Discover Your Bliss

246 vintage neckties that kept me stuck

This week I had a major a-ha moment about 246 vintage neckties.  

Why - you might ask - do I have 246 vintage neckties?  The potential, the possibilities, and the creativity.

I purchased this mega-huge bag of neckties (more than 246) at a garage sale several years ago.  My head spun with the possibilities of what I could do with these neckties (translation: cool sewing projects).  

Did I use the ties?  Yes, yes I did.  I made cool applique Christmas stockings for my parents (a cowboy and a cowgirl) as well as a rocking reversible Christmas tree skirt (one side had cowboy boots made from the vintage ties that looks amazing).  I also made a black sling purse.  

My guess is that I originally purchased closer to 300 vintage neckties.  

After the Christmas projects, I didn't do much with the ties, except for get a huge plastic box to store them in my closet.  

Fast forward to today.  I realized that the neckties now lower my energy instead of uplifting it.  They're more of a burden than a joy.

I've listed them on Craig's list and know that I will soon report that they have sold (cross your fingers and send me lots of selling the neckties energy).  Also, if you know of anyone that would want them, please let me know.

Comparing the energy of having the neckties and what it will feel like to have them gone is interesting.  I'm giddy with joy about them leaving, which underscores my a-ha about their role in my life.  

Instead of working on fitting them into the projects I want to create - it will be more important to find materials that will work with my ideas (and obtain those materials when I want to create a project and not the reverse).  

I look forward to reporting good news soon about the neckties and their new home.  

How do evaluate the 'stuff' in your life?  What question would support you in deciding what stuff stays and what goes?  

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries. 

Clearing clutter via eBay

When the usual question of What do you want to do this weekend? made its way to me, I simply stated, "I want to put stuff of eBay.  Seriously, I want it done this weekend." 

Some people love putting stuff on eBay, while others - like myself - don't care for it too much. 

After a lot of sorting and preparing on Saturday, I finally got 13 items listed.  Ugh. 

I'm getting more and more serious each time I do a 'sort through' of my things and this time I'm in the red zone of seriousness. 

I refuse to keep things that do not support my energy and that I don't absolutely love. 

Eleven of the thirteen items I listed were fabric.  I realized that I was keeping fabric because all of the potential it held in my mind and not the practical reason of 'Will I ever use this?'

There was fabric in patterns that I love, yet colors of the patterns that I will never use (I had two really cool retro patterned fabrics of clothes and clotheslines in colors I don't like - light pinks and blues). 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will sell and I can get the stuff out of here to make room for me to put away the things I do use and love.  Ahh...just thinking about all that open space is peaceful.

I just took a peak and saw that I already have watchers on some of the items - which is fabulous! 

My backup game plan (for items that don't sell) is to either group more of the items and re-list them or to put them on Craigslist and go the local route.  

My plan is to put more things on eBay this week - as well as - have another marathon eBay session on Sunday. 

Here's how I see it - the more work I put into getting my stuff out of here, the quicker I will have that space to breathe and the sooner I will have the clutter disappear. 

Just like the famous words from the song - You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd:

All you gotta do is set your mind to it

knuckle down, buckle down - do it, do it, do it

So far anyone out there that needs a bit of inspiration this week - just remember the inspirational words from Rodger Miller and 'do it, do it, do it.'

What's the one thing that would support you the most when it comes to getting your most 'disliked' task accomplished?  How will you ask for that thing and when are you willing to set yourself in motion?

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries.

 

Reduce stress in less than a minute

Is your list of "to dos" overtaking your desk, home and mind?  Feel like you'll never climb out from under the endless sea of "to dos?" 

Never fear - a quick and easy solution awaits you...and it's really simple. 

Figure out what the most important thing is that you need to do today is and do that.  Just that one thing before moving into your next in line "to do."  

I've found that I can sometimes do all sorts of things on my "to do" list that are less important - simply because I don't want to do the most important thing (or think it will be too challenging to complete). 

By choosing what's the most important, I've discovered that the residual stress as a result of procrastination begins to disappear.

I invite you to practice selecting just one "to do" today and pay attention to how your energy begins to shift after you've completed that number one important task.  Who knows...you might just get more done as a result. 

What's your most important task today?  How do you determine what's important in your life?

I'd love to hear your insights and discoveries. 

How to keep your online information safe

Here's a few quick tips on keeping a safe and low profile online in order to decrease your chances of identity theft. It's all about keeping a low profile. 

1.  find out what's already out there by searching for your own name with services such as Google, 123people.com, PeekYou.com and Snitch.name. 

I'm amazed at the information that Snitch.name covers - public photos, phone numbers, age, address, social networking information, etc.  The call themselves the social white pages.   

2.  If you find something you don't like, then write to the site owner and ask that it be removed; contact information is available on many sites.  Ask a lawyer in cases of serious breaches.

3.  When creating a social media profile - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Yelp, consider using a nick name or variation on your name, so you post isn't linked to your real name. 

4.  Always, always, always find out the privacy settings and policy for each site before you post photos, video or text.  Items such as your Facebook profile photo are free for all to see. 

5.  Just like you wouldn't give a stranger a ride or eat their candy - only accept "friends" on social networking sites if you know them. 

6.  When dealing with a lawsuit or other public proceedings with sensitive information - you might consider having it sealed by a judge. 

As always, take everything with a grain of salt and choose how you share your information and with whom carefully. 

What is your public information safety threshold?  How do you know when you're share too much information (online or in person)? 

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries. 

Unread magazine project - part 3

This unread magazine project is turning out to be more fun than I imagined. 

If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you might want to check my two previous posts on the topic:  unread magazine project and unread magazine project - part 2. 

Newsflash - I have all of September's magazines (Martha Stewart Living) read - and I had them read before September!  I also made the following recipes as a result:  roasted vegetable soup, mushroom soup & honey walnut cake. 

Since I completed my September magazines so quickly, I made myself a deal - I could work on August's magazines - as long as - I have them completed by September...and I did. 

Why is this such great news?  This whittles my year-long magazine reading adventure down a month - so instead of completing in July of next year, I will be complete by June (and possibly May if I keep this up).  Yippee! 

After completing all of August and September's magazines, I got to shift my magazines around so that the August/September magazines are filed in a plastic magazine holder along with a sticky note that reads: Unread magazine project - August & September - complete!

I'm looking forward to the next few months of magazines, since the focus will be the holidays:  Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas - fun, fun. 

My mountain is beginning to turn into a molehill. 

What's something that "feels" like a mountain in your life?  What's one thing you can do to begin to shift it into a molehill? 

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries. 

Unread magazine project - part 2

Last week I talked about my Unread magazine project regarding my unread Martha Stewart Living magazines and my plan to get through them in one year's time.

I have to say that I had my doubts - in myself.  I wasn't sure if I could do this.  I thought, If I went all this time and didn't look at these magazines, then what makes me think that I'm going to do it now?

Thankfully, I did not follow, nor believe that thought. 

A few hours after that post, I gathered all of my Martha Stewart magazines and sorted them into piles according to month.  Most months had four magazines, some had three. 

I reorganized the magazines so that the upcoming months would be closer at hand and put the August, July, June, May and April magazines further out of reach.  

My first month to tackle - September - with four magazines.  Hmmm...

 

On Friday, I decided to start looking at the first magazine (from 2003!) and had an instant realization - I love, love, love Martha Stewart Living magazine. 

You might be wondering why that was such a realization.  I'd built up in my mind that getting through a Martha Stewart Living magazine ranked up there with pulling teeth or climbing Mount Everest.  Not so. 

I forgot how easy it was to go through the magazine and how much I enjoyed reading it.  Before I knew it, I'd finished magazine number one.  Yippee! 

Magazine number two quickly followed and I'm currently working on (playing on) magazine number three. 

The unread magazine project has also resulted in a few fun side trips as well. 

I found three recipes in magazine number one that I wanted to try, so on Sunday, I bought the ingredients at the farmers market and spent the majority of the afternoon making roasted vegetable soup (majorly labor intensive, yet good) and honey walnut cake.  Jon approves of both so the recipes took up residence in my recipe book.

What started out as a dreaded project has turned into a fantastic adventure.  What bliss!

What's something you're dreading doing that might result in an adventure?  How can you use adventure more in your everyday life?

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries.   

  

Unread magazine project

I love magazines.  I read tons of them and I love them. 

The most challenging aspect of loving magazines (for me) is keeping up with them month after month and not amassing a huge pile of unread paper.

I have a great system for this - when I'm finished with a magazine, it goes to the bottom stack (my read and unread magazines have a dividing point - so I know where one ends and the other begins).  As soon as the unread stack reaches the top of my chair, then I call the magazine lady and give them to her. 

Now if I have such a great system, why am I writing this?  Martha Stewart Living. 

I love Martha Stewart Living magazine, yet for some reason I went months and months without reading them.  They kept getting pushed to the side and put in other places. 

I have some of those nifty plastic magazine holders that have my subscriptions of past years and I've decided the I will no longer keep them for reference (I haven't referenced them and most stuff can be found online) - however - I do want to read them all before I let them go. 

Thankfully, I no longer subscribe to Martha Stewart Living - so I'm not adding to the unread magazine pileup.  And that's the only reason I no longer subscribe - my unread magazine pileup. 

I've created a plan for myself that will take one year to complete - yet if I decide to shorten the plan, that's also okay. 

I am going to gather all of my Martha Stewart Magazines by month and read them accordingly.  If I start reading one and realize I've already read it, then it will go in the rotation of my nifty plastic magazine holders until I have completed the year and at the end of that year I will give them away to someone that wants them.

Here are my ground rules: 

1.  Read the magazines by month - since this is August, I will start with the September magazines - my fantasy goal is to read the September magazines between Aug. 15-Sept. 15 and then start in on the October magazines Sept.15-Oct. 15, etc. 

2.  If, for some reason, I need until the end of the month, that's okay, yet the minute the month changes - that's it - the magazines are headed to my nifty plastic magazine holders to await their eventual give away. 

3.  I have one year to complete the challenge.

4.  If I take less than one year - that's okay.  

And the big bonus at the end of all of this?  I will have more stuff out of my home!  Clearing clutter opens up more space for good things!  And that's a good thing (to borrow from Martha Stewart). 

Ready, set, read!

What challenge would you like to create for yourself?  How will you keep yourself motivated, accountable and on track? 

I'd love to hear your insights and discoveries. 

How to organize your vacation pictures part 2

Ready to get those vacation pictures closer to the world of organization?  Read on to discover more tips. 

From last week's post, we learned the first three steps in organizing your vacation photos:  delete, rotate and create folders. 

Assuming your goal is to create a photo book from you vacation pictures, the following steps might support you in achieving your goal in a more timely fashion.

I prefer Shutterfly over Snapfish or other online photo retailers.  I am not getting a kickback by Shutterfly for saying this - I love their quality and ease of photo book tools. 

Please note that these tips are for digital photography.  If you prefer to print out your photos and physically scrapbook and organize them, then many of these step will also apply.

Uploading Photos

Instead of uploading all of my vacation photos to Shutterfly, I prefer to do a bit of pre-organizing prior to upload so I don't get overwhelmed by my choices - plus once you've uploaded your photos, you might not be able to see them as clearly since they will not appear as large on your computer screen. 

I work on one day of vacation photos at a time in order to make the process simpler. 

Step one:  grab a scrap sheet of paper and pen so you can write down which photos you want to upload.

Step two:  decision making time - go through one day's worth of photos to determine which ones you want to put in your album. 

You might think that they all should go in your album (and that might be the case) yet with some careful comparison, you can weed out any repeat and not as interesting photos. 

Let's say you took several photos of the Washington Monument.  How many of the photos do you use? 

I prefer to use one or two - max (unless there is something spectacular about your photo subject or you have a certain theme or style you are creating).  One of my photos would be of the full-sized monument and the possible second photo might be of a detail or special angle. 

What if you took several photos of the Washington Monument, then took several more that also included your husband?  Choose which one looks the best and only include it as your "main" photo focus. 

Constantly ask yourself - Is this photo important to my book?  What's the value of my adding or excluding this photo from my book?  

The more you do this, the easier it will get for you to determine which photos will work best in your book. 

Step three:  write down the photo numbers/jpegs/names that you want to include in your ablum so it will be easy to upload when the time comes. 

Step four:  once you have your day one photos selected, then upload them to Shutterfly (or similar site) so you can select them for your album use.

Step five:  After you've added the photos to your photo book project, then you can start building your book...one day at a time. 

More great vacation photo tips to share next week. 

What's your process when tackling large projects?  Where would you like to ask for support? 

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries.  

Molded nectarines are fantastic

When I got up this morning, I noticed that the organic nectarines I'd purchased at the farmer's market were molding. 

Instead of throwing away the whole fruit, I took the time to cut off the bad places and clean the remainder of the nectarines to eat later. 

I was calm and grateful as I did this and didn't get stressed that the clock was ticking and my early morning bike ride time was being pushed back.

I prefer to leave for my ride around 5:45-6:15am and as a result of my fruit time, I didn't get to leave the house until 7:10am. 

When I ride my bike, I listen to my XM radio.  If I leave in the 5:45-6:15am hour I get to hear Gayle King and Dr. Robin.  Since I left at 7:10am - I heard Dr. Robin and the beginning of Dr. Oz. 

Why do I think that molded nectarines are fantastic?  Because they caused me to leave a bit later and get in on the Dr. Oz show - which had a medical intuitive on it - and I am loving listening to that show (as I write this). 

The Dr. Oz show was so educational and led me to a book that I want to read (and will put it on my birthday/Christmas list).   

What did I learn?  To see everything as a gift instead of getting upset about how I THINK the event might color my day in a negative light. 

How can you start to shift into seeing everything as a gift?  What's something that you didn't like or enjoy in the past week that you can now see as a gift? 

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries. 

Journalist released by North Korea

I can't tell you how many times I've thought about journalists Laura Ling & Euna Lee sentenced to a hard labor camp in North Korea. For some reason, this particular story disturbed me to my core. 

When my thoughts would wonder to the two women, I'd pause and send them healing and loving energy hoping that something could be done to bring the two journalists home. 

My recent visit to Beijing heightened this awareness - since I was so close to the women (from a geographical standpoint) - and I constantly wondered if there was anything I could do.  If anyone could do.

When I heard the news that they had been released and that President Clinton was escorting them back to the United States, I was overjoyed.  

Ling and Lee's capture heightened my awareness of what it means to have freedom as well as my gratitude for the little things. 

What gratitudes do you have as a result of hearing this and other similar stories?  How does your outlook on life shift when you value your freedom and relish every moment?

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries.