8 Things You Don’t Need Anymore (#7 Made Me Panicky)

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Dee Clark

You know how they say that change is as good as a holiday? Yeah, well, organisation is like that for me. And yesterday I spent the day re-organising my kitchen. Attending to all those little jobs that I have been putting off. Seriously, you guys! I feel completely refreshed today and thrilled with my kitchen.

If you have been using the “latter” word when it comes to your clutter…go conquer your stuff! It’s a fabulous feeling.

Professional organiser, Jill Pollack, has 8 things you can get rid of today and you won’t even miss them:

1. Old Paint. All the touch-up paint you are holding onto expires 6 months anyway. Keep the info and have a test pot made if you ever need touch-up paint.

2. Black Boots. We women have heaps of shoes and boots. Seriously, who needs several pairs of black boots? Pay attention to the ones you default to most often and pair down the number to two pair. (I know, don’t hyper-ventilate!)

3. Candles. We all have them everywhere. How old are they? Do they still smell like vanilla or pumpkin or anything fresh? Do you light them? Or are they just collecting dust! I don’t know about you, but I don’t need one more thing to dust. I recently biffed all my candles that were more than a year old…and the others, I have been lighting and using them! I’m even thinking of learning to make my own. That way I won’t feel bad about using them cause I’ll know, I can just make more! I’ll let you know if I do.

4. Ugly-Mismatched Sheets! Ok, this is my home pet-peeve. I hate to sleep under ugly, mismatched sheets and blankets in my own home. You only need 2 sets of sheets per bed unless you never do laundry. Then, as Jill points out, you have bigger problems than ugly sheets.

5. Old cellphones and technology. Unless you are a museum curator you are never going to need all that…out…out with it all…Jill says, “feel good about it and let it go.”

6. Old textbooks and encyclopaedias. With information so readily available, if you haven’t cracked open any of those books in ages, recycle, recycle, recycle.

7. Freebie Pens. Ok, we all have that 1 item that is terribly hard to part with. Mine is pens. Confession time: I have a pen fettish! I love them. I collect them! I might have even been known to accidentally keep a few hundred freebie pens (even though my husband can never find a pen when he needs one…shhh, I sometimes hide them, too!) so, this one is difficult for me. But, I do evaluate and toss the ones that are out of ink. That is progress for me. I used to save the cool ones thinking I would replace the ink refill…NEVER happened. So, now, when they stop writing, I mournfully send them to pen heaven. Ok, I trash them. Be brave…you don’t really need all those pens. I’m working on this one.

8. Free Delivery Magnets. They are just plan ugly. Sorry. Put them in a toxic recycle bin. Yeah, not supposed to just trash them.

Are you feeling panicky?

Breathe.

It’s alright.

You CAN do this.

Don’t put it off until later. Now is the new later according to Peter Walsh

Go.

Go, do it now.

You’ll feel all good and smart and relaxed and like you’ve just had a holiday. That is if your the same kind of organisational-crazy that I am! If not, you’ll feel more organised.

What would you add to the list?
Happy organising! Come sip coffee with me when you’re done.

See you soon.
D

Oh, here’s a snap shot of my clean little pantry cupboard. One thing I had to let go of were spices and empty spice bottles (although I kept 6 empties just in case I forgot something). I buy spices from the bulk store and refill bottles I have. So, I’m down to the spices I use all the time and nothing more. If the empty bottles aren’t used in 3 months, they are going.

Do You Want Things To Remain As They Are?

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Dee Clark

There are always things that are out of our control. But there are also always going to be things that we can take responsibility for and make a difference.

We never have to allow drama to perpetuate. We can stop the madness. Jump off of the drama triangle.

We do not have to live in the mud pit of hatred. Overcome evil with good and love and kindness.

We do not have to suffer the pain of bitterness. Forgive. I know. It’s so hard to do but it replaces the stench of being wronged with the beautiful fragrance of freedom.

We do not have to look hopelessly at the darkness, the problems and despair. We can open our eyes to the possibilities, love or the face of God and find hope.

We can accept conditions as they are or we can take responsibility for making a difference.

No excuses.

Brave kindness and stubborn goodness and determined strength and sound foundational wisdom and eternal Love will guide your efforts each step of the way.

Things I’ve Discovered Along The Way

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Dee Clark

I’ve discovered the importance of making the best of every situation. In a negative situation, we don’t have much to lose. Might as well! Our life is broader in scope than the darkness we might experience today. Our life is more permanent than our struggles. Things might look bleak at first, but they can improve. With night and day, God has given us a picture of hope. The sun always rises. Things will always get brighter. “The end of a matter is better than its beginning”. -Ecclesiastes I’ve discovered the best things in life, those of true substance, involve the hardest-fought battles and the longest waits. We must keep pressing on. I’ve learned that effort spent on unwinnable battles is wasted effort. It’s best to simply move on to something worth conquering. I’ve discovered the easier route leads to accomplishment, but the harder route tends to lead to your destiny. Things can look ugly along the way! Giving up is the last thing you should do. Your destiny might be interwoven into fabric of your struggle. I’ve discovered there will be times filled with a yearning to be farther along your personal path than you are today. You will hold a dream on the inside, that hasn’t yet been born and feel like your life is barren. Never give up. Keep moving forward. Fulfillment involves a waiting period—but stay active while you wait. Seize opportunities, even the small ones, to improve your skills. Do something that keeps you on course toward your dream. I’ve discovered that we can’t always blame others for our own shortcomings. They are what they are. We won’t be good at everything. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit when we don’t possess a particular forte and yield that activity to someone more capable. When we focus on our shortcomings and limitations, it can strip us of our confidence. We are all created with an important purpose, with value and uniqueness. Perfect your strengths. You know what they say, “practice makes perfect.” I’ve discovered that we don’t know our role from day one. We travel a road of discovery. Our hearts will provide clues about our destiny. A difference exists between excitement about doing something and a genuine, heart-based fervor that says, “I’m created to do this.” Many days, we don’t feel inspired in our lives. More often than not, it’s a matter of simply getting out of bed and pressing through the daily grind. If your circumstances look insignificant, don’t count them out. It doesn’t matter how you start. What matters is the end result. I’ve discovered that we are part of someone else’s story. And while your presence might go unnoticed at times, your absence would actually take something away from the lives around you. You might be the key factor that keeps another person pressing on—and you might not even know it. People need to know victory is possible. Your firsthand experience—your been there, done that—will give inspiration for others to know victory is within reach.We don’t always grow because we want to. Oftentimes, we grow out of necessity. We have no choice but to meet the challenge. Friendship means cutting away a small piece of your heart and allowing another person to fill that gap. Friendship is anchored in love. When we put love into action, it communicates value.

Life teaches us many lessons along the way.

It’s important to pay attention.

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: On The Way

Babies, Babies, Babies

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Dee Clark

My daughter is due at the end of June. I will be a Grandmommie again. That is fun and exciting to me. What I can’t figure out is how my baby grew up so quickly. I know a lot of mothers ask that question. I’m no different. It seems like I blinked and she became a beautiful woman with a family of her own. Life truly is a miracle.

We decided to give taking baby bump photos ago yesterday.

And then we played with the editing. This one I will enter into Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge: Take A New Photo. Cee, I hope you don’t mind that I coupled the challenge with my color photo’s.

We even threw a few fall leaves around but we unfortunately didn’t capture any in the air…maybe next time.

One Word Photo Challenge: Cold

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Dee Clark

I moved to Tennessee from Illinois because of cold weather like this. Swore I’d never move back to where it snowed like it did in Illinois. LOL Then, I moved to a South Pacific Island thinking that I was pretty … Continue reading →

Broken

Posted on May 25, 2015 by Dee Clark

A friend once gave me a beautiful glass friendship ball. I hung it in the window above my sink where the sun would shine through it lighting my kitchen with beautiful blue hues of colour. While mopping my floor one day, the mop handle hit and dislodged it from where it hung and it crashed to the floor breaking into a million pieces. My heart sank. I scooped up the pieces desperate for way to put the pieces back together. However, that was never going to happen. It was broken beyond repair.Every time my heart has been shattered, I have felt certain that it could never be put back together. And every time , without exception, not only has my heart mended but it has become larger, stronger and more loving for the breaking. A wonderful truth in life is that we are stronger, gentler, more resilient and more beautiful than we imagine. The Psalmist David encourages us that The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit and heals their wounds. I have found this to be true. Each and every time.The nature of being broken is that perspective is hard to maintain when we are in pain, when in fear, when confused or worried. Brokenness limits our view, for the moment. One of the purposes of love is to help each other not stay limited in our view of life. When helping each other move beyond our limited view of life, we are lifting each other above the pain and reaching for the feeling of health.

“To be broken is no reason to see all things as broken.” -M. Nepo

In my life, I have found that my brokenness eventually became useful in reaching out to other broken hearts. Like seeds broken open and then bear fruit, we can use our broken places to meet each other and be touched by each other. When broken of all the “stuff” that gets in the way of being in touch with others, we begin to know each other outside of our differences in this strange, mutual place of the heart. This is why when we fall, we lift each other; or when in pain, we hold each other; or why when joy floods in, we dance together. It’s a way that the many pieces of the heart loves itself back together.

Lastly, I have come to know that hurting people hurt people. When I come across such a person, they are crying out for understanding, comfort and a safe place to heal. Fire doesn’t fight fire. Nor does pain heal pain. Hurting people need to know that they can trust again, love again and hope again.

I want my brokenness to open my heart enough that I can reach the hurting with the truth that the Psalmist David shared, that wounds can be healed and that in brokenness there is someone near to help lift them above the painful moments.

The best way to heal a broken heart is not to isolate it and close it down. The best way to heal brokenness, strangely, is the art of continuing to open yourself up. To remember that all of life is not where you are at the moment. To find usefulness in the pieces that remain. To reach outward and yes, upward.

Even if it doesn’t feel like it today, unlike broken glass, a broken heart will mend.

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Broken

Some Like It Hot

Posted on May 23, 2015 by Dee Clark

I definitely am one of those people…I like it hot: steaming hot baths/showers, jalepanos, the heat of the sun and don’t even give me a lukewarm coffee (even worse -iced coffee). Hot is my preference.

At least once in life, we all experience the flame going out. But it doesn’t have to remain dim. All it takes is a little spark of hope and kindness and love and perseverance to fan the flame.

Here are a few quotes that I’m hoping spark a little inspiration for you:

Of all the fires, love is the only inexhaustible one.—Pablo Neruda Great things never came from comfort zones. Decide you want it more than you are afraid of it. – Cosby No longer bereft, you blaze.—Emily When eyes have died in its gaze, know the heart had died in its blaze. -unknown Love what you do so that it sets others ablaze with inspiration. Accept things as they are or accept responsibility for changing them. Be who you were created to be and you will set the world on fire. -St Catherine of Siena The antidote to exhaustion isn’t rest. It’s wholeheartedness.—David Whyte

The tongue is a little member, and it can boast of great things. See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze! -James

One Word Photo Challenge: Hot

Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Dee Clark

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. ~Nelson Mandela Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge: Heads and Facial Features Hope you enjoy my entry for this week’s challenge. Hubby in the way of the shot. Otter … Continue reading →

Enveloped, Rested But Reopened

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Dee Clark

In the midst of pain there is a tendency to want to curl up. It feels very much like protection to envelop the most sensitive parts from exposure to outward battering.

After some of my most heart wrenching moments, I found myself curled in a ball clutching my heart in a desperate attempt to shield it. Enveloped in a few moments of solace. The problem that developed was dependence on the place that felt safe and distanced from potential discomfort. Even a caccoon which is designed to swaddle the caterpillar during metamorphisis becomes a cage to the butterfly unless she is able to break herself free when it’s time to fly. Everyone needs a place of respite. A safe place where we can go and rest and feel comforted, and protected, and secure. But if we remain there too long our ability to function becomes atrophied like unused muscles. Withered. Wasting away.

While we think we are protecting ourselves, it’s easy to lose our ability to freely trust or love or hope. Protection can turn to entrapment. We might begin to feel insecure, doubt ourselves, or fear the pain more than we desire to live fully. At some point we have to allow ourselves to uncurl.