Maximum Gratitude, Minimal Stuff

When my mother-in-law was preparing to move from the large home she and my father-in-law had raised four sons in, she used reverse decluttering without even knowing it. Reverse decluttering meant that she was focusing on the essentials as she packed, and leaving the rest.  (It took my husband and his brothers almost a year to sort through and dispose of the rest.)  For example, she took just one set of dishes and a few basic cooking implements.  Just a couple of sets of sheets for each bed (her new condo has a guest room).  Just one couch for her new, smaller living room.  She pictured what she'd need for comfort and happiness, and that's what she moved.  Why reverse decluttering? There are a lot of decluttering methods out there ( I recently wrote about one ).  Why should you consider reverse decluttering? Sometimes you need to declutter quickly; for example, if you're getting ready to move.  Reverse decluttering is faster than typical declutte...

The United States has never been a perfect nation.  For almost 250 years, we've had a dream – an ideal of equality and freedom under God.  And even though we have never really lived up to that, the dream has not only remained alive, but has inspired others around the world.  Some were people who left everything they knew and came here, hoping to build a freer life with more opportunity.  Some were nations who changed from within to create their own just and enlightened societies. We've fallen short a lot of the time, but there has still been a light that shone out and made a lot of positive difference in the world and in people's lives. Yet right now, our leaders are carrying out indiscriminate arrests of people who might be in our country illegally, claiming that they're targeting "violent offenders," even though most of those arrested have no criminal record at all.  Our President has gained political traction by claiming that immigrants have "bad genes...