Halloween can carry both a spiritual and secular meaning, Spiritually “Halloween” can be translated as “Holy Eve” – the evening before All Saints Day on Nov. 1. It also reminds us of the Fall harvest season. Secularly Halloween is more commonly known for celebrating frightful experiences and creative costuming. For those who consider being on […]
Living Lightly
Susan Vogt on living more simply but abundantlyBrowsing Posts tagged Silliness
As I continued to search for stuff in secret places this past week, I stumbled upon the letter “S” – sheets, suits, squirrels, and surprises. (Those who like puzzles can stop right here and try to guess the connections.) For the rest of you: Sheets: When cleaning out the linen closet, I counted 11 sets […]
My last post was about giving away useful stuff (coats, curtains, rugs…) but I also found at least 6 kinds of hidden things that were pretty frivolous. Nerf Guns: Several years ago one of our children bought each family member a Nerf gun as a gag gift for Christmas (since we had a reputation for […]
Before you canonize me as St. Minimalista for bringing only 3 new items into our home and getting rid of 71, I must clarify that 56 of the outgoing items were pens and pencils and 13 more were duplicates or older socks. Here’s how it broke down: THE MAIN EVENT: 1 new pair of shoes […]
At my stage of life (children sprung, I work at home) I don’t need to buy stuff as often as I did when our kids were outgrowing clothes and I needed an office wardrobe. Bottom line – I don’t do much shopping. However, underwear does wear out and thus I embarked on what I thought […]
12 Pet Peeves and What I’m Doing About Them Before I get back into continuing Round 2 of pruning more household items, I’m ready to let go of some intangible stuff – Pet Peeves. Over a year ago I blogged about my pet peeves including: 1. Radio interviewees who end with “Thank you” instead of […]
It all started out as a grocery shopping mistake. First mistake was that Jim asked me to do the grocery shopping because he was inundated with work.* Bottom line, it took me quite a bit longer and more grocery mistakes for me to do this task. My biggest mistake was that in a fit of […]
Jim informed me that I needed new jeans. He was right. A hole was starting in my “good” pair. No problem. I went to our trusty Gap Outlet where I knew I could get a pair cheap. I was on a tight schedule, however, so I quickly chose a pair of jeans missing the button. […]
…For my bumper stickers. Now usually I am proud that we have finally been able to downsize to one car. I know that the single factor that can make the most difference in energy conservation for most people is to reduce auto emissions by driving less. The fact that both Jim & I work out […]
As the months roll on, I’ve gotten quite a few messages on this blog, through e-mail, and in person that others have caught the “giving away” bug. They might have caught it from me or it might have just been the right time in their life to let go of more stuff. If I have […]
Sometimes we can take ourselves too seriously. During this year of giving things away, I have at times felt guilty, generous, virtuous, prideful, satisfied, and perplexed. I knew I was taking things a little too far when I asked myself: If giving away my cold or a smile would count, or If running out of […]
