I am inviting you to take a weekly journey with me called Picture My Memories. The idea is for us to take pictures of stuff that we own and creatively share the memories associated with that item. Some of you may want to do this to get rid of clutter and others may want to create an archive of some of your most precious possessions but the idea is to capture those memories!
Every Friday night, starting this Friday, at 10pm central time I will post my picture and memory or feature a creative way a reader shared theirs. Then I will include a place for you to link to your posts sharing your memories. This is a great activity for creating a journal of memories to pass down to others. For the complete guidelines click here!
I recently wrote about ways we can can reduce sentimental clutter by photographing our memories. I think a majority of us hold on to stuff because we are attached to the memory not the item. I shared how I took a picture of the outfit I wore on the first date with my husband and then donated the clothes because they were no longer worn for the last 6 years! Laura shared how she let go of her stuffie but held on to the memory by taking a picture and creating a sign that said “I love my brother!”
I also mentioned the importance of documenting these memories even if we don’t want to get rid of them. Have you thought about the things that you might lose if you had a flood or fire? Wouldn’t it be nice to at least have a picture of the item and a description of the memory attached to it?
Wouldn’t it be nice to not just pass on STUFF to our loved ones but the memories that go with them? What good is passing on Great-Grandma’s tea set unless you tell the recipient that she loved to have tea at exactly 10 every morning and when you were visiting you had a tea party and how much that meant to you. See, without the memories it is just STUFF. We need to share those little tid-bits of info about our lives!
So, will you join me this weekend in documenting our memories?
Will you be participating to try to get rid of some sentimental clutter?
Or, are you wanting to preserve memories in case of a natural disaster?
Please help spread the word, the more the merrier, we can inspire each other!
So, your house is disorganized and you are ready to get your act together. The first problem you realize is that you are unsure of where to start or what needs to be organized. Here is an activity that will help you create an organizing project list…
Put on a New Pair of Eyes
I suggest putting on new pair of eyes. I know that sounds a bit weird, but this is an activity you can have fun with. I want you to pretend you are a neighbor and you just got invited over by yourself for the first time. Oh, and guess what, you are a REALLY Nosy Neighbor. For the next hour or two forget this is your house, forget the overwhelm of getting organized, forget your to do’s and for once pretend you are a stranger to your house.
Start at the Front Door
You are now a Nosy Neighbor with a notebook in hand. You are nosy and have nothing better to do so you are going to start poking around. You walk in the front door and immediately trip over a shoe and think, “Wow were these people raised in a barn? I would at least put a basket next to the door to corral the shoes.”
It is Time to be Critical
As you walk through the house write down organization problems you notice and possible solutions that YOU would implement IF you were the one living there. Remember you are just a REALLY Nosy Neighbor. Be critical.
Work Your Way Through the House
Next you notice there are clothes waiting to be folded strewn over a chair. You make a note to check out the laundry room, maybe the folding could happen in there. You open cabinet after cabinet and find things a little disarray, mostly stuff these people probably don’t even use, you know you wouldn’t. After all you are just a REALLY Nosy Neighbor that has no emotional attachment to this stuff.
Next you swing by the pantry and notice that it is cluttered with some odd varieties of junk food, you think to yourself, “Maybe that is why my neighbor has put on a few pounds lately. She would really feel so much better if she didn’t eat this junk.” After all you are just a REALLY Nosy Neighbor that doesn’t crave those types of things.
Think of Creative Solutions
As you walk through the house the list grows quite lengthy and you have come up with quite a few solutions. Your view is unbiased, you are not thinking about how long organizing will take or how to get started you are just being a REALLY Nosy Neighbor doing what nosy neighbors do. Picking issues apart and solving them in your head.
Get the Kids Involved
Now if you really want to have some fun have your Nosy kids play along as well, but beware of the REALLY honest views they will give you. Only ask if you are ready to hear what they REALLY think about their house.
By the time this activity is complete you will have a list of every room and every organizational challenge you want to tackle as well as a few great solutions without the fuss, or the overwhelm. Allow yourself to take a look at your situation through another person’s eyes.
So how about it Nosy Neighbor, go take a look right inside the front door, what is the first thing you notice?
Over the past three Sundays I have been leading a small class on organizing. My original intention was to just use a bible study format and teach from a book but the class has evolved into its own thing. The discussions have been amazing and I am learning just as much if not more from the people in the class. I am so moved and inspired when I hear their stories each week telling me about a new organizing challenge they tackled.
I have always been honest here on my blog and this is one of those moments. When it comes to leading a class, at times I feel ill equipped especially when there is an age gap between myself and those that I am teaching. But then I remember that everyone deals with their own type of clutter. No matter how young or old you are you can always use a little inspiration and motivation and that is what I am trying to do. I am trying to give people the push they need in the right direction and equip them with tools and resources they need to succeed in their journey. Each time I have a class, speaking engagement or client I am reassured that I am doing what I was meant to do and that is such a wonderful feeling. Even though I walk in nervous, I walk out completely blessed!
This week instead of my regular Monday’s Motivation I wanted to share a couple of lyrics from Shaun Groves song title Welcome Home. After last nights class I got an email from one of the attendees saying this song came on while he was on his way home. You can listen to it here.
Chorus:
Come inside this
Heart of mine it’s
Not my own
Make it home
Come and take this
Heart and make it
All Your own
Welcome home
Take a seat, pull up a chair
Forgive me for the disrepair
And the souvenirs from floor to ceiling
Gathered on my search for meaning
Every closet’s filled with clutter
Messes yet to be discovered
I’m overwhelmed, I understand
I can’t make this place all that You can
In this class one thing we keep going back to and can totally agree on is that clutter just takes up an overwhelming amount of time and energy. The stuff ends up taking an emotional toll on us and also fills our minds. What if we harnessed all of that energy and just did something good with it instead of dwelling on the stuff that hinders us!
Is clutter taking up valuable space in your heart?
Amongst the clutter where does God fit in? Where do the people that mean the most fit in?
Shaun Groves is on a Compassion trip to Kenya right now with Kristen, an amazing blogger I have met in real life and a few others. Read along with them as they blog during their trip and please keep them in your prayers for safe journeys.
If you’re like me you’re more than ready for a beautiful sunny day to get outdoors and work in the garden. Those days have been few and far between so far this year but spring is coming! It could be quicker but it will get here. This time of year I find myself very busy with garden preparation.
Once I finally get to work in the garden here is what I do to get my garden ready:
I cut back dead foliage of perennials and ornamental grasses. I usually leave the foliage on through the winter to help protect the crown of the plant. The extra layers of foliage provide a buffer from the cold temperatures. The ornamental grasses can be cut back to 4-6 inches depending on the size of the plant (The picture to the right is Miscanthus sinensis or Zebra grass). Use the old foliage in your compost bin or as a layer of straw mulch in the vegetable garden. Just be sure there aren’t any unwanted seed heads left or you may end up with switchgrass and tomatoes.- I build new raised beds. Every year I seem to put together a new raised bed or two. A simple raised bed can be pieced together using non-pressure treated lumber (ideally cedar). Don’t make them any wider than 3-4 feet so that I can reach the middle for weeding and harvesting. (I mentioned raised beds in my last post but they are so great for your vegetable garden that they are worth a second mention!)
- I’ve already planted a few seeds in the garden at this point. Spinach, chard, and sugar snap peas were planted over a week ago. Very soon I’ll plant lettuce, radishes and beets.
- I’ll mulch planting beds. I picked up a few bales of pine straw to use on some beds. Pine straw is light, easy to spread, and cheap! I’ll still use hardwood mulch on several areas but the pine straw will help me reduce my budget just a little and I like the look.
- I’m still planning new things and starting new planting beds. My most recent bed was planted with cuttings from my Russian sage. Sometimes they will root just by sticking a piece of the stem into the ground – things don’t get much easier than that! I planted a slope with the cuttings in the hopes that the area won’t need to be mowed in the future. I’m also planning two new beds outside of the vegetable garden for blueberry plants.
- Which brings me to number six! Now is a great time to plant dormant plants. Fruit trees and blueberry bushes are on my agenda but many other shrubs and trees can also be planted now.
What have you done in your garden to get ready for spring?
