Maximum Gratitude, Minimal Stuff

I love the internet.  I wouldn't have this blog without it.  We wouldn't connect via Facebook, Instagram, or email without the internet.  The internet makes extensive research easier and opens up tons of news and entertainment options. But we need to get away from the internet sometimes.  It's open 24/7/365, and we're not.   We can't be.   It's too much.  We need to take breaks from our phones and computers so we can enjoy real life. And when we get back to our phones and computers, they need to be  tools we control , not addictions that control us. Courtney Carver, author of Soulful Simplicity , has made it a goal to unplug one day a week.  That's 52 days a year.  52 days a year "to trade what's online for what's right in front of us."  She suggests the following strategies to reduce internet dependence. 5 steps to an internet intermission 1.  Schedule it. Pick a 24-hour block that works well for you.  ...

Packing for travel gives you a taste of minimalism.  You have to carefully consider which clothes you'll need, which toiletries and accessories.  Maybe you make a list.  As you pack, you might think of a few additional items it would be nice to have, just in case.  But you're still limiting your choices – you're only going to take a fraction of your possessions, after all. As you roll your suitcase out the door, are you full of excitement and anticipation, or are you worried that you've forgotten something important?  Hopefully, you let that sense of freedom take over and realize that you'll probably do just fine with what you have.  You know you packed the  really  important stuff, because those things were on your list. When you arrive at your destination, you're greeted by a clean, uncluttered hotel room with its freshly made bed.  You have no desire to turn on the TV for distraction, like you might do at home, because the outside w...

Do you have (or have you had) a job that requires juggling two or three tasks at a time while continuing to be available to bosses or clients?  Or maybe you meet the needs of two or three young children while managing household tasks and honoring volunteer commitments. It can be crazy.  Feeling rushed (and maybe a little overwhelmed), you  repeatedly lose focus  and have to backtrack, trying to remember where you left off.  You can't give your attention to one thing at a time, so everything takes longer, and any minor holdup can become a major meltdown. Constant distraction is a way of life. Before you know it, the workday is over, but you feel like you didn't do all you wanted, or you forgot something important.  You get in the car and start switching your attention between driving, making phone calls, and trying to get through that audio book everyone's talking about. You're in a hurry, and mentally review your to-do list:   pick up your...

Sitting is the new smoking. Have you seen those headlines?  Sitting and smoking don't seem to have a lot in common, until you discover that they're both linked to a lot of health threats. Here's where they  aren't  alike:   Smoking is much less widespread.   A growing number of cities, states, and countries have enacted laws that ban smoking in all work and public places, including restaurants and bars.  The Centers for Disease control reports that the number of smokers in the U.S. has fallen to a record low. But sitting is far more acceptable.  In fact, we all do more of it than ever.  Most of us have jobs that require little or no physical exertion.  We might do a little standing, lifting, and walking around, but mostly we sit. Sitting might kill us. When we go home, we sit some more, watching hours and hours of TV , streaming services, or You Tube, and scrolling on various social media. Leisure activities are supposed to promote hea...

We took our 3-year-old grandson to the park a few days ago.  He had one toy truck with him – a very sturdy plastic dump truck.  That little truck was his constant companion for two hours, and when his mama put him in the car seat to go home, he was still cradling it. He has many toy cars and trucks of all sizes at home, and a few at our house too.  But when there's only one to play with, that  one is cherished .  It almost takes on a personality as he tells stories about what that toy can do.  Go to the beach, play in the sand, play in the bathtub, hold water, dump rocks, roll down the slide to be caught at the bottom....  It's Super Truck! I have one pair of fit-over sunglasses which were given to me by my son.  They're oversized, designed to be worn over my prescription bifocals, and I love them because I can see near or far while I'm wearing them.  They have wide arms which incorporate a small area of tinted lens, so even my peripheral vis...

Some of our greatest treasures are things we don't own, and never can.  All we can do is be grateful and enjoy them: the beauties of nature, music, and art the comfort of good relationships the incredible blessings of good health and an active mind Think of the valuable public works from which we can all benefit: libraries public parks highways and road maintenance crews law enforcement fire protection water treatment plants garbage removal services public schools and universities health departments government-supported scientific and medical research These good things can be available to everyone .  Yes, they're supported by property taxes, gasoline taxes, and sales taxes, but those are paid by everyone proportionally.  The rich pay more because they buy and travel more, and their property is more valuable.  The poor pay less for all the same reasons.  But everyone contributes, so that everyone can benefit. Democracy loses its meaning if citizens don't share sp...

Decluttering is a process where you identify the belongings you use the most and like the best, the items of the highest quality.  You release things you don't like or use, and all of those multiples you've accumulated.  Next, you find a home for each of the possessions you've chosen to keep. Using containers such as boxes, bins, drawers, shelves, and closets, you put everything away.  Your items will no longer pile up or drift around homeless – each has a place to belong.  As you gain a clear idea of how much each container will hold, you're able to place limits on what you keep.   How many shirts will hang in your closet?   How many pairs of socks will go in their designated drawer?   How many books will fit on your shelves?   How many bins of holiday decorations will fit in the cupboard in the garage? By respecting the physical limits of your space, the things you own can stay organized and uncluttered. But minimalism isn...

Like any normal teenager, I often argued with my mother, usually ending with a comment like, "You just don't get me, Mom.  I have to be myself!"  Which is funny in retrospect, because I was always desperately trying to conform to what my peers were doing. Even as adults, we continue to try to fit in.  Look at a typical group of friends, and you'll often see similar hair styles and colors, similar clothes, similar manicures, similar phone cases, even similar gestures and vocal inflections. If we're the one person in a group that doesn't conform, we tend to think that the others are "normal" and we aren't.  We think there may be something wrong with us if we're too different from everyone else, and we worry that others will ignore or reject us if we aren't like them.  That can feel scary. Minimalists aren't "normal." We don't conform to our society, which pressures us to buy more, do more, hurry more, and work more.  Our...

My father kept a box in our garage which contained – among other things – old French and English primers, math textbooks, his vintage drafting instruments, and his father's early 20th century brass microscope.  At one time his wooden chess set lived there too, but it made its way into the house and we all played with it.   My brother claimed the long-hidden microscope after my father passed away, but the lens had clouded after years in the garage.  The books had to be dumped – they had been ruined by bugs, heat, and moisture.  (My daughter has the chess set, still in use .) We need to rethink this. How often do we keep things because we think we  should ?  We don't use them, we don't even look at them.  We pile them in the attic or basement and let them molder.  So do those boxes of souvenirs really have sentimental value, or are we just caught in inertia and guilt? When we have boxes full of stuff we never actually look at, it seems silly to...

His hair is sweaty and his face looks hot, but he doesn't slow down. Up, across, down, run back, up, across, and down again.  The sweat slips down his cheek, but his eyes are alight with eagerness and fun. He's my three-year-old grandson, and if I didn't call him over for a sip of lemonade now and again, he'd climb and slide and run around the play structure until he dropped from exhaustion.  He has no idea of limits. He may take only one bite of his grilled cheese, but could eat "yummy wallypops" all day if I'd give them to him.  He needs a bit of firmness at bath time or clean-up-toys time or bedtime, or he'd never be clean or rested until fatigue took over.  He needs to be slowed down and reminded to wash his hands, or he'd just run out of the bathroom to play some more.  He can be quiet, but rarely chooses that state.  He needs the discipline of limits so he can stay healthy, comfortable, and socially acceptable! Learning to live with li...

Shout at someone or give them the finger in traffic, and you can be sure that they or someone else will do the same to you.  Smile and wave, and you'll get the same response back (even from a stranger). Our behavior is like a mirror, an echo, a boomerang – what we give is what we get . Doing good makes you feel good. Studies show that when we are kind to others (even in small ways) we become happier, but self-indulgence (contrary to expectations) doesn't increase our feelings of well-being.  Researchers found that the more generous and helpful people were, the more purposeful their lives felt.  Knowing they were useful and needed made them happy. This finding demonstrates the opposite of what advertisers want us to believe.    Turns out that as long as your basic needs are met, acquiring more won't make you happier.  Your life won't improve if you buy the next hot item or luxury upgrade.  But removing the excess and busyness so you can pursue your l...