One is Enough

This concept just hit me the other day: one is enough. There is no need to stock up on multiple items of clothing, shoes or electronics. One is all you can use at one time. Even though you have two ears, two eyes and two hands, you can only listen to, read and type one thing at a time. You can only drive one car at a time, you can only ride one bike. This idea has freed up a lot of mind clutter, and the desire to stock up on items that I will eventually forget I've stocked up.


Photo courtesy of [Mrs. Logic/Flickr]

Disasters and Our Stuff

It seems there have been numerous disasters hitting our world this year: the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the Alabama tornadoes and now the Mississippi flooding. When faced with these types of disasters, whether we are in them or watching them on the news, we wonder how we would react to an act of nature destroying our lives and worldly possessions.

I was recently watching a documentary on the Katrina disaster and I wondered about the people who chose to stay in the city even after being warned about the hurricane's strength. I hope most of these people were not staying for their things.

Imagine losing everything you own. How would you feel? Of course, it would be difficult to lose your house and all the items you've worked hard to obtain, but what about the things in your house? Are you so attached to your furniture, TVs, computers, knick-knacks and dinnerware that you would risk your life to stay with them? If you feel that you wouldn't miss these items at all, you might react differently during a disaster than someone who holds on to everything and sees value in everything they own. No matter what you do, there is no physical way you could save your house from a tornado or an earthquake.

Tammy of Rowdy Kittens has a great post on putting together an emergency/disaster bag and in addition to her list of items to pack like food, water, first aid and copies of personal paperwork I would like to add the following:

Children and pets
Make sure your children and pets have their own supplies including emergency backpacks for the kids and carrying cases and food for pets.

Laptop
If you can't take your computer, make sure to back up important files from your computer to DVD or to a free Dropbox account.

Personal photos
These should also be backed up digitally.

Your purse or wallet
During a disaster, the last thing you want to leave behind is your ID, some cash, keys or a cell phone.

Yourself
Your safety always come before your things.






Photo courtesy of [Fox News Insider/Flickr]

Dumping Virtual Clutter

How in the world did I end up with four email accounts? I have a Gmail account, a freelance account, a work account, and a Hotmail account for friends and spam that I have been checking since 1995. This week I made a decision that I will be dumping the Hotmail account for several reasons: the junk mail outweighs the regular mail, I don't particularly like the features of Hotmail or the news from MSN,  I don't really use Windows Live or MSN Messenger, and I need to simplify my virtual life even more. So I'm saying goodbye to my 16-year-old email account.

First, I'm contacting all my friends and family and letting them know that they can email me at my Gmail account instead. As I do that I will be deleting the addresses of people I no longer write and updating other friends' addresses. Second I will be changing the email address for my bank, Paypal, Ebay, Amazon and other companies who have my address on file. And last, I will backup a few old emails by forwarding them to my Gmail account.

Virtual clutter is still clutter. Even though I can just stop checking my Hotmail account, I would rather just remove it from my everyday to-do list.

Photo courtesy of [freezelight]

The Minimal Gym Bag

I am in the process of culling my rather large gym bag down to a more manageable system. For years, I've been dragging around a large L.L. Bean bag that is rarely full of gym items. The half-empty bag then takes up most of the room in my very small gym locker and I end up always trying to shove it in. So, I am getting rid of the bag and scrutinizing what I need at the gym.

I do several gym "sports" including running, walking, stairmaster, aerobics, Zumba, yoga and swimming. I've realized that I only need one set of gym clothes for everything and just a swimsuit, cap and goggles for swimming laps. So my gym "system" now consists of:

• running shoes
• one pair of socks
• a sports bra
• tank top
• yoga pants
• swimsuit
• cap + goggles

There is nothing extra like another pair of socks, a hoodie or various t-shirts.

The toiletry portion of the gym bag has also gotten minimized. The bottom of my bag was always littered with half-empty shampoo bottles, hair clips, combs and dried up bars of soap. Now I have:

• olive oil soap for both body + hair
• conditioner
• lotion

With just the addition of a small, easy to dry towel and some flip-flops, I am on my way to a more minimal gym locker, all carried home in a slim tote bag when it's time to do some laundry.

Photo courtesy of [mikecpeck/Flickr]

What if you had to move onto a boat?

...or into a tiny house? Or a basement or attic? Or a camping trailer or RV?

Sometimes I imagine having to move everything I own onto a 30-foot boat. Would I be able to? What would have to go bye-bye? Two of my favorite blogger/travelers, Pat and Ali of Bumfuzzle are doing it for the second time (the first was for a trip around the world) with their young daughter on a 43-foot Spindrift sailboat. Years ago, Jay Shafer moved his life into an 89 square foot tiny house, and Chad and Ana of Chanatrek did it in a VW bus.

Maybe when you get rid of everything, you don't lose what's left of your life...you gain the rest of the world.

Photo courtesy of phil_g/Flickr

Decluttering as Meditation

When I am feeling a bit agitated or stressed, I find a surprising amount of relief from cleaning and decluttering my house or even just a small space like a closet. I don't know if it's the tossing of unwanted items or just the exertion caused by the work, but I always end up feeling better.

Meditation is used as a practice to declutter the mind, maybe it can be the other way around as well. Decluttering in order to calm the mind.

This article from AARP last January said it best:

"What you gradually discover, as you begin to declutter the space around you, is that as your personal ecosystem changes, your choices broaden, life feels more manageable, and your surroundings become better suited to who you are now—and what you're aiming for in the future."

Get a head start on your future, and on one of the New Year's top resolutions and clean out your closet and your mind.

Photo courtesy of [Two Roses/Flickr]

A New Year's Pledge

I got this from Simple. Organized. Life. Perfect little mantra for the upcoming new year...and beyond.