Translate

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Cleaning House In 2016!

I could make this all about house-cleaning given the title. Gotcha!

The last thing anyone wants to hear about is cleaning a house!

HOWEVER....I have stumbled, perhaps a little late in the game, upon the concept of Minimalism.

That word has scared me for years. It conjured up the old childhood feelings of Mom throwing things away that I wanted while housecleaning, of the 1970's white rooms with a chair and a table and no stuff, and of a bare and soul-less existence. I have to get rid of all of my BOOKS? My mementos? My works of art? All of my clothes that are out of style or don't fit well? All the papers and notes to myself? Every gift anyone has given me, EVER????

Calm down, Honey. Bring it down.

The idea is not to get 'rid' of things but to keep the things you treasure the most. If you think of it in that way, it's not as traumatic. If you are a hoarder, of course, everything is a treasure and everything stays. In that case, you get professional help. I'm not joking.

I've decided to tackle my closet, first. There is NO way, my daughter is going to use my wedding dress. It goes. I have bridesmaids dresses I've worn that are going, also.

They say you only wear about 20% of what is in your wardrobe. That would be a smaller number for me, personally. I'm actually excited about ridding myself of anything there that does not give me a pleasurable feeling. I know there are tons of things there like that. That is the reason I can stand there looking at it all saying, "I don't have anything to wear!".

It's clothes. They aren't human beings. They aren't children. They are replaceable. Things don't matter. People do.

Once that connection to them is broken, as is that addiction to shopping for more  items is broken, it makes for a happier existence. The shopping part has never and will never be a problem for me as I've stated before, I lack that shopping gene. Dressing daily will be a breeze as you will have only what you love and looks good on you to wear. You can practically reach in with your eyes shut and find exactly what you need! Well. That's what the idea is. Then, if you buy something new, it should be to replace something no longer wearable (worn out, ripped, unrepairable) or a piece that will fit in with what you have in your wardrobe. The best of it, to me, is that everything you have is functional, wearable, fits, and you love it!

It's suggested that you go through your laundry bin or basket and start there. The items there are the ones you wear, obviously, or they wouldn't be there.  Le duh!

So, that's where I'm starting. Not today. I've already done my laundry for the week.

Therein lies the rub. I'm a procrastinator. I put off today what I can do tomorrow, or the next day, or next week. I'm only partially kidding.

I realize what will happen when I start. Life happens.

I want to start and I want to finish. I'm the type of person that if I begin any project, i.e. a portrait, painting, sewing, and writing, I will stay awake and finish it, however long it takes. I was that kind of a worker, once. If it came across my desk, I wanted to handle it once, be done with it, and never see it again. I would tell co-workers, "Here ya go. Don't ask any questions about it."

I have a head-start because of that attitude. That's what is recommended. Take EVERYTHING out and deal with it and be done with it. That's my philosophy so we are of the same mindset, at least. Therefore, when life gives me a day to deal with the closet and drawers throughout the house, meaning ALL of my clothing, I will.

The books will be last. I'll keep you up-to-date.

Reboot Challenge? Join me in cleaning out 2016 of the things we don't absolutely treasure or need in our lives!

Monday, January 4, 2016

Bring Pastor Lim Home

Because it's the right thing to do.

There is a petition with Change.org for every ill happening in the World, it seems. This one sent to my e-mailbox is one I want to share and comment on but won't be the last, I'm sure.

According to the website, and here is the link, http://www.change.org/p/get-canadian-humanitarian-out-of-north-korean-prison-freepastorlim-bringlimhome, this man has made over 100 trips to North Korea to orphanages, nursing homes, basically doing what we are all supposed to be doing in caring for our brothers and sisters. Last January 2015, he was arrested and only last month received a life sentence to be served out in a labor camp. Where was his country in this?

This man is in his 60's and is a Korean-Canadian. He admitted his guilt. He absolutely did commit what they call crimes. And I'd do the same in his place. There have been many martyrs for the Faith in History that never had a petition to free them. Here's a chance now that a way exists. I'm with him! If you will find me guilty of being a Christian, so be it! It is admirable to me what he has done. I hope I'd have the Faith and strength of purpose to do the same thing. This man is ready to die for what he did. Who else would do that?

Do we feel that way about anything these days? Do we rise up only in ways and for causes that are convenient? Do we only feel anger against injustice in our own lands and not, generally, for everyone who suffers on our planet? Are we so distanced from what's outside our front-door that all we can do is complain on Facebook and blast the "other side" with memes, misinformation and the blame-game?

But there's an election coming up and the Super Bowl.

We have some easily led 'odd' people who are convinced they are patriots in Oregon right now that are doing something. Unfortunately, what they are doing is, well, crazy. The people they are there for, the Hammonds and others in that area, have even distanced themselves from the 2 dozen gun-toting guys out there. The Tea Party has even been suspiciously quiet.

These men are lighting a fire under others to join them and it, we can all make the prediction, will end badly. There's no doubt in my mind. It won't be because the government is being held hostage! It's not that the government has responded with force, yet. If that was the case, it would have been done in the past 3 days instead of 'monitoring the situation', to date. It's because the crazies in the Wild Bunch out there will start a massacre before they give up. I say they'd better take names and pics of those out there before they scatter or die over Federal land that belongs to the people of the United States and technically, to NATIVE AMERICANS.

My opinion? They should have started a petition. (Insert sarcasm here.)

Meanwhile, others are seeing the differences in black and white and Muslim and Christian and constantly seeking the differences instead of similarities. The pot is boiling.

Our President just announced his War on Guns. Good luck with that. The previous President had a War on Terror. You can't fight an abstract. I'm not smart enough to have all the answers but I think the heat has just been turned up some more on that pot I just mentioned.

For every evil deed that occurs, someone somewhere with a loose screw, death wish, or misplaced sense of duty, feels they have permission to do their worst to the nearest victim. That, Dear Friends, is what I fear. And I don't fear much, normally.

Yeah, sure, I've been interested, lately, in Korean Culture but this was purely coincidence. A bad one.

You can't fight every battle, especially not with arms, but you can choose one that matters to you and go for it. Fight it with justice, with love, with righteous anger, and with Peace.

When did we stop using our words?

It's just a petition, you say? Guess what? Petitions actually work! They have in the past and they do now. North Korea has released people who've broken their laws in the past. Mr. Trudeau just needs to get serious about this!

And, we have to get serious about what matters to us. It should be everybody.

Reboot Challenge? Sign the petition. Then, find a Cause to devote your life to, like World Peace. Social Networking is a 'tool'. Use it well.

*****Update: Video Released*****
https://www.change.org/p/get-canadian-humanitarian-out-of-north-korean-prison-freepastorlim-bringlimhome/u/14921130?tk=10gPOoD6bh2jM3BKtqUY_Bx4k2UM-Z2XcIjmwpdk3Ic&utm_source=petition_update&utm_medium=email.