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View from Down Under

by Rosemary

Rated: 13+ · Book · Biographical · #2181121

The world from a short person's POV - not Australia or New Zealand.

Random thoughts, pointed comments, and whatever else crosses my mind

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Cubby~On the road again!

Apr 2, 2020 at 6:59pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Wish I could port myself there right now!

Cubby~On the road again!

Mar 22, 2020 at 10:06pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Sounds like a dreamy vacation, Robin! Enjoy!

Cubby~On the road again!

Mar 22, 2020 at 10:03pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Fire dancers!!! Wow! What fun! You really are in Paradise! So happy you for you!

Cubby~On the road again!

Mar 22, 2020 at 9:58pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

It sounds heavenly!!! Other than your travel delays, that is. Seems like nothing ever starts out smoothly.

Schnujo

Oct 15, 2019 at 11:12am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Oh, we've already decluttered and cleaned the whole house? Obviously I'm not keeping up. lol

On thing I'm finding is self-talk can help. It seems that you might enjoy cleaning or at least don't hate it. I hate it.

But I wish I loved it. That would be SO HANDY! So, I've been working on positive self-talk regarding cleaning. I smile when I say these things and I say them out loud if I'm alone or in my head if I'm not. I say things like, "I love to clean. Cleaning is fun. Cleaning makes me happy. I enjoy a tidy space." Blah, blah, blah...

I also sing songs with cleaning words replacing the regular lyrics. For example, for Row, Row, Row Your Boat, I sometimes sing, "Clean, clean, clean your house, gently down the stream. (It doesn't have to make sense. lol) Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily cleaning is a dream."

Sure, it's dumb, but if it works, it doesn't matter.

And if I even sort of want to clean something, I praise myself, even if I don't follow through. I always try to keep it positive. If I do clean, even if it's just a little bit, I praise myself like I'm a little kid who just used the potty.

Admittedly, It took me almost 2 weeks of doing positive self-talk before I noticed any change and if I quit for a couple of days, I had to start all over again. I've been doing it (more or less, as I remember to) for about a month. My place is still a wreck, but not AS bad as it was.

1 Like

Carol St.Ann

Sep 25, 2019 at 1:13pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

A lot of good advice here, m'dear.

I've always been organized and maniacally tidy, (annoyingly so, I'm told

).

I lost my mojo when my wonderful hub and I purchased a very large Victorian Mansion back in '97, because I'd always dreamed of owning and running a successful B&B. The timing, price, and location were beyond perfect, and I thought this was the sign I wanted it to be. Once it was ours, we set about furnishing it. And boy-howdy, did we ever have fun with that. I can't remember when I've had that much f... well, you get the picture.

And that's how I got into the mess I got into with STUFF.

The dream was brilliant and fulfilled. Everything I'd ever hoped it could be. And then life dealt a nasty blow and I was on my own. The B&B was too much for me all by myself, and the new owners wanted to actually live in it. The nerve of those little pishers!

So, I moved into a tiny studio apartment with my mattress and some favorite clothes and purchased a contract for several storage units for the furnishings (and all the memories of finding and buying and refinishing and designing...oye!) See, I figured that, once the worst of the grieving was past, I'd be able to let it all go and I might as well get the best prices I can for all of it, right? Best way to do it would be to open up a shop. Sounds reasonably doable, doesn't it? I thought so, but ... No.

Here's what happened. I continued to shop furniture and furnishings because I seriously LOVE to do this. Garage sales, yard sales, flea markets, and auctions ... are actually what heaven is made of, and - because I was smart enough to make a rule (whenever I buy something I must get rid of something), I started flipping
furniture and furnishings. And got hooked. Utterly. (I honestly think I was using these activities like a drug, to keep him alive, ya know?)

I did get a hold of myself about a year ago, and started selling the B&B furnishings, but it was slow going, because, as I stated, every diggity-dang item had a memory attached to it. Um, actually, it was more than that; I really liked all that stuff. Decisions on what to keep for myself and what to let go were difficult, and I allowed them to become more stressful than they ever should have been. My greatest success was selling the final item from one of the units and shutting it down. It was a big day for me. Empowering. A good look at the monthly budget without that added expenditure encouraged an inventory of what the remaining three units had to offer. (Hey, It was a 10 bedroom house) And started marketing that shit with dedicated intent. Cha-Ching!

I closed the last unit this past March.

I live comfortably clutter-free again, rapidly approaching what I would consider minimalist if not for the paintings ... and the books. I need to get rid of all those books. Dear God in heaven!

All that said, I love reading your support group blog because I like knowing I'm not alone in the situation - or I should say: process. And it really is like an addiction. I mean, just this morning, I passed a sign that read AUCTION THIS SUNDAY and there were six or seven gigantic white tents... And I checked my calendar before I even realized what I was ding.

And that's why they call me
Calamity Carol
XO

[Visit the entry for more...]

1 Like

Carol St.Ann

Sep 17, 2019 at 10:45am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Oh, Girl! I just read your post on the QOTD forum and swooshed over here to read your minimalist blog. I've embraced the lifestyle after a lifetime of decorating and redecorating with antiques. Not that I've stopped loving it; I'm really good at it and love the buying and selling... you get the picture. But last summer, (2018) I had a mini disaster in the house and needed to quickly move everything out while repairs were underway. Almost immediately, I became hypnotized by the emptiness; the space.

I never realized how much I would like it. The look of it. The ease of cleaning (Oh my goodness!) Even breathing feels different. In no time, I sold all my antiques and when I would normally be buying more, well, I simply didn't.

I'm quite sure I'll never go back.

Fanning your blog and thrilled I'm not the only one. Woohoo!

Carol
aka Bookmenster

Cubby~On the road again!

Aug 22, 2019 at 9:53am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

As always, great blog entry! I love reading all your great suggestions! I'm now at the point where I have several bins of photos and boxes of drawings and notes from the grandkids.

Hubby is anxious for me to go through these bins and downsize while I am resisting the task, which equals friction.

QPdoll

Aug 22, 2019 at 6:37am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Excellent recommendations of how to declutter. That's what I need to do, find a box for each room and put anything that doesn't belong or have a home in it. It's such a great idea. Now to find the motivation!

1 Like

Cubby~On the road again!

Jun 22, 2019 at 9:38am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

As always, great advice!

I'd like to comment about what not to do when someone is a new mommy or grandma. Don't save every single scribble, and especially don't date it.

I've got boxes of drawings and colorbook pages with names and dates that I saved over the years.

Even the colorbook pages "I" colored with the kids, and with my name and date colored.

What the... ??? I haven't started weeding through these boxes yet, but probably will in the near future. I've been thinking about blogging about this later on... things not to do.

I'm the prime example of someone who needed her own advice over 40 years ago.

I think I'll tear wallpaper off the bedroom wall upstairs first. Much easier task!

~Cubby ")

April 22, 2019 at 2:13pm

#957251

Organizing - What's Your Style?

Organizing – What's your style?

“Whatever you can do, or dream, you can begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” ~ Goethe

My guess is that if you are looking at this blog, you are familiar with searching topics on the internet and there are a number of sites full of information about organizing. The most popular organizing method, right now, is the KonMari Method from the book: Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up. You have probably heard the phrase, "does it give you joy" used as a decision tool when decluttering and re-organizing your space. I have even seen it used on current TV shows. This method might work for you but there are many other ways of approaching the subject of organizing. If you are interested in this topic you can find books and sites, probably way too many, to get you started. I am not a professional organizer but it has always been a topic of interest to me and I wanted to share my thoughts and insights with others.

We are well into Spring and Summer is just around the corner so now might be a good time to talk about making your space and schedule work for you, not against you. For many of us, our schedule changes from season to season. Do you find that your space, especially at home, doesn't work as efficiently as the seasons change? What do you find most frustrating regarding your schedule and space? Let me know and maybe together we can come up with solutions that work for you.

Before we even start talking about tips and techniques there are other important questions to ask oneself. Organizing is about identifying what's important to you and giving yourself access to it. But how do you decide what's important? Can you let go of things and habits that no longer make your life enjoyable and meaningful? Some people find the idea of letting go (of anyone or anything) very threating. So while they long for a more organized schedule and space, they become overwhelmed and too stressed to move on. Some people have no problem getting rid of things and changing their schedule from time to time but they lack the motivation to change or they attempt to begin and then they don't follow through. Are you one of these people?

One author, Julie Morgenstern says in her book, Organizing from the Inside Out, that we tend to take the "leap-before-you-look approach." We look for the latest gadget, tool, technique without considering whether or not it fits our needs or our lifestyle. For example, a perfectly organized closet filled with clothes that no longer fit us or our lifestyle doesn't add to our sense of satisfaction. For some, spending a good amount of money for a state-of-the-art closet design is easier than working through what is important and functional for their life. You get the idea; it is important to do the work: defining your goals, identifying your needs, mastering appropriate strategies in order to create and use a system that works for you.

I welcome your questions, thoughts, systems that will make this a worthwhile endeavor for all of us.

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