It's Friday! I'm ecstatic! It's been such a glorious week. November is coming through on it's promise to be great! This is going to be such an organizational nightmare of a post, I'm sorry.
I have had an unbelievable amount of energy for no understandable reason - I'm attributing it to the fact that whenever I bike or walk anywhere I sing, "the joy of the Lord is my strength" like a crazy person. Been singing that song since I was a baby and there's no reason to stop now!
I'm crazy looking forward to doing a Love Bomb video update this weekend. Exciting stuff is coming up! I'll also be blogging more for the ItStartsWith.Us blog so you'll see me around over there, too.
ALSO. I'm doing a Minimalism + Giving Project for all you bloggers! I already have several bloggers committed & I'm really excited for this!
If you want to participate, make sure you say so in the comments!
By November 20th, we will all be donating 10+ items of clothing to Goodwill or a local charity of your choice. I've been really convicted by the outrageous amount of clothing I don't wear anymore, and all the excess materialism in my life - and I'd love to do this alongside all of you.
Email me a photo of you + your clothes you're donating by November 20th, and I'll blog you as part of the project!
AND. I just spoke with Goodwill International & was showed their little donate calculator, which is sweet. So if you're donating to Goodwill, list out everything you're donating so I can get a grand total from this whole project to share with them!
I have a tiny little post script about minimalism. I'm getting hooked on it, but I'm not sure it's wise. I want stability, I want permanence, & I'm the woman that makes a house a home. All these being the polar opposite of minimalism. (Unless I'm wrong. Do you disagree? Tell me.) However, none of those things are here and now. So I'm leaning towards minimalism for the next couple years. Is it wise? Do you think it will have long-term consequences? Is it regrettable in anyway? To see how intense I'm talking, read Living With 75 Things and Quitting Your Day Job -- Should I just develop a Lauren-version of minimalism, and tackle it for 2011, including my finances too?
If you have 10 minutes, read this post by Max Dubinsky, called "Welcome To The Human Race, It's Very Uncomfortable Here." Get some perspective. I cried.
5 comments:
I'm down. I'll raise you 10 things to 30 bc I'm on the same kick and I've already got like 5 bags of stuff.
I like the sound of letting go of ten more things... sign me up. I wrote a bit about minimalism a few months ago [1] but have been doing more living it and less writing about it lately.
Enjoying your blog and looking forward to reading more!
Although my Vipassana meditation course had a little ultra-minimalist surprise at the end of it [2] ;)
[1] http://thirtytwothousanddays.com/blog/2010/06/minimalism-is-the-lifestyle-of-the-moment-and-the-future/
[2] http://thirtytwothousanddays.com/blog/2010/07/how-to-reach-enlightenment-for-free-in-less-than-two-weeks-or-your-money-back/
Haha I'm sure I could find at LEAST 10 things to donate. Probably 20.
I just gave a bag to Goodwill and I'm sure I could come up with another one!
A home is not made by things.
That said, some things make a home more comfortable.
I look around my house and I think that there is plenty here that I do not need, and, surely, if I move, much will go off in a different direction than I do.
Having a strong ethic of thinking about what you really need, what you will use, what the purpose and function of something is will help you have less crap in your life. Not being mindful about your purchases allows you to buy things for reasons you are perhaps not being honest with yourself about or perhaps are not even aware of.
Another option is, for example, to pare down your closets, right? Then, say, you see a new jacket that you just love. Do you have a jacket you are willing to give up for this one? Does the one you have work just fine? Will it last another year? Everything you bring in requires getting rid of something else.
I feel the tug of minimalism, but, at least at this point in my life, going that route would take more effort than not. :D And right now, I need to conserve energy and pick my battles. That said, I am making small progress toward some goals of restructuring my space.
I often find that if I try to jump into something hardcore I tend to fail, so perhaps you might want to take steps before living with 75 things. :D
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