Maximum Gratitude, Minimal Stuff

Welcome to the 101st and final post of 2023!  This year has flown by – in fact, I want to think and then write about that very phenomenon soon, and see if we can all gain some insight into how we can slow down time .  I don't mean to make time drag, but wouldn't life be better if we didn't blink and suddenly it's summer, which speeds by until all at once the kids are getting excited about Halloween and Christmas 2024 .  We don't want time to plod along, but I don't think we want it to slip by unnoticed either. The ad-free decision Back in April, I strengthened my decision to refuse Google's targeted ads on this blog.  Ads on a site about minimalism don't make sense to me, although I've seen other minimalist sites with plenty of ads.  But wanting to increase my earnings (which came to about $2.00 per hour in 2022), I decided to join Buy Me a Coffee, a San Francisco-based company that allows creators like me to receive direct support from those who use

Everything we do this season is leading up to Christmas Day – the tree, the gifts, the special foods – yet Christmas Day is when I feel the most let down . Can you relate? Sure, it's fun to watch the kids open their gifts, but they never seem to love them as much as I thought they would.  (Or maybe I just expect too many effusive thank yous!)  The meal is a lot of work that's over too soon, and then everyone settles in for a game of croquet (which is chilly), a board game (which the kids are either too young or too old to really enjoy), televised sports (a favorite because they don't require any action from the viewers), or maybe a nap. And it's over.  The holiday fizz and anticipation is over.  The next day, stores will reopen and it will be back – literally – to business as usual.  The second-biggest shopping day in the U.S. is December 26th (in Canada it's #1). Some enchanted evening On December 24th, the magic is still alive.  As you bake or set the table for th

Before we start looking ahead to the New Year, let's take some time to look back on this one. Much too often, we live by default rather than design.  We're busy, and we get caught up in the tide of all the things we need to do and deal with.  This isn't horrible or evil, it's just the way we are.  Even when we try to look ahead and make plans, we worry about what might go wrong.  We go back to the tried-and-true because that feels safer.  And so a lot of what we do is on autopilot.  We blink, and a day has gone by.  A week.  A month.  And suddenly, it's next year already! That's why it's good to take a moment and think about the decisions we've made consciously and then followed through on .  Let's remember the things we've committed to and then succeeded at that have helped us move closer to fulfilling our potential and/or living the life we desire.  Why we should reflect on our journey When we don't become conscious of our direction, many o

Many Christmas songs from around the world are old – centuries old.  And I love them!  But when it comes to holiday tunes from the U.S., we have no such history.  Our oldest offerings date from the middle of the 19th century, and those that are best-known come from the middle of the 20th. But those songs, as enjoyable as they are, are all about Santa, sleigh rides, and shopping.  Sure, I get nostalgic about Gene Autry's rendition of " Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ."  Same with " The Christmas Song ," a 1946 hit by Nat King Cole that begins "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...." But then there are songs like Perry Como's "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," with "toys in every store."  Or Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby," with a long list of expensive gifts desired from the ultimate sugar daddy for his "awful good girl."  These songs are good fun – and so very American. The true meaning of Chr

The angelic chorus in the Biblical Christmas story sings of peace on earth.  Then, as now, peace was rare and never lasted for long.  And in this season full of busyness and distraction, peace can be hard to find.  But when we look for it, inspiration shows up in unlikely places. Here's the story. The Grinch ,* one of Dr. Seuss's most memorable characters, doesn't initially seem like an inspiration for anything.  He's a hermit who lives in a cave and doesn't care for noise.  He's also jealous, vindictive, and a lying thief. * This blog is reader-supported.  If you buy through my links, I may earn a small commission. He thinks that by removing the trappings of Christmas – the toys, the food, and the decorations – he can prevent Christmas from coming, and spite his neighbors to boot.  Of course, we know he's wrong. (We do know he's wrong, don't we?) Even though all of their stuff has disappeared overnight (every last crumb of it stolen by the Grinch),

It's almost 8 a.m. on a Monday morning, and I'm sitting in a comfortable chair waiting for my chiropractor to come and adjust my hips and neck.  Normally I'd be on my phone, scrolling through whatever, but this morning I'm not. Suddenly, a small black and white cat strolls by the ceiling-to-floor window on my right.  Tail up yet relaxed and gently waving, she's obviously alert and on the prowl, looking for her breakfast on this chilly morning.  I presume she's good at keeping the rodent population around the doctor's office under control. Hmm.  Once my eyes see Kitty, I wonder what else I've been missing .  Without thinking My husband Jon and I are pretty typical.  Our phones are always near, if not actually in our hands.  We've always got a reason for scrolling.  "I'm just checking something," Jon says to me, when I ask him if he can put his phone away while we eat breakfast.  "I just want to finish reading this article," I s

Minimalists talk often about reducing your schedule to create margin and leave time and energy for what you care about most.  But sometimes there are things we wouldn't choose, but simply must do regardless.  Whether it's a prior commitment we must continue to honor, or an unavoidable issue that must be handled whether we care to or not, these tasks present themselves and we must show up.  This is already an extra-busy time of year.  How should we deal with the jobs we don't want to do, but must? 8 tips to get the job done 1.  Commit to doing your best. It might not be your choice to be so occupied, but decide to make the result one you can be proud of. 2.  Don't procrastinate. Leaving things until the last minute simply adds stress and anxiety when you have to eventually perform. 3.  Break the task into smaller steps. Since you're not procrastinating, you have time to proceed in an orderly, bite-sized fashion.  It's hard to detest a job too much when you only h

Life's greatest challenge isn't starting and maintaining a successful business or creating a podcast that gains a million viewers.  It's something we tend to ignore or even consider crazy and unnecessary, even though religious and ethical leaders through the ages have told us to do it. I'm talking about  loving our enemies  – the people we don't get along with, the ones we don't understand (and don't  want  to understand), and the ones who do us wrong.  And that wrong might be as common as lies, criticism, or snobbishness, or as harmful as betrayal, abuse, or cruelty. An impossible dream To love your enemy is to find it in your heart to set aside any wrongs and love them as a fellow human being.  You don't have to love them like you love your best friend.  Just have kind feelings toward them... and if possible, express those through words, a good deed, or even just a smile. Picture the person you dislike most, and see if it's easy to find any love fo

Every day is full of challenges, and most of us try our best to meet them.  But what is life's greatest challenge?  Climbing Everest?  Winning Olympic gold?  What if I told you it's something with power to change the world? This proposal deserves more attention if you have any desire to be a better person.  Whether or not you're religious, you may have heard about a difficult teaching of Jesus, one that even most Christians tend to ignore. Jesus' challenge is to love your enemies .  It's not that hard to love people who love you, right?  It's not difficult to feel kindly toward people who are nice to you.  You can have friendly feelings for a stranger who seems friendly, although "love your neighbor" isn't always easy either. But love your enemy?  The person who treats you badly?  The one who does (and maybe keeps doing) something that makes your life more difficult, or at least less comfortable?  How is that even possible? Why bother? And why is i