Friday’s Favorites, but Not Five

Once again I am delving into the cyberworld to ferret out interesting and useful blogs for your enjoyment. Because this week was lower than usual on comments, and higher than usual on blog suggestions, I decided to change it up a bit. Hopefully I won’t be in trouble with you or with Colleen!

1. Since so many readers have lots of scrapbooking materials, I love this guide to holiday gift making. It’s July – time to start, right? (Warning, at least one of the links doesn’t work any more.)  http://smallnotebook.org/2008/11/11/holiday-gifts-handmade-with-paper/

2. Blogger Barbara Crafton says good-bye to her old (inanimate) friends at a yard sale. http://geraniumfarm.org/dailyemo.cfm?Emo=1309

3. Katie at Making This Home gives some nice guidelines for dealing with heirlooms. http://www.makingthishome.com/2010/06/28/the-decluttering-project-heirlooms-sentimental-items/

4. Is it cheating to pick two posts from the same blog? Here Katie talks about resisting the lure of shopping. I found the tidbit that the average American woman buys 60 new clothing items a year shocking. My family of four might buy 60 items for everyone, including school uniforms. http://www.makingthishome.com/2011/06/13/is-the-no-new-clothes-challenge-worth-it/

5. The Minimalist Packrat shares ideas on helping your kids to declutter. http://minimalistpackrat.com/2011/03/02/helping-kids-declutter-their-stuff/

And, for your additional reading enjoyment, two links that I especially liked from this week’s interviews.

6. From Bea at The Zero Waste Home, who thinks that our love of cleaning products is out of control.  http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/2010/05/cleanliness-standards-revised.html

7. And Dave at The 100 Things Challenge muses on dealing with the disappointment of things not going according to plan. http://guynameddave.com/2011/06/never-quite-according-to-plan/

Today’s Declutter Item (from Colleen)

I believe this is the last of the travel toiletries. I do solemnly swear that these will be the last ever to clutter up my bathroom cabinet as I believe that the purge is now complete and I plan for it to stay that way.

The last of the travel toiletries

Something I Am Grateful For Today

All the love that we have experienced in life whether fleeting, lost, long term or form those who have passed on. Look at all these experiences in a positive light no matter if the experience ended in sadness because that fact that someone loved you

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

As promised on Tuesday I have another wonderful interview to share with you today. Once again Ideealistin has put together a great interview, this time with Dave Bruno of The 100 Thing Challenge.

You might remember back on January 13th my post consisted of a review of Dave’s book The 100 Thing Challenge and how my skepticism changed to enlightenment once I had read the book. Before this I had only seen snippets from other bloggers about this concept and I thought it was just a fad that would be expensive to retract when the novelty wore of for some of the over eager participants who plunged into the deep end at the drop of a hat. I dare say this was the case for some but as it turned out Dave’s Challenge went a little deeper than that and was only applied to his share of personal items in the household to which he was a merely one member.

Although I do not aspire to ever attempt the 100 Thing Challenge I found that what Dave aspired to and achieved was not all that different and carries much the same lessons as my own challenge has done for me.

The Interview

Dave, you decided to cut back on consuming after realising it’s not moving you closer to contentment but rather is a rat race. Was the cutting back an idea that formed slowly or did you have some kind of epiphany?

Dave Bruno: It definitely formed over time. For many years, I had wanted to live more simply than I actually did. So the idea of simplifying was there. But the decision to do the 100 Thing Challenge was a bit of an epiphany. It was a plan I thought up in one night and jumped right into.

Why did you have to do it in a challenge? Did you need a big bang? A starting point? A definite goal? A guideline? A name for it?

Dave Bruno: I cannot answer this question well. The idea just came to me. You have to understand, at the time I decided to do this, I only had maybe 50 people reading my website. This 100 Thing Challenge idea was personal. My way of resisting consumerism. I had no thoughts whatsoever that anyone would think it was interesting. It never ceases to amaze me that hundreds of thousands, even millions, of people around the world have heard of the 100 Thing Challenge and are fascinated by it. While I cannot quite comprehend that, perhaps the response to the 100 Thing Challenge is the most interesting thing about it. Consumerism, it seems, is very much on the minds of many people around the world.

Minimalism, abstinence, vegetarianism – do you have an explanation why we love to label our lifestyle choices so much (just as we like to have labels on things apparently …) and  whether this is a good or a bad thing?

Dave Bruno: This is an important question. Humans are purposeful. We long to do actions that are meaningful. We are unique among the creation in this manner. There are no other creatures that even come close to humans with regards to our longing for purpose. Why does a person practice abstinence? Simply so that she does not have sex? No. She has a reason behind it. Perhaps a health reason or a moral reason. She’s intentional. But I am troubled by some people who practice minimalism. For some minimalists, there is no purpose. Having few possessions is the end. Usually people who feel this way then use their minimalism for self-indulgence. They are unattached to possessions and so feel free to do whatever they want. Their purpose is themselves. I think that is a damaging philosophy.

My own view is that consumerism has replaced the human desire to accomplish meaningful things with an impulse to buy things. Thus, I am advocating simple living as a way to remember who we are. It’s not that we are meant to only have 100 things. It’s that we are meant to do meaningful actions. When we fill our lives up with possessions, we forget who we are. So minimalism is a way to see ourselves for who we are. But it is not an end. It is a path to living a more purposeful, less selfish, life.

100 was just a number you picked randomly (probably because it sounded good?) – where you aware that so many people would follow you, try to beat you or discuss, whether 100 was a good or a bad number?

Dave Bruno: Again, I didn’t think about what others would say. I didn’t want to be a hermit, so I didn’t pick 50. And 150 would have been too easy. So 100 seemed like the right number. I suppose, looking back, it is a good number to have picked. People like a nice round number.

The experiment wasn’t necessarily about balance but about exploring what’s possible in terms of doing without. What is harder,to reach and endure the extreme or to live and define the ever changing balance?

Dave Bruno: Here in America we live in a consumer culture. It is very easy to get stuff. It is hard to get rid of stuff. So it was difficult to purge my possessions. Once they were gone, though, it was relatively easy to live with less. That’s the big secret of the 100 Thing Challenge: It wasn’t that hard.

What was the best you got out of the experiment? What was bad? and what was probably totally unexpected?

Dave Bruno: There are two bests. First, living with less does produce freedom. It has allowed me more time and energy to pursue meaningful activities. That’s wonderful!

Perhaps the bad and the unexpected are the same. I’ve become more aware than ever how much consumerism has damaged many lives and the world. In our times, the relentless pursuit of stuff has destroyed families, who divorce and fight because of stuff! It has squandered tallent, as young professionals use their skills to make and sell stuff. And of course it has damaged the earth. When we’re busy buying our next toy, we don’t see these tragedies. When we slow down and become aware, there is some grief we must grieve.

Is there anything you thought you could do without and found out you couldn’t? And if yes, was it a problem for you to go one step back because it was hard to replace something or  hard to admit defeat?

Dave Bruno: I don’t have a hard time admitting defeat. Who hasn’t been wrong? And will I not be wrong again some day? Best to admit it and move on.

Anyway, I did replace my guitar after the challenge was over. I simply missed it. I’m not a musician, so it wasn’t horrible to live without a guitar for a year. But after the year was over, I decided I wanted music back in my life.

Also, I would like a new pair of shoes.

* * * * * * *

Once again I have to say what a great interview. Ideealistin asked some questions of Dave that, since reading the book, I really wanted answers to. I was particularly taken with this response from Dave ~ For some minimalists, there is no purpose. Having few possessions is the end. Usually people who feel this way then use their minimalism for self-indulgence. They are unattached to possessions and so feel free to do whatever they want. Their purpose is themselves. I think that is a damaging philosophy. ~ It is something I have suspected from the moment that I discovered this movement called minimalism. I dare say that although the majority genuinely care for the environment and quality of life for themselves and others there will alway be the few who see it as a way to be lazy, uncommitted and totally carefree. Although those traits my sound tempting to a degree there is usually a point where they can be taken too far and the participant just becomes a burden on society.

My deepest thanks go out to Ideealistin for the opportunity to post this interview on my blog and many thanks to Dave Bruno for allowing her to share his words with me.

Today’s Declutter Item

In an attempt to declutter his pocket of bulk my husband has worked his way through a few brands of wallet/bill folds over some years. This is one of the rejects that will be handed on to the thrift store. Hopefully the one he is using now is perfect.

Hubby's Old Bill Fold

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I am extremely grateful that I have had the opportunity to travel in my life. Whether overseas of within my own country it is a pleasure and a privilege to be able to see new places, meet new people and learn a little more about this wonderful planet on which we live.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

More than a dozen years ago, when I was working, a email like the one that follows circulated. It’s probably the only chain email that I’ve found to be truly valuable. I hope you find it meaningful too.

A time management expert stood in front of the group of high-powered achievers. He said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?”

Everyone in the class said, “Yes.”

“Really ?” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to fill in around the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?”

By this time the class was onto him. “Probably not,” one of them answered.

“Good!” he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in, and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Now is the jar full?”

“No!” the class shouted.

Once again he said, “Good!” Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?”

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it.”

“Maybe that’s true,” the speaker replied, “but that’s not my point. What I want you to see is this: If you don’t put your big rocks in first, you won’t get them in at all.”

What are the “big rocks” in your life? Family? Health? Friends? Volunteer time? I bet it’s not reading home fashion magazines for two hours a day, searching endlessly on YouTube for something that makes you laugh, or hitting the “refresh” button on your Facebook page 6 or 7 times an hour. Yet somehow we find ourselves sucked in by the little things - the gravel (or worse, the water) - while the big rocks sit outside the jar neglected.

Ask yourself, “What are my big rocks?” and remember to put them first, or they won’t get in at all.

Today’s Declutter Item

Way back at the beginning of 365 Less Things I decluttered and repurposed some of my gift wrapping items because I made a pledge to treat friends to outings rather than buy them gift on special occasions and I have convinced my family not to exchange gifts with me anymore. So now I feel confident to declutter most of the remaining portion of my gift wrap stash as they are still sitting there unused after all this time. I will send this lot to the thrift store. In future I will keep a roll of brown paper, which I use to wrap eBay sales, that, with  a little artistic flare, I can decorate up in the event that I do find myself actually giving a physical gift item to someone near and dear.

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I am forever grateful for the cooperation and understanding of those near and dear to me when it comes to the lifestyle change I have adopted over the last eighteen months. My husband and my son are not only willing but independent declutterers and my friends and family have not only respected but in some cases embraced the changes that I have made to my gift giving/receiving ways.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Hi Readers, today I am featuring the first of two interviews that were very generously offered to me by Ideealistin, one of our regular readers and commenters here at 365 Less Things. When she isn’t decluttering or reading my blog Ideealistin is a journalist and recently she conducted these two short email interview that she thought would be a nice fit with my blog. I was granted permission to publish these by the two interviewees today’s being with Bee Johnson of  The Zero Waste Home and the second interview with Dave Bruno from The 100 Things Challenge is scheduled for Thursday.

Without further adieu here is the interview with Bea Johnson:-

Ideealistin: Bea, voluntarily giving up things seems to become a serious lifestyle choice and it seems to have its’ origin in the super consumer culture of the USA. Do you sense the wish for less in your everyday life and neighbourhood? Or do you think we are more at a stage of talking about the concept and liking it rather than executing the “less”?

Bea Johnson:  I think it’s a combination of the two. People are interested in living with less but they do not quite know how to change their accumulation habits. I think the American culture makes it too easy to accumulate. We are pounded with ads, are handed out freebies everywhere we go, and it is often easier to buy things then not buy them, (i.e, repair them or rent them). Which is why I have added the Refuse to our set of Zero Waste rules. We have been able to achieve very low waste by Refusing what we do not need (junk mail, freebies, plastic bags), but also by Reducing what we do need, Reusing by using and shopping with reusables, Recycling what we cannot refuse, reduce or reuse and Composting the rest.

Ideealistin:  Your change came about with downsizing house. Did looking at the way you were living make you want to downsize or did downsizing trigger the purging and rethinking?

Bea Johnson:  It is downsizing that triggered our rethinking.

Several years ago, we moved from a large home located in a bedroom community (where the car was our main mode of transportation) to a home half the size in an active downtown. We wanted to be able to walk or ride everywhere (school, stores, coffee shop, movies, theatre). But before finding the small house, we rented a small apartment for a year, with only a few necessities. We stored the rest. We immediately found out the benefits of living with less, We had more time to do the things that are important to us, such as spending time with family and friends, and explore/enjoy the outdoors. Once we moved in the small house, we let go of 80% of our belongings. It is with more time, that we also started educating ourselves on environmental issues, and decided to do something about it for the sake of our kids future. In the midst of the recession, my husband quit his job to start a sustainability consulting company, I tackled the house and our lifestyle.

Ideealistin:  You gave up on something, nobody really wants in the first place: waste. Were you expecting the harsh criticism that people confronted you with for giving up something that would end in the trash five minutes later anyway?

Bea Johnson:  I am not surprised by the criticism and expected it when going into it. I thought long about it before starting my blog. I live in a very consumerist society. Our story makes people reflect on their own shopping habits and sometimes shatters their way of thinking, But we’re not telling anyone how to live their lives, we’re just sharing how we live ours.

Ideealistin:  You did not really have a guide into your lifestyle changes. Would you have wanted one? How did you keep yourself motivated and assured of being on the right track? How do you feel about more and more growing into the role of a sort of guide yourself for others?

Bea Johnson: Had I had a guide, I would have reached our current waste level, much faster. Not having one though, allowed me to test some extremes and find my level of comfort without compromising our trash level. It helped me evaluate and stick to changes that are sustainable, i.e. applicable to the long term. We do not consider Zero Waste as a short term project, but rather a lifestyle. All along, my motivation was, is and will be, the future of my kids.

Ideealistin:  Relinquish waste also meant to give up certain things or find alternatives. Today you say you like your new way of life and the alternatives better – but how did giving up feel on the way? Did you have cravings, hard times, thoughts of giving up?

Bea Johnson: With any change, naturally comes adaptation. Washing my hair with baking soda and vinegar for 6 months, made me feel like someone else – or something else, like salad dressing ;). I realized that I had gone too far by “giving up” hair luster that comes with shampooing. I now use shampoo sold in bulk (I refill my bottle at the store). Today, I do not feel that I am “giving up” anything, as we have found a balance and have Zero Waste on auto-pilot. After all, this lifestyle has not only made our family happier, healthier, and more organized, but it has also saved us money and more importantly time! With that in mind and contrary to popular belief, I think this lifestyle gives back more than it takes away.

Ideealistin:  When talking (and blogging) about your choices you’ll always get other opinions, some thinking you go too far, others thinking you do too little. How did (or do, if this is still something you think about today) you manage to find the right balance?

Bea Johnson: My balance is based on finding out what worked for me and my family, and ignoring other people’s opinions. If we worried about other people’s opinions, we would have never evolved. I think worrying about people’s opinions is what keeps many people from changing, it puts them into an action paralysis. I truly believe and live by these Gandhi words: “Be the change you want the world to be.”

Ideealistin:  Many people seem to see zero waste and „less is more” not as an option because they feel their spontaneity (or even their creativity) endangered by not being able to buy things on the go (whether be it coffee or shoes they like and that maybe are on sale). Do you feel or ever felt too unspontaneous?

Bea Johnson: Spontaneity can manifest itself in many different ways. One does not have to be an ardent consumer in order to be spontaneous. It is actually with the time that we have gained from living with less that we have gained spontaneity (less time to care for things, means more time to care for people). It might not be through consuming an unneeded pair of shoes (thoughtless purchase), but rather through getting together with friends: sharing an impromptu glass of wine, or going for coffee (the coffee shops serve in reusable ceramic cups), or packing a last minute picnic … This lifestyle puts more emphasis on human interaction than it does on stuff, of course.

***End Of Interview***

I think you will agree with me that Ideealistin asked some very pertinent questions here and was given some very thoughtful and candid responses by Bea. I for one had a lot of the questions answered that I had been wondering about Bea and how the metamorphose of her and her families lifetstyle took place.

Thank you so much to Ideealistin and of course to Bea Johnson for the opportunity to release this interview here at 365 Less things.

Today’s Declutter Item

There will be a lot more Snoopy stuff passing through the Declutter Item of the Day before the end of the year. There are some to donate and some to try to sell on ebay. So expect to see a lot more of it.

Snoopy Toys

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Today I would like to say how grateful I am to you all, my wonderful readers for joining me on my declutter journey and in some cases sticking with me for a very long time now. Every new reader is a blessing and any faithful reader who has stuck with me through thick and thin are considered a friend. It is great that some of you add your voices to my post through your comments. Those comments make this blog a more rounded experience for all readers as well as for me. New and differing opinions is how we learn in life and I am always grateful for the opportunity to learn. So thank you everyone, new, faithful, talkative or silent, I know you are out there listening and I am grateful for that.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some quick decluttering.

This week, since I am on vacation (sort of), I am going to take it easy on you as well. We will do some really quick mini missions that shouldn’t take long. Keep it simple is the theme of the day, just glance at each of the areas I set and declutter any obvious items that meet your gaze. If the exercise inspires you to do a thorough declutter of the area then good for you but it isn’t necessary so don’t blame me if you get carried away. You can give me credit for inspiration if you like though. 🙂

Monday – A shelf in the pantry.

Tuesday – Your junk drawer if you still have one after all my nagging.

Wednesday – Your bedside cabinet/table.

Thursday – Sock drawer, anyone’s will do.

Friday – The glove box of your car.

Saturday – A bathroom cabinet or drawer

Sunday – The shoe cupboard/box or wherever shoes congregate in your home. My son thinks this is the floor under my breakfast bar but he is ill-informed ~ actually he is constantly informed that this is not where they belong but he is reluctant to comply.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

As you know I travel light. I see no point in owning a box like this that takes up more space than the items meant to be kept in it. Yet another item for the thrift store.

Toothbrush/Paste Box

Something I am Gratitude For

I am grateful for whatever divine intervention put the idea into my head to declutter one thing a day. This thought jumped into my head in a split second one day and I went with it and haven’t looked back.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow.

It’s the big reveal, not of a completely decluttered craft room but more of the extent to the amount of craft supplies I actually had in the first place. Also as the heading today implies I really only am in mid-declutter of this area. I intend to continue in my usual gradual manner until I am content that I have the situation under control. The process of taking the photos opened my mind even further to how much area this takes up in ratio to how little time I spend actually being creative in it. If you are even in doubt about what needs clearing out in an area I suggest you take a look at it through a camera lens. That will really focus you view!

I would just like to point out at this point that the brown sewing cabinet in the photo is now empty and I will be putting it up for sale when I return from vacation so that will really make a difference to the appearance of the space. As I said this area is a work in progress and I will update you again sometime in the near future.

Colleen is on vacation visiting her daughter and other family, so I’m exploring the blog world this week and picking the Friday’s Favorite Five. As a reminder, I rarely read blogs, so picking 5 favorites is always an experiment for me.

And my favorite comments from the past week:

1. Jo praises Colleen for her systematic way of dealing with a trouble clutter spot and finds a solution to a long-term problem. http://www.365lessthings.com/?p=1510#comment-8959

2. Di praises Colleen the inspiration she provides after listening to Colleen’s interview. http://www.365lessthings.com/?p=1489#comment-8932

3. Natalie shares her great plan to motivate her children to get rid of their no-longer-needed items and to save for future wants and needs. http://www.365lessthings.com/?p=1243#comment-8991

4. Chelle reflects on her decluttering journey. http://www.365lessthings.com/?p=1243&cpage=1#comment-8980

Today’s Declutter Item

Books of Love

Something to be Grateful For

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow