Breathing Space & More...

Everyday I am thinking about letting go.  My days are spent in sessions with clients, or reading about decluttering tips, or writing blog posts, all in an effort to support clients as they let go of clutter and unwanted habits.  Letting go is something that I have made into my life's work, but never is it more "in my face" than when I sit with my grandma at the nursing home.  My grandma has Dementia/Alzheimers.  I don't even know what or which or why or how, but I do know that it seems we have lost her to the disease and letting go & holding on are happening all at once. As I sit and watch her sleep, I can stroke her hand and feel the many memories of playing Go to the Dump or Crazy Eight on my days off of Kindergarten, getting a home perm in her kitchen in elementary school, and painting my nails at her kitchen nook in H.S.  I remember learning how to snap a dish towel with my cousins as we cleaned up from holiday gatherings & singing and dancing on th

The view as I iced my ankle.  Maybe a slow down is in order more often. This summer I had a firsthand lesson in patience-a big one!  I am a pretty motivated lady.  I set goals for myself, I have big expectations, I dig in, and I stay active, but this summer I had to shift down to the slow lane on the highway of my daily drive. I sprained my ankle goofing off-feeling young and fun!  It was an uncomfortable way to be brought back to reality and it put the brakes on some of my best laid plans for what I had hoped to get out of the summer. So.. I worked on my patience.  I had to rest.  I had to take time off.  I had to rethink how I was going to shift my goals and also fight the fear that time off would mean that I couldn't get back into the things that I loved-that I would miss opportunities and have regrets. I tried a lot of things that didn't really get me any where.  Some days I wanted to whine and other days I was sick of waiting to heal and tried "powering t

Dear anyone out there that has been tuning in & following my journey, I apologize for my sporadic check-ins lately.  Thanks for being patient. I wanted to let you know that I am at a place that involves making room for more.  (I actually just typed room for me before quickly changing it to more -could be a slip of the fingers, or could be my subconscious typing the "real" truth, but anyway...)   It is a time for me.  A time to start moving in the direction that involves less care-taking and more time devoted to what I enjoy.  I am committed to keeping my time open to truly dive in and make this first attempt at a business work. What that means is that some things have to shift, change, evolve or be tweaked in order to feel like there is room for everything.  I have had to let go of things, put things on hold, and fight the feeling of wanting to do everything.  This is hard for me.  I want to be able to do it all and do it all well!  But, I know myself- the standa

"You are the gatekeeper of your home." L. Rosenfeld Today I was thinking about the small shift that I am noticing in our societal message of consumerism.  It is the notion that we should treasure each and every one of our possessions & surround ourselves with things that evoke joy.  Marie Kondo talks about this in "The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up" and L. Rosenfelf & Dr. M. Green agree in "Breathing Room."  Both books have some great insight on how to break out of the cultural norm of More = Happiness. They passionately believe that we need to evaluate how we want our space to feel and then surround ourselves with the things that evoke those feelings.  This notion feels a little crazy when you look at our cultural track record!  We have been asked to consume!  Buy, buy, buy!   Everything we need is right there for the taking, so go ahead... buy whatever looks good.  And when you get tired of it, you can throw it out.   It

"May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back."                                                                                                      -Rilke I wanted to write a little more about what was underneath the last post.  What I continue to need to hear again and again.  It is the promise to resist urgency. I feel urgency in my body as a tightening.  It is a tightness in my breath.  It is a tightness in my expression. I find that my brain can get consumed with uncertainty, comparison, and fear.  It feels like there is a buzzing in my back that scares me into thinking that if I don't get to all of my ideas soon, then I will lose them, fall behind, miss an opportunity, and not be successful.  I know in my heart that this isn't true.  The truth is that the feeling of urgency is fear and it isn't reality. When I feel the anxiety of uncertainty, I start to cling to my old ways.  I try to gather more information, look to

This little phrase might get me through the next few months:  "Remember the lichen."   Lichen is an algae or bacteria (or both) that lives in a symbiotic relationship with fungus.  It can grow on almost anything and in almost any climate.  I typically see it on trees and rocks when I take a walk in nature.  It can be confused with moss, but it isn't related to moss or plants.  Lichens do not have roots, instead they produce their food from sunlight, air, water, and minerals in the environment.  They are not parasites and only use the plant, tree branch, or rock as a place to stop and grow. Lichens come in all colors and shapes.  They are beautiful in their patterns and designs.  And they are slow growers.  The fastest lichen grows at .5cm per year!   So why am I bombarding you with all of this science?   Because many times I want to see progress.  I want results and I don't want to wait.  When I remember the lichen, I understand that things need time t