Maximum Gratitude, Minimal Stuff

It starts in grade school – that desire to fit in and be "normal."  We want to do what our friends are doing, and our parents say, "If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you follow?" Unfortunately, many of our peers  are  jumping – into a pit of debt.  The average American family added 14% more credit card debt in 2022, according to moneygeek.com , and auto and personal loan balances are up too.  Experian reports that mortgage debt has seen record growth. A 2017 Pew Research study found that 54% of Americans spent more than they earned  every month .  While the personal savings rate increased in 2020 as people were forced to stay at home, a surge in spending and debt began again once COVID-related restrictions were lifted. These aren't the people you want to follow. When the Joneses spend more than they earn and save less than they need, keeping up with them is a terrible idea. There's good reason to ignore media influences and other people's choices

I love a home decorated with family antiques.  I also like looking at photos or other family art, such as the painting of my husband's great-great-grandmother which hangs in his mother's living room.  My daughter and son-in-law prize the caricature portrait drawn by a San Francisco street artist when they were on their honeymoon, and a friend of mine displays plaster of Paris handprints of each of her three children, made in school for Mother's Day decades ago. I also appreciate collections of natural elements.  My husband, son of a geologist, has several beautiful geodes, those vaguely spherical rocks which contain a hollow cavity lined with crystals.  Another friend cherishes her elegant orchids. Can a minimalist be a collector? I have a small collection of vintage English blue and white transferware.  My first piece was a Sadler Blue Willow teapot given to my mother as a wedding gift in 1959.  She never used it, but I was fascinated by it for many years before she finall

Sometimes life is extra-busy, and we just have to muddle through each day as well as we can. My two young grandsons had an overnight visit last weekend, and my husband Jon has report cards due this week.  I'm just trying to keep up with it all while continuing to write every day. Work, school, kids, pets, and more may conspire to keep our homes in a jumble.  Everyday activities like cooking and crafting can add to the chaos.  But there are habits we can learn that make every task easier. Read on for some guidance on how to keep the mess at bay to create a calmer, more relaxing and efficient home. 6 tidyness tips that make daily life simpler 1.  First, declutter. If you haven't done it already, a quick declutter can really help, since fewer possessions means less time spent cleaning and tidying.  Take the Declutter Dare , or focus on one area like the living room, play room , or kitchen .  Ask yourself  questions like "How often do I use this?" and "Do I really ne

Here's something I keep noticing:  It doesn't take long for the conversation of any group of people to turn negative. Whether the complaints are about pandemic protocols, politics, gas prices, traffic, the weather, or something else, negativity seems to be the default mode of many of us. We default toward crisis and mayhem. In spite of morning news shows that try to insert upbeat "special interest" stories, those are rare, and always seem contrived to add a bit of lightness to the "real" business of the day.  Most news sources, from TV and radio to podcasts and social media, thrive on crisis and mayhem.  There's evidence that this actually warps our perceptions of reality . Disconcertingly, when someone tries to add a positive remark to conversations that seem dominated by complaints, the comment is often challenged or dismissed as "wishful thinking."  Those Pollyanna viewpoints don't fit the prevailing theme. In fact, my mother used to tel

Here's a glimpse of my to-do list 18 years ago: Work 25 hours per week as a bookkeeper.   Choose curriculum and oversee my 13- and 15-year-old children's homeschooling; also get them to catechism, drama class, chess team, and youth chorus rehearsal.   Find time for my own vocalizing, music study, and sessions with my voice coach.  Monday evening: drive the 140-mile round trip to visit my parents (Dad was recovering from a stroke).  Tuesday and Thursday evenings: rehearsals.   Wednesday evening: church meeting.  Friday evening: maybe visit parents again.  All day Saturday: clean house, grocery shop, wash clothes, run errands.   Sunday: teach Sunday school, direct the choir.  Crash. When I had concerts and other performances they were somehow added into the mix.  I can honestly say I don't know how I did all of that.   I was a lot younger – does that explain it? We search for organizing systems and productivity hacks so we can continue to do it all, but maybe we should become

Mornings are crazy at your house, with the kids to feed, backpacks to ready, and a load of laundry to start before you can get out the door and make it to two different schools on time.  You want to look good, but you need to dress with a minimum of fuss. Enter the capsule wardrobe – a relatively small number of classic, attractive pieces that can be mixed and matched to create multiple outfits.   The capsule wardrobe movement is growing. We often think that to project a successful image we need a room-size closet full of the latest designer clothes, shoes, handbags, and jewelry.  But some of the most famous people in the world have turned their backs on fashion trends. It's not just tech businessmen like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg who do this either.   Way back in the 1980's, designer Donna Karan introduced her " Seven Easy Pieces " wardrobe, which still works.   Director Christopher Nolan and designer Michael Kors each wear basically the same outfit every day (

Even though we tend to use the terms "decluttering" and "minimalism" interchangeably, they aren't the same thing.   What's the difference?  Here's the short answer:   All minimalists live without clutter, but not all who declutter become minimalists. Most people who declutter have no plans to become minimalist. Why declutter then? Perhaps they're preparing to move, and don't want to pack up and haul everything. They might be getting married and need to streamline in order to combine households. Maybe they're ready to retire and move to a smaller home.  Possibly they have sorted through the accumulated belongings of a deceased parent, and decided that they don't want to leave such a burden for their own children. Or they might be like I was, and one day they simply reach a point where it's all too much – too expensive, too crowded, too overwhelming. Regardless of the reason, decluttering is the result. Maybe you've decluttered a c

You have a choice: Spend your life in a  cycle of dissatisfaction  ➜ shopping ➜ accumulating ➜ organizing ➜ decluttering ➜ more shopping ➜ overwhelm ➜ spring cleaning ➜ repeat . . . . . . or you can break the cycle, simplify, and find not only contentment but  something better  to do with your time, money, and energy. Sometimes figuring out how to get to less is the easy part.  You can get rid of clutter in many ways, including these: declutter one specific area in five minutes or less . create a minimalist wardrobe radically downsize in five steps (instructions continue here ) undecorate No matter which approach you choose, if you want the results to be long-lasting, you need to understand why you want to simplify your life.  This will be your anchor when things get tough, when you're tempted by sales and advertising, when the job of decluttering seems too hard, and when you're bored or sad and think buying something will make you feel better.  Your why may change over tim