Cindy's Weekly Wisdom I revisted the archives from September 1, 2010 for this post. It was titled "Cindy's Take on Avoiding Recluttering." This time I have published it with gift buying in mind. As appropriate, insert "the gift recipient" in place of "I" It’s bound to happen sometime; you’re going to have to break down and buy something. Before you do, consider these factors: Do I need it? Do I want it? Did I come into the store looking for this item, or did it just catch my eye? Would I be criticized if my spouse or family members knew that I had purchased this? Can I … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom – Procrastination
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom My mother is a famous procrastinator, at least according to my father. He once bought her a t-shirt with a letter printed on it that said, "Ken, I promise to stop procrastinating. Later. -Rosalie." Considering that I think my mother never stops moving and doing, I'm not really sure what he was talking about. Maybe's she's changed over time. I know that in terms of procrastination, I can change from week to week. What I find is that procrastination doesn't save time; it creates work, clutter, and distraction. Obviously we can't do every single thing we think needs to … [Read more...]
Why torture yourself
Following on from Tuesday's post I have another idea to put to you. Imagine for a moment that you are a prisoner of war and the enemy are attempting to pry information from you. They use inhumane torture methods on you to extract this information. Nothing painful like burning or lashing but more insidious kinds of cruelty like water torture, sleep deprivation or solitude. Things that, taken in small doses, don't seem so harmful but can drive you completely crazy over continuous and long periods of time. After serval months the enemy decides that they just aren't going to get you to give up … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom – Backsliding
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom Backsliding. What a dreadful word! Are you a decluttering backslider? Recently I have been. I discovered that if I'm not activitely moving forward in my decluttering, I can go into a holding pattern - for a while - but then I start sliding backwards. Dreadful! I came too far to go back now! I've been decluttering for three years now. It's a habit and a lifstyle, but just like with any other long-term habit or hobby, sometimes my interested wanes. I don't go and buy out the store and start recluttering, thank goodness. My backsliding starts a bit more sneakily: the … [Read more...]
Unfettered: unrestricted, unrestrained, no longer tied down.
A Guest Post by ~ Deb J As I have been following Colleen’s blog and the comments we make I realized something very pivotal for me. By decluttering my home, my clothes, my lifestyle my computer and my mind I am becoming unfettered. I used to be restricted to having company only when we had time and energy to get out all the china and silver, and put on our “company best.†Everything had to be a production of monumental proportions. The house had to be spotless and so clean you could eat off the floor. This was a leftover from my upbringing, a result of being raised that everything had … [Read more...]
Change with the times
Many a time when I have put together the Monday Mini Mission posts I have included a mission about adjusting your possession to reflect your current situation. I mostly relate this to changes in locality, particularly ones that includes a climate change. For example thick winter jackets become clutter were you move to a warmer climate. I am very familiar with this concept having been through this process several time during the somewhat transient nature of my twenty five years of marriage. There is another perhaps even more radical change that families go through that warrants some serious … [Read more...]
Over catering for guests.
Most people enjoy having visitors occasionally, family or friends who stay longer than just a fleeting few hours. As a result we also like to be able to cater for those visitors with enough room and household items to keep them comfortable during their stay.  A comfortable bed, clean linen, bathing facilities, crockery and cutlery items and food to keep the tummy grumbles away. There is nothing wrong with this in fact it is preferable to not being able to keep your visitors happy and comfortable or worse, not being able to accept visitors at all. But my experience is that many people over … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday ~ Change your mind
If you have any doubts that you can change your habits of acquiring and keep stuff this link will set your mind at ease. It is always possible to retrain your mind to a new way of doing things no matter how old or set in yours ways you think you are. The desire to change is all it takes to get started. Here is the link from Creative Affirmations. The Weekend's Mini Missions Saturday – Declutter a Natural Progression item ~ Something that no longer fits, physically or intelectually or has simply been used up or worn out. Sunday – Declutter a Location Inappropriate item ~ That is … [Read more...]
Can’t see the trees for the forest.
Have you ever heard the expression ~ Can't see the forest for the trees. Here is an explanation of this expression according to About.com... Definition: overly concerned with detail; not understanding the whole situation Explanation: Used when expressing that a person is focusing too much on specific problems and is missing the point. When it comes to clutter though this expression manifests in reverse. That is, people can't see the trees for the forest. Or explained simply in clutter terms ~ Can't distinguish the individual items of clutter from the sheer bulk of their possessions. Or … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Souvenirs
Cindy's Weekly Wisdom The girls and I are still on vacation, having traveled 1500 miles (2414 kilometers) thus far from Austin, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana, and then to St. Louis, Missouri, by way of Memphis, Tennessee.  (Thank you Mom, for lending us your Prius.) Until today, besides postcards, which we purchased but also mailed, we had spent less than $10 on souvenirs. I bought a box of beignet mix at Cafe du Monde, and Clara purchased a pair of earrings, which she's already worn several times. Today we went to one of our favorite places in the world, City Museum in St. Louis … [Read more...]