Project 333

Yes, I'm still around! And I've decided I'm going to do this Project 333 beginning April 1 (No, not April Fool's Day - the first day of April!)

I think the hardest part for me will be deciding what I want to bring with me on this journey. I'm making two decisions right off:

1. My Handknits & my daughter's handcrafted jewelry are exempt.
2. My shoes are exempt: I have problem feet, so the fact that I have many shoes in two brands that I can wear year-round (including sandals and boots) is non-negotiable. The day might come that I ditch a few, but I'm not holding my breath. They're expensive shoes, because they are my "medicine" of sorts.

That said, I hope to spend a little bit of time here this coming weekend to work thru the closet in advance of April 1. I love the explanation here about How to Make Space.

And I'm not aiming for an unpleasant experience. When I lost the ton of weight I was carrying around (2 years ago), I decided the closet would be kept in a minimal way, that I wouldn't load it down with too much stuff, and I'd only buy what I loved.

Well...you can imagine how that turned out, can't you? Not so much. I know I bought things that were, well, convenient. And since I tend to be a uniform dresser, when I found something that worked, I bought every color.

So I hope this will help me return to my original intention about clothing. We'll see!

If Each One Changes One...

What an amazing world we'd live in, don't you think? Go visit Courtney and see if her suggestions resonate with you? The did with me...

and Happy Valentines' Day.

Ahimsa

I promised to share this when I received it. It's quickly become the one piece of jewelry I wear, and, true to it's intended purpose, it reminds me regularly that I'm trying extra hard to be enveloped with kindness, towards others, and especially towards myself.

I've a bad habit of negative thinking towards myself, not just the bad behaviors of saying "yes" too often, both in piling on commitments and in opening the purse to pay for something more..anything more, but the verbage that runs in my head that chastises me for failing perfection. I even caught myself saying "You idiot!" and meaning myself. Interesting how often that apparently has happened in my life, and even more fascinating that I'm only *just* picking up on that! (There's a part of me that says, "Isn't it about time you figured this out?" and the answer I'm trying to give when that particular tape runs is "It's okay, you're figuring it out now and will move forward without it.")

Then in the actions that are detrimental section? If I'm stressed or bored? It's always been okay to just use a bit of retail therapy. Well, I've been more aware and instead have surfed on over to Ravelry, searching for free knitting patterns, then diving into stash to figure out what I have that will work to make this new lovely (whatever I've found).

I'm trying to get myself to the point of saying, okay, with this reduction in spending there will be an increase in saving, but frankly? I'm trying to pay down some older debt, and while I do want to start saving, with rates what they are, I think I'm probably better off paying the debt off first.

So methinks that this lovely little charms necklace is helping, just in the few days I've had it! YAY!

And yes, it's not lost on me, that by purchasing this, I spent money. However, I did support a craftsperson I care about. This isn't about denying myself, it's about being intentional and thinking before I do something. Making sure I'm being thoughtful and aware in everything I do and think. While I know it sounds as if it's an entirely "me-focus," I believe I've already seen a difference in the way in which I relate to others, because with ahimsa, it's non-harming, honoring, caring for everything and everyone. I think my mindset has taken a kinder path recently and for that, yay! Gaining patience, thinking before saying things to ensure that what I say won't hurt the feelings of someone else is very other-focused.

And obviously, I not perfect. I am watching the one step forward, two back trend to this, but I think the forward steps will become more numerous and the backward ones, fewer and farther between.

And that's what it's all about!

When I Grow Up I Want To Be Maia!

My friend Maia from julia warr on Vimeo.

This is what I'm setting as my life goal. Practicing Ahimsa will help me get there.

One Word 2012: Ahimsa

Lately, I've been thinking that the word I should choose was "hermit." As that's what I wish I could do nowadays. But no, not really the sort of thing that's really appropriate for this "resolution" that's NOT.

So I've gone round and round, and finally decided that enough of the words I was looking at fit under the heading of one of the yamas of yoga: Ahimsa. Ultimately, it means non-harming, and while obviously I'm not a person who would intentionally harm anyone, I'm going to have to look at this from the standpoint of not harming myself.

I am one of those people who have a difficult time saying "no." Who loads on more and more, and rests less and less. Who can't easily chomp down on the purse strings long enough to do the right thing by myself.

My charms have been ordered, and I'll share a photo when the necklace arrives. And the plan is to revisit this often during the year. I hope I'll learn a lot.

So...what's YOUR word?

Just One Word and Then Some...

One Little Word.

I'm enthralled with this idea, and especially Rainy's post. In her shop she's offering charms to help keep the focus in the right place. Rainy is amazingly in tune with my thinking so often, it's almost scary, but I am totally enamored of the idea of One Word. I'm in the process of thinking through what my word will be and am about there. I'll share when I've placed my order with Rainy (which will then make it official!).

Then in my surfing along through my Google Reader, I discovered this fascinating article from Marc & Angel to start doing for oneself. Great piece, so full of helpful, thought provoking things to do...

And of course, all of this is because resolutions don't usually work. I've long been one to make "plans." And try to follow through with them. But you know what? That's not a lot more successful than making resolutions is for me...still I really do like this discussion of "resolutions" that might work:
Just two little things. I can handle these.

One more terrific thing I found and plan to use:
2012 Declutter Calendar from My Simple Life. This really IS a smart calendar, as it gives you one thing to do each day to make your life less messy and overwhelming. Love the idea, and hope I can stick to it, but you know what? Any day I accomplish something will be one day better than I managed last year!
*wink*

Okay. One word (which will encompass many things, I can share that much), a De-cluttering Calendar that will have me accomplishing one thing per day towards making my life simpler, neater, more minimal, and 30 things to start doing for me, along with two (fairly fail safe) old fashioned resolutions! Wow...I'm tired already.

Happy New Year! I somehow like 2012 better than 2011...easier to say, let's hope it's better in many many ways!

Making Changes a Baby Step at a Time: Or Use What You Have

I just discovered a new blog that's helping me do exactly that: Make Do. Okay that's not the name of the blog, it's called Frugally Sustainable, but the thrust of the article linked up above is all about that Yankee practice my Mom's generation was raised with...That "Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without."

I'm really hopeful that in 2012 I can begin to chronicle some of the things I'm planning to do, but the very first thing is to accept that I'm not in the perfect spot to live a sustainable lifestyle (specifically, I can't grow my own food which makes me incredibly sad) but there are small things each one of us can do...

Until things change so we can be even more sustainable.