The philosophy of minimalism is being embraced by people everywhere. It’s appealing to consider simplifying your life by getting rid of unnecessary physical possessions and concentrating instead on the experiences that bring fulfillment.

Except, for many, the actual process of lessening their load can be daunting, especially if you’ve accumulated years of stuff all in one place. For me, as someone who came from a long line of people who loved to keep things, it's a challenge even knowing where to begin.

Let’s make things more manageable and take a look at some specific ways that you can handle decluttering overwhelm. 

Know Your Why For Decluttering

In this world of chaos and unpredictability, it's easy to get lost in everything. Many people use the phrase, “Know your why,”  and it's used as a motivator to remind yourself of the reasons why you're doing anything. 

This same concept is essential for keeping you on-task when the...

Clutter. It drives us all mad and if you're like me, the harder you try to deal with it, the worse it gets.

All that extra “stuff” in our lives does harm to our brains and our wellbeing. It’s a hot topic and for good reason. As a society in the western world, and the US in particular we have more stuff than ever before.

Our houses are bigger, our closets are bigger, yet every closet, the spare bedroom, and the garage is full of stuff. There's now an entire industry that’s grown around helping us deal with our clutter from stores that sell organizing solutions, to organizing and decluttering consultants, and even storage units that allow us to keep even more stuff that we don’t have room for. 

Clutter Is A Distraction 

If nothing else, all this clutter and all this extra stuff can be very distracting.

When was the last time you spent more than a couple of minutes trying to find something among all the extra things you’re...

When I worked in Alaska for 4 months in the winter of 2012, I learned the true power of overriding fear. I've never forgotten what it took for me to be able to have a one-of-a-kind adventure and what I learned from the experience. 

It was simply meant to be a Christmas present for my husband. He's a pilot and would rather fly than anything.

It’s one of those passions your spouse has that you say, “I’m glad you love being a pilot but not me. I'll stand on the ground and watch while you go up."

But I'm not married to that kind of man. He wants me to go with him, to share, to enjoy the experience with him. He wants me up there with him. Oh brother.

Flying over a mountain 

So when I told him that his Christmas present would be flying on a ski plane to Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America, he loved this idea. And quietly I added, I’ll be staying back at the lodge and taking pictures.

“Well,...

It’s that time of year of the winter solstice. 

The solstice marks the shortest day of the year and the longest night. It's the first day of winter here in the Northern hemisphere. 

This video was created and performed by my very dear friends Helene and Dave Van Manen. Dave wrote this song 30 years ago but it’s still relevant today. I hope you sit back, relax, and allow yourself to feel the beauty in nature as you watch this amazing video. You'll probably want to watch it more than once!  You can listen to more of their music here.

Lessons from nature during the Winter Solstice

This time of year often passes by unnoticed as we are usually in a frenzy during the holidays.

Nature, however, can teach us so much now, not only how to navigate the darkness and the cold, but life lessons that we need to learn. Mother Earth tells us to listen and watch all around us as the leaves fall away and the roots settle underneath the ground to nourish themselves.

...

I’ve been lucky to have experienced 70 Christmases in my lifetime. Yep, I said 70. That’s kinda crazy when you think about it. But every year about this time I feel torn about the holidays.  

There are two things that get me:

1. The commercialism around Christmas and the pressure all around to buy, buy, buy...way before December 25 rolls around.   AND
2. The people who are not as lucky as I am, who don’t have a loving family or have huge losses, depression, trauma, or addiction. The holidays can highlight what they don’t have and make their situation seem even more difficult to deal with. 

I think about what if there was a way that we could all be kind, grateful, present, and have a Christmas we’ll always remember. What if?

Christmas can be very stressful. And it can be wonderful. 

How do you want this one to be? 

Remember last year? Most of us were at home, unable to see or be with our...

I remember when my son was deployed to Afghanistan. It was the spring of 2008. 

I had no idea of what it would be like to be the mother of a deployed Marine.  

What it was:  8 months of wearing an invisible cloak of fear. 

As Andrew was packing up to leave, I tried on his gear and could hardly stand up. 

Letting go of control

I recently found the passage in my journal from that time that reads "this is the ultimate experience in letting go of control." 

I felt powerless about the announcement both my sons made one day 2 years before. 

They said, "Mom, we're going to join the Marine Corps." I burst into tears.

I felt powerless to change their minds. Helpless. No control. Scared. 

And when the news finally came that Andrew would deploy to Afghanistan my worst fears came true. 

When have you felt you had no control over your life?

Have you had events this year that were out of your control? 

If you've had the...

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did." ~ Mark Twain

Every time I hear this quote, I feel the strong pull of examining what’s going right and what isn’t in my life. I know how important it is to get clear about what I really want. 

Taking stock of your life

Are you on track to not be disappointed with your life?  In other words, are you taking stock of your life and making sure that you have things that really bring you joy? Is this the road that you want?

If your answer is yes, Kudos! What's your plan to make the things that you haven't done yet happen? 

If your answer is no…

Then let’s walk through this together. 

It’s not always easy. 

When life has been cruel, it’s easy to think that you will fail if you try to have the life you've imagined.  Sometimes it’s easier to not think about the things that are messed up...

Here in the US, we’re less than a week away from Thanksgiving. It’s the time when we're supposed to be thankful for all "our blessings." 

For people who have been to hell and back this year, for those who’ve lost a loved one, for those who have had their hearts ripped out and stomped on, it can be an insensitive thing to hear the words...what are you grateful for? 

Feeling like you have nothing to be grateful for

If you're someone who's had a gut-wrenching year, I can imagine that you’re thinking...I don’t have anything to be grateful for. 

There's been too much heartbreak this year...the unexpected loss of a loved one, the breakup of a marriage, the dramatic ending of a relationship that you didn’t agree to, the exasperation of working a job where the risk is high for covid and with minimal appreciation,  the devastating loss of your house to a fire, and on and on. 

It can just be too much for our psyche and our...

"Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward."

C S Lewis

I’m always shocked a bit when I realize that we’re so close to the end of another year. It’s like suddenly there’s talk about what to have for Thanksgiving dinner and what will Christmas be like.

As we inch closer to December 31, we have choices we can make. 

We get to decide how we want the rest of the year to go and how to finish it up. 

And how we want to enter into the new year. 

Whether it's been the toughest year of your life or you've been able to sigh and say, well, it wasn't that bad compared to 2020, I want you to pause for just a second.

And think about the hard parts of 2021. 

Before we can move on to the next step, we have to let go.

It sounds easy, simple. Right?

But when you have a broken heart or you feel crushed by a huge sucker punch life has given you, it is NOT EASY to let go. ...

The answer to your best life might be surprising.

We all know it's not about having gobs of money, although having your basic needs met is crucial. 

Yet in this world where people are stressed, anxious, and not happy in jobs that are way too stressful and demanding, it's time to do what we can do and take ultra good care of ourselves. This is what makes an ordinary life the best life.

The secret is that you must love, believe, & nurture yourself

We live in a world where we don't know what will happen with the pandemic or the climate crisis. It's a crazy time in history and by many predictions, it will get worse. 

So...here's the deal. 

There are way too many things out of our control. 

But we do have control over what we say to ourselves.

We can choose to start loving ourselves so that we can be resilient and contribute to helping figure out how to help in our own unique way. 

When we let go of how we think life has...