housekeeping

30 Day De-Clutter Challenge

Standard

By the time the holidays are over, we are all in need of a good de-cluttering, whether it’s our surroundings or the inside of our heads. Last year I began to attend a workshop on organizing, downsizing, and letting go of clutter. It began for me with a weekend retreat on the same thing. It was a spiritual retreat and it really focused some things for me. I’ve committed to going to at least four to six of the monthly workshops and keep the momentum going despite not doing so well at the end of the year.

The first thing on my list is my closet and getting rid of my professional/teaching clothes that I won’t be using (not that any of them fit anymore).

One rule of thumb and piece of advice – fifteen minutes is all it takes. Take fifteen minutes and do one thing. And then do another fifteen minutes. Don’t overwhelm yourself. I started by not letting  things come into the house in the first place. One example is mail. As soon as the mail is in my hands, all of the junk goes right into the garbage.

Good luck.

I’ll check in with you in fifteen days.

Click picture to link to the source (The Hearty Soul dot com). Copyright belongs to them and the author. (c)2019

Happy New Year!

Standard

It’s catch up time.
🙂
I’ve read all of the wonderful comments left for me by all of you. I’ve responded to all of them except for the essay Unrequited Love, which I will begin answering this afternoon.
I am so appreciative of the response to not only that piece, but to some of the others that are published here.
I also have a Facebook page for those of you who are on Facebook, although I’m still working through how to use it with this blog.
I have another post this afternoon that is similar to Unrequited Love in that it talks about some of my philosophy and needs for speaking out and writing, but I am still working on one that explains ME better.

I think the two main things that I’ve been focused on and will continue as a theme in my life this new year are my ongoing recovery from depression and anxiety and my religious/spiritual awakening. Both are subjects that most people shy away from, hide in the dark and don’t discuss. My aim for both, but especially the subject of depression and mental health issues is to bring it into the light as I have been brought into a lighted part of my life. I also speak about the journey I’m on.

So thank you for joining me on this journey.

Kb

October Listy

Standard

October is both my favorite and least favorite month of the year. I had always loved Fall, but especially October. Cool, sleeping with the windows open, light jacket all the time, occasional boots (I have writing boots as opposed to riding boots), long sweaters (yes, I also have a writing sweater.) I am nothing if not ritualistic.

There are insane amounts of activities and appointments coming up plus my oasis of Writing Workshop and AP.

In 2009, I went to Wales.

In 2011, I went to Denver.

This year, I am virtually going back to Wales. On the days that I do not have an appointment, I am going on Sabbatical. I will still be online, and I will continue to attend Mass and will also be home for dinner (probably cooking – the point of this is to make my Fall better, not to make the family’s harder.)

If I remember the calendar correctly, I have six days in the two weeks where I usually find my solace. Sometimes, it’s simply a question of mind over matter. The middle of October is sad, and foreboding of winter and bad anniversaries, but it can also be a beacon – my Welsh adventure and Denver with my closest friends and this will be the first year since I’m aware of the difficulty of the time that I am homebound, so I am ‘traveling’.

My plan (still very tentative – I’ve only mapped out the days) is to go somewhere new each day and write. Or photograph. Or career plan. And network.

If anyone has any suggestions for writing (or photography) prompts, drop them by.

The more the merrier and I can add them to my prompt jar for one of those days. I got a great one last week from my friend, although when he said ‘tea’ I will admit to rolling my eyes. As it turned out, it wasn’t half bad. I might actually post it later today.

Yesterday, in class, the prompt was rain soaked, and I wrote about Manchester. Yes. *That* Manchester. I don’t think I’ve ever been any other place that so readily brings to mind a vulgar term for the female anatomy. I will be posting this later.