Happy Summer Solstice!

Lots to talk about today, so let’s get started!

In my “other” life, I’m a middle of the pack runner and triathlete.  You can read about my exploits here.  Since a big race a few weeks ago though, I’ve fallen into a pretty deep slump.  At the suggestion of a few people, I’m shifting focus, at least for a little while, to something other than running, swimming, and biking.  I’m letting myself sit quietly and be not active.  I’ve been casting about for what to grab onto next and everything is trending toward the creative.  I went into my sewing room on my own whim for the first time in months.  It was wonderful.  I found this blog and have been inspired to make a couple of cards, just for fun.  In fact, I snuck out of work at lunch and ran to Staples to by this:

Bic Color Collection Ultra Fine Markers, 36 pack

While I was there I also bought these:

Flower Power Pens!
Yay for office supplies that have moxie 🙂

There shall be no wallowing in self-pitying despair when there are flower power pens in the world!

I’m also inspired by Ari at Stopping for Daisies to start what I call “gluing” again.  Like her, I don’t scrapbook.  It stresses me out.  But what I do like to do is glue things to other things.  Bits of paper to bigger bits of paper.  Cut out words from magazines.  Color with markers.  Whatever makes me happy.  I plan on spending some hours this week coloring, carding, and gluing.

Lastly, I’ve gotten the urge to take pictures again.  This happens to me every now and again.  I have a dSLR, but it’s currently on loan to someone, so I’ll go with what I’ve got – a decent point and shoot of my own, and a borrowed point and shoot that is a bit better than mine.  I do have a question for all the bloggers out there with totally awesome pictures (MegaNerdRuns in particular): how do you get your pictures to look so “warm”?  I think maybe it has something to do with the white balance?  If there is a secret, please let me know – I’d love to be able to take such warm, inviting pictures!!  Or at the very least, fake them with photoshop!

In the spirit of my renewed interest in phototaking, I’m going to do this 30 day photo challenge.  I think it’s nice that I’m starting it on the first day of summer.  A new project with which to start a new season!  First post about this coming up later today.

I plan on posting pictures of my attempts at creativity.  We’ll see how they turn out – both the attempts at creativity and the attempts at photography 😛

2 New Haiku

A friend of mine introduced me to Haiku Friday.   She and her friends would trade haiku via email on Fridays.  Nothing deep, nothing epic, just little haiku to make each other smile.

Here’s mine (about someone we don’t like):

The toad ate a fly

But a bird ate the toad – Yes!

Balance is restored.

Here’s the poem my friend wrote for me.  Keep in mind I like gin and tonics.

Sun is shining bright

Everyday gin time is here

Nothing beats Friday

Have a good weekend everyone!

I Smell a Change in the Wind

The focus of the blog is changing.  Because my focus is changing.  And I’m okay with that.  I learned a long time ago to just ride my whims and see where they take me.   This quote from StoryPeople seems to say it well:

I spent a long time trying to find my center until I looked closely one night & found it had wheels & moved easily in the slightest breeze, so now I spend less time sitting and more time sailing.

So while I may still talk about minimalism or post about the things I’m getting rid of, this blog will now be more of a scrapbook of writing.  Poems, prose, lines of words strung together.  I’m feeling more like writing these days, so that’s what I’m going to do.  Silly little things, fun things, things that make me smile or happy or lift me up.

Also, I found this website the other day: Operationbeautiful.com.  It is awesome.  It encourages people (mostly young women) to post encouraging, inspiring, and positive notes in random public places such as bathrooms, book stores, college campuses, etc.  Go there.  Get inspired.  Make yourself glow and pass it on.

Welcome to my next “thing”!

Wizard of Oz Shoes (Thing #129)

A couple of years ago I bought two pairs of shoes at Famous Footwear.  I really only wanted one pair, but they were having one of their “Buy One Get One 1/2 Off” sales.  I hate those kinds of sales.  But I got sucked in.  I was in one of my (very!) rare fashionista moods, and bought a pair of bright red patent leather ballet flats with silver buckles on them.  Cute enough, I guess.  But, the issue was that they only fit me if I went barefoot, but if it was warm enough to go barefoot, it also meant it was warm enough that my feet would start sweating in an instant in the non-breathable patent leather.  So, I’ve worn them approximately 3 times and regretted each wearing (I’m of the school of thought that says “Life is too short for uncomfortable shoes”).  So, they’ve sat in the back of my closet for the past two years and every so often I look at them and say “I really should wear those.”  But, I don’t.  Because I don’t really like them.

So into the Goodwill pile they go.  I’m sure someone else will be super duper happy to pick up a pair of bright red, barely used shoes and love them to death.  Which makes me happy; almost as happy as I am to get them out of my house.

The lesson that I learned (again!)?  Don’t buy it if it’s not the exact right thing! Or, at least the 90% right thing!  It’ll end up being a waste of money and I’ll end up resenting the thing and the money and who needs extra, self-caused, resentment in their lives?  Certainly not me!  I’ve a feeling I’m going to be writing this post over and over again, as I seem to have a hard time learning this lesson.  Hopefully my new found attention to my buying habits and the desire to reduce my holding (physical and otherwise) will curb such purchases in the future.  Hopefully!

Why I Love My 9 to 5

A lot of minimalists seem to seek a “location independent” source of income.  And that’s totally cool.  I, on the other hand, have a “normal” 9 to 5 job.  I clock in between 8 and 8:30, clock out between 4 and 5.  And I love it.  Here’s why.

My job is pretty mundane by normal standards: I’m a glorified secretary (excuse me, administrative assistant) in the financial industry.  I enjoy my boss and am good friends with the two other women in the office.  Together we make the days go by (relatively) quickly and all leave the office behind mentally when we leave it physically.  I don’t have a work sponsored Smartphone, and I don’t know how to check my office email from anywhere but in the office.  I’m in a very happy place in the responsibility:income work ratio.  This is all a very lengthy way of saying that whenever I’m not in the office, my time and my focus are all my own.

This freedom lends itself well to my personality.  I tend to have “passion ADD.”  This year and last I’ve focused on training and racing triathlons.  The several years before that I spent quilting and knitting.  This is of course in addition to various and sundry other things I’ve dabbled in: photography, spinning, blogging, yoga, mixed media collaging, rock climbing, and other things along those lines.  For a long time every time I was interested in something I’d think “okay, I like x, how can I make it into a career?  How can I twist it into an income source?”  And I didn’t like that.  I was afraid that I would take something I enjoyed and make it black, put a stain on it, turn it into something I had to do, instead of something I enjoyed doing.

I came to realize that I wanted to keep my work and my life separate.  My job pays the bills and leaves something left over to fund my life (bike parts anyone?).  Because I don’t take my work home with me at the end of the day, I walk out of the office free and clear and ready to play.  On any given day that “play” could be running, biking, napping, going to the library, the movies, dinner with a girl friend.  It doesn’t matter.  It let’s me flit around to different interests and ideas without worrying where my next paycheck will come from.  If I decide I want to plow headlong into, I don’t know, hang gliding, I have 4 whole hours every evening and the entire weekend to do that.  And if next week hang gliding switches to tapestry weaving, I can easily make the switch.  I know my 401(k) will still be funded and my rent will still get paid.  My mind can rest easily while it picks its next whim from the hat.

A Little Thing

I noticed something the past week or two.  Normally, when I’m in the car I have the radio on.  Well, I shouldn’t say normally.  I should say always.  A lot of the time it’s NPR, sometimes it’s Top 40 crap that I not-so-secretly love.  But recently I’ve become somewhat bothers by the noise of it all, and most uncharacteristically, turned off the radio.  I don’t really think about much (that’s what falling asleep time is for), instead I just kinda cruise along, enjoying the quiet.  I don’t know if it’s my recent re-kindling of minimalism, if I’m turning into a prematurely grumpy old lady, or what, but I’m just gonna go with it, and enjoy my quiet time.

The Driving Spinning Wheel (Thing #110)

Several weeks ago I decided that enough was enough and I didn’t need my spinning wheel anymore.  (No, I’m not an Amish woman or a time traveler from 14th Century England – although the time travel thing sounds intriguing!)  It had sat in the corner of my living room for over 4 years and had been used approximately half a dozen times.  That’s not a good ratio of time:use.  Yes, it looked pretty sitting in the corner, it also worked as a conversation piece when guests came: “Do you actually know how to use that?”.  However, I don’t think those things overcame the fact that it was an extra thing in my house that I didn’t need, especially, when it could garner some decent cash on Craig’s List.  So, I snapped some pics and posted it online.  Two scam emails and one offer for an exchange of live sheep in lieu of cash later, a legitimate buyer came through and I now have an envelope of cash (not sheep!) ready to be deposited into the bank.

And now it’s time for me to reflect.  As I watched the wheel drive away (well, you know, the car drove away with the wheel inside it – damn grammar!), I was a little sad.  The few times I did use the wheel I enjoyed it immensely.  Spinning is a very “zen” activity.  Well, maybe a more correct word is “meditative.”  It’s very quite – there is no whir of a sewing machine or klick/klack of knitting needles.  Your foot goes up and down, up and down in an unbroken rhythm, and you must concentrate enough on the roving in your hands that there is little room for any other thoughts.  If your thoughts do wander, as they often do during meditation (unless of course you are not a beginner like me!), the roving slips, or bunches, or breaks.  There is nothing wrong with this, nothing is broken.  It just gives you an opportunity to reestablish yourself and start over again.

But, as much as I enjoyed my spinning, it didn’t do it nearly often enough to justify the wheel in the corner of my living room and the money not in the bank.  And there are cheaper ways to meditate.  Like, you know, sitting on the floor and simply meditating!  I told a friend that I would be sad to see my wheel go, but in a week I would forget that I had ever owned such a contraption and wouldn’t regret in the least that I had sold it.

Update: I think I was a little generous with the week thing – it’s been approximately 4 hours since my wheel left for its new home, and already I can barely remember what stood in the corner of my living room for 4 years.  How quickly I move on!

More Thinking on a Wardrobe Challenge

I’ve thought a lot today about the wardrobe challenge, surfing a bunch of websites and reading blogs.  At first I considered doing a 6 Item Challenge, but no matter which way I arranged my tops and bottoms I didn’t think I could live with 6 items for 30 days.  I upped it to 10.  Here’s my preliminary list:

  1. Khakis
  2. Black jersey skirt
  3. Jeans
  4. White button down
  5. Colored button down (short sleeve)
  6. Yellow cardigan
  7. Neutral cardigan (not sure if it will be black or ivory)
  8. T-shirt
  9. Beaded tank top
  10. Jersey shirt (probably a teal blue, but maybe white)

General Rules:

  • 10 articles of clothing to be worn for 30 days: April 1 through April 30 (weekdays and weekends alike)
  • Not counted in 10 items: underwear, accessories, shoes, workout clothes, loungewear
  • Loungewear may not be worn in public – only the listed 10 items can be worn in public

That’s what I’m thinking.  I’m not sold on the white button down, as it could only really be worn to work.  Perhaps I’ll switch it out with a white v-neck 3 quarter length jersey shirt I have.

One thing I’m worried about is being warm enough.  I don’t know if I’ll be chilly in the office with a short sleeve shirt and a cardigan on.  It is April in Connecticut – we’re predicted to get 3 – 6 inches of snow tomorrow (no April fools joke here, I swear!).  We’ll see.  I’m not jumping into the project with two feet as I probably should.  I’m more dipping a couple of toes into it.  I’ll start tomorrow definitely, and give it some more mulling over the weekend.  But just to be safe I’ll stick to my list, just in case I decide to dive in headlong!

Thinking About a Wardrobe Challenge

In my readings one theme that keeps popping up is the “wardrobe challenge”.  The idea being you pare your wardrobe down to 6 or 33 or some small number of articles of clothing.  I’m thinking about taking this on.

See, this is how I work.  An idea comes into my head, usually from reading something online (I’m not smart enough or creative enough to think of this stuff on my own!).  I mull it over for a while, let it roll around in my brain, try it on for size, see how it feels for a day or two or seven.  Then, if it’s still there, I write it down.  Usually in the journal that sits by my bed.  That’s when it starts to become real.  (In its previous just-in-my-brain state, ideas aren’t real.  They can’t scare me or make me nervous because they are just in my brain and can’t hurt me.  It’s when they are put on paper that they start to take on shape and have consequences, good or bad.)  I mull it over for a while longer.  Then I might mention it to someone.  Usually someone who isn’t a close friend or family member (i.e. someone not in my inner circle, who has no reason to judge the idea, and by extension, me).  And then, when I’m comfortable with the idea, it comes out to my peeps.  The people whose judgement I value and approval I seek (I know – this is approval seeking is a problem.  I’m working on it).  Usually by this point I’ve sold myself on whatever idea I’m presenting (remember – I’ve been playing with this guy for what could be weeks by now!) and can pull off the grand unveiling without too much self doubt.

But anyway (what was I talking about?  How did I get on this tangent of the inner workings of my brain?  Scary!) – back to the wardrobe thing.  I was on Sara’s blog Life More Lived and she wrote pretty extensively about her experience with the 6 Item Challenge.  So, I’ve decided to think it over, to hold onto it for a while and see how it feels.  Try it on for size, pun intended.  You guys will be the first to know if I decide to move forward with it.  Thanks, Sara, for giving me something to think about!