This Holiday, Give Hope

By
If you're reading this, it's pretty likely that you have a roof over your head, plenty of food on your table, an education, and many other benefits of a modern life.


We know, even though we may not like to think about it, that others are not so blessed.  Too many homeless are sleeping on the streets tonight, too many children are going to bed hungry, and too many people are without basic medical care or even clean water to drink.  And, shamefully, that kind of deprivation exists in our own country, not just in some far away locale.




Minimalism makes us rich.


Minimalism isn't just about decluttering our homes and our calendars – it's about realizing that we have enough, and that we can do some good with our excess.  We can donate items we're not using, and we can be generous with our time or our money to help someone in our own town or halfway around the world.


The ability to be generous is one of the greatest gifts we have, and when we give, the impact is greater than we might imagine.  When someone is down on their luck, or has nowhere else to turn, your gift gives them hope.  Your act of kindness gives them the feeling that they're not alone, that they have a future.  It's the greatest minimalist gift of all.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Easy "Multiply Your Savings" Plan

By
Image
When I was growing up, both of my parents often said it was important to save money.  I know they put money into a savings account every month.  But they also withdrew money from savings whenever the checking account ran low, and my mom complained that it was "impossible" to keep money in savings. For many, many years, I followed the exact same pattern.  My savings account was just a place to stash money until something "came up."  It was "on hold" until then.  Yes, my husband and I could always pay our annual auto registration and car insurance.  We could pay for our kids to attend summer drama camp, which they loved. But we never accumulated savings.  The amount never rose above a few hundred dollars.  We were basically spending everything we earned – only moving some of it into "shelter" for a few months before spending it.  There was no margin in our budget. Finally, Jon and I dug ourselves out of five-figure credit card debt and learned to
Read more

Why You Should Make "Less is More" Your Mantra for Life

By
Image
Maybe you've heard the saying popularized by architect Mies van der Rohe in 1947:  "Less is more." It's an oxymoron – a phrase that seems to contradict itself.  Others include "old news," "open secret," "unbiased opinion," and "awfully good."  Or the lament, "Parting is such sweet sorrow." What does "less is more" mean?  It's wonderfully open-ended.  Answers to that are as varied as the people who reply.  Consider: Less anxiety, more peace. Less debt, more savings. Less busywork, more substance. Less clutter, more space. Less comparison, more contentment. Less sugar, more vegetables. Voluntary simplicity Back in the 1990s, a fair number of Americans realized that the continual quest for more and better was stressing them out and keeping them from creating lives of purpose.  After the consumerist binge of the yuppie-era 80s, some started wondering if the big house, flashy car, exotic vacation, and Rolex we
Read more

Why You Should Embrace a Diet of Less Variety

By
Image
When I came home from the hospital back in early March, I was looking for ways to make life simpler and easier .  I needed to rest and recover, and while my husband was able to take several days off work to be with me, I didn't want him to spend all his time and effort cleaning, cooking, and otherwise maintaining our home.  And once he went back to work, I still didn't have the stamina to do all my normal tasks.  So things like personal grooming, laundry, and food needed to be streamlined as much as possible.  After all, those maintenance jobs become much tougher when you're feeling tired and weak.  Yet when we don't manage the tasks, home can become cluttered and dirty very quickly, which is not just inconvenient, but depressing. One area we wanted to simplify was the kitchen.  It was easier to eat the same things for every breakfast and lunch, with the only variation coming at dinnertime.  It not only shortened the grocery list, but it also made meal preparations a sn
Read more

How My "Little House" Fantasies Helped Me Downsize

By
Image
Did you read the Little House on the Prairie books when you were younger?  I read all of them several times from about age 8 to age 11.  This was still a few years before Little House became a TV show starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert (which told a story quite different from the fact-based narrative of the books).  My younger sister, however, became passionate about the show and had to watch it every week without fail. Jennifer even turned a box into an elaborate log cabin diorama for a school book report.  My mom (a crafting genius) helped her, and I pitched in to glue popsicle sticks painted with wood stain for a plank floor, weave tiny rag rugs, quilt a cover for the little bed, and create a small fireplace and chimney out of craft stones, glue, and Mod Podge. I guess we were all a little obsessed. Starting over Those 19th century American pioneers, like Little House 's Ingalls family, were literally starting over, heading for a land they knew almost nothing about. 
Read more

18 Tiny Tasks That Let You Succeed at Simplifying Your Life

By
Image
I can't do it right now and maybe you can't either.  This isn't the time to go big or go home.  It's not the time to buckle down, push through, or make a big splash (except in a swimming pool somewhere). I'm talking about the typical American whole new you, change yourself overnight, fix your life NOW plans that you may have been contemplating for your home, your bills, or something else. I've done it – or tried to do it – myself.  I've gone on crash diets and thrown myself into challenging exercise regimens and debt-reduction schemes.  They're exciting, of course, and the anticipation is wonderful.  But the reality is less so.  When I fail to achieve stunning results, the letdown is huge.  My self-esteem is trashed, and once that happens, I go right back to my usual habits.  Probably with some added "bad" behaviors, just to punish myself. Maybe you've done that with decluttering or a diet, and then life happened and you got busy, or a litt
Read more