Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Minimalism May

Annie and I are starting something new this May! Want to join us?? (Yes, of course you do!) 

An actual corner of my closet.

Our church is going through a series on generosity, and between that, recent conversations about living with less and giving away more, and the latest trends around minimalism and Marie Kondo, Annie and I thought it was timely to welcome Spring in (because in Boston, Spring is only just beginning!) with a little challenge of our own. Starting May 1st, we will try to give or throw something away each day of the month -- 1 item on May 1, 2 on May 2, and so on -- preferably things that can reused by others.

The original challenge that inspired uswww.theminimalists.com/game/
Annie found this call-to-action, and we changed the rules a bit to better match our goals and circumstances. We wanted to put some of what we're learning through our sermon series into practice, so we'll try to focus on how we can be more generous with our resources rather than just throwing things away for the sake of pruning (although I'm sure that will happen too!). We also thought that the "out by midnight" rule may be unrealistic for us at this time, so we'll be tracking our progress on Google Spreadsheets to keep accountable and arrange what to do with the things later.

BTW {disclaimer}, I'm not pursuing or advocating asceticism by any means - just following a personal conviction to hold onto less stuff. Very difficult for someone like me who just loves to have tubs (literally) of stuff "just in case", for "sentimental reasons", or "artistic inspiration", or that "someday-i'll-get-to-it-craft" (confession: I held onto a "someday-craft" gallon-size bag of PS/2 keyboard keys for YEARS - which of course never happened!)... I've actually been thinking for a long time about how easily I hoard and get tight-fisted over things, and especially over my time. One of my long-term goals is to learn to be more generous and more content with less. So as much as I'm NOT looking forward to parting with those precious "someday-crafts"and the like, I AM eager to take this challenge as part of my bigger goal, and hopefully in the process, learn to be more generous in other areas of my life as well.

Your turn! This is an open invitation for you to join us! You don't have to do exactly the same thing, but if you want to join, we can encourage each other to stay on track and even add you to our spreadsheet (if you want). Don't feel pressured to make up your mind right now either - you can think about it and start at any time. :) Whatever your personal convictions are, this can be a fun and challenging exercise to live with less, not to mention get a great kick off on that Spring cleaning if you haven't started already!

Sunday, April 19, 2015

New Beginnings

This past week was a whirlwind!

I had quit my job, traveled by plane and road-tripping to three different states, saw all of my family and some dear friends in the course of one week, and now am in Maine to begin orientation at my new work. I can't believe how fast it all went by! It has been a very sweet, full, and admittedly tiring week away, and although I am plumb tuckered out from the road tripping and jam-packed days from before, I am also eager and excited to begin a new chapter. 


Sweet goodbyes from coworkers!
Lobsters for the family!
Happy birthday to dad!
Skipos Reunion! Photo by Cat
Skipos! Photo by Cat
National Aquarium
Making new friends
Jellyfishing
Birthday celebrations in Baltimore

This is probably the earliest that I will be going to sleep since last week! And surprisingly I think that tonight has been the most restful and reflective night that I've had since starting my roadtrips. (Ok, I guess it's not that surprising if I had really thought about it...) 

Looking forward to new beginnings! 

Good night from Maine