Books 4 Old Mugs --------------------------- 16 items The popsicle mold seemed like a good idea last summer, but I wasn't that fond of the Crystal Light pops. Yes, even the old shoes were in the kitchen. Strange, I know. If my memory serves correctly, I kicked them off beside the refridgerator to dry after a (muddy) trip to the dog park. That was over a year... Continue reading

Do you have a love/hate relationship with the qualities that make you uniquely you? Do you (or have you) ever struggled to fit in and be accepted? Then this post from Charlie over at Productive Flourishing is for you! Charlie's post expresses very eloquently a challenge I am learning many of us have faced -- how to be true to ourselves and embrace our uniqueness while still fitting into the world around us. As many of you know, I am on a journey to reconnect with my soul and discover the career that not only utilizes my unique gifts but... Continue reading

My uber-organized and energetic friend and neighbor, Tara, has been lending her sorting talents to my basement SHED project. We worked together for 1 hour on Wednesday and 1 hour on Thursday and have accomplished more in those 2 hours than I could have imagined possible. All for the cost of a coffee and a bagel at our neighborhood coffee shop, Nancy's Bagel Grounds. You can't beat the price! I've made several trips to the recycling station and I have a massive SHED pile in the basement that is destined for a Spring yard sale and/or charitable donation -- and... Continue reading

Just the other day I read the introduction to Julie Morgenstern's book When Organizing Isn't Enough: SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life and was struck by how directly it applies to me as I continue the journey to whatever lies ahead for me. To wit: "Organizing works when you know where you are going but don't know how to get there. But when you are feeling stuck in your life, when you are in transition and unsure of where you're going next . . . organizing is not enough." ... "When you need or want to change something about your... Continue reading

I'll be the first to admit that I spend way more than 20 minutes per day surfing the net, reading blogs, and watching TV -- that's more than 20 minutes each. Ouch! Today, while reading Ken Roberts's Mildly Creative updates on Facebook, I stumbled upon Michael Nobb's Take the 20 Minutes A Day Challenge. The object of the challenge, as the name suggests, is to pick something you've been wanting or meaning to do and then commit to doing it for 20 minutes a day (or 20 minutes 3 days a week, or whatever frequency you choose). Ohhhh, I could... Continue reading