The trend of trashing things vs. donating them

You might have noticed a spike in advice to trash usable things in good condition so people can feel less stressed in the now--they don't feel they have enough bandwidth to drop things off at the thrift store, so they trash the items and get the instant gratification of less stuff. Proponents say that self-care is more important in the moment. I can understand the desire to decrease stress and prioritize mental health. This trash-it philosophy is touted by author KC Davis, and her advice has been cited and picked up by declutter gurus I like (such as Dawn Madsen). I don't personally follow KC Davis, but her advice has sure had a ripple effect. 

I don't find this advice ethical due to the environmental impact and taking away from thrift stores. Yes, trashing things produces a very instant result by getting things out of the house. But if people go grocery shopping and get gas, go to various appointments, and run other errands, then they are pretty capable of donating items in most cities. It must be a mental block. If people struggle with procrastination and/or mental health, the environment should not be unnecessarily impacted in the name of self-care. Not donating also takes away from thrift stores, their workers, and their shoppers who want low-cost items. I know there are mental health professionals who would disagree on this topic as well. We can take good care of ourselves and also work on taking steps to get to thrift stores or arrange pickups. If you live in a city (like I do) where charities or thrift stores will pick up your items, take advantage of the free service. Pickups can be arranged online or by phone. 

Because I think not donating items in truly good condition is a type of task avoidance, here is a link to procrastination advice from Dr. Timothy Pychl, who specialized in procrastination research. He says procrastination is a way to manage feelings and cope, but of course it can cause problems. You can also find various podcast interviews with him online.

Timothy A Pychyl Ph.D. Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, where he specializes in the study of procrastination. www.psychologytoday.com



As the Fly Lady says, you can bless others with your stuff. Best wishes with your decluttering! 

Some recommendations for your current decluttering...

 I haven't posted in ages--hello, pandemic!--but I definitely saw how when things got stressful, my clutter became all the more visible. I've found some positive and kind declutter experts to recommend if you're reading this. 

The asynchronous Take Your House Back Course gives you a year's access to three ladies' videos, and they know their stuff! I most relate to author Dana K. White who runs her own site, A Slob Comes Clean. They also do Facebook Live events if you want a sense of interaction or live events. I also found minimalism scary or judgement for years, but their resident minimalist Dawn Madsen makes it understandable and not scary. I'm not at that level of decluttering, but she definitely helped me get rid of a lot of random stuff in my kitchen--I had a pressure cooker I never fully used but inherited, along with a random silver tray that went with an already-departed bacon press (?!). 

I just started a good read on Kindle that deals with emotions and guilt--it's called 
Decluttering as Yourself: A Book for People Who Feel Guilty About Their Clutter (The Declutter Bits Series) by Wendy Wiseman. 

It has a bit of colorful language, but so far I really like how she addresses that being tidy does not make one morally superior, etc. (I've met a couple very judgmental tidy people and got why she addressed that.)

I hope you are healthy and well! 💜

Welcome to the Blog--Again!

If you're visiting this blog for the first time, welcome! Please check out the archives for what you might be looking for. I spent years decluttering all kinds of things from multiple late relatives, two who grew up during The Great Depression. Post topics range from green decluttering to forgiveness to grief to facing your own clutter. At one point, I hired a professional organizer to help with a garage full of my relatives' things plus some other rooms full of their boxes I inherited. (It was worth having help--her brain worked in a way mine just didn't.) I've tried a lot of things and hope you'll find something helpful here. Some people come here from the Children of Hoarders site, which looks like it has an amazing wealth of information.

These days, I am mostly in the mode of dealing with my own items and trying to find sustainable routines to keep my own things from becoming disorganized. I still have some weird items hanging around, waiting for me to deal with them, like an antique family farm scythe (pretty sure it's from a grandparent's childhood farm) that I guess can go to Goodwill if not to some happy recipient at a family reunion. I have a collectible Edgar Rice Burroughs book (SO not feminist) that I mean to sell for maybe $10, yet I keep putting it off. I will need to let Half Price Books give me a piddly bid and just be done with the task hanging over my head.

As far as resources, I've been enjoying some videos and podcasts by Dana K. White at A Slob Comes Clean. The way her mind works makes sense to me, and she shows cluttered areas that look familiar.

Last night I heard a great 2016 interview on the Psychology in Seattle podcast with an expert on hoarding, Dr. Jennifer Sampson. She had some great insights about why the hoarding TV show's processes usually don't work long term; she also provided a lot of information that I hadn't already heard, and she seemed to have a lot of compassion for those who suffer from this disorder. I loved her and host Dr. Kirk Honda talking about her wanting to hold on to good boxes and packaging--I get it!

Hearing her interview reminded me that I needed to put up a welcome post for anyone stopping by my blog for the first time. One of the most powerful things she said was that hoarding disorder is much like an addiction--people are in recovery long term. I hope you are finding lots of help and support if you are on the journey, whether you had/have relatives facing this disorder and/or struggle with it yourself. As Dr. Sampson pointed out, more people than we realize have too much stuff, and it affects our lives in ongoing and sometimes major ways.

Bag Troubles Where Plastic is Outlawed

I just searched for "hoarding shopping bags" and found a nice list from Martha Stewart's website. Of five things to stop hoarding, bags are #1 on the list.

"Unless you re-use them, eliminate that stash of once-used paper and plastic shopping bags. Paper ones can go right into a recycling bin, and plastic ones can be donated to farmers and flea markets (or even animal shelters) for re-use." And, I learned you can recycle plastic bags at many grocery stores in a box outside the front. Keep your eyes open for those.

Plastic bags are banned in my city, so I do keep the few I have and don't feel much guilt. But paper bags--I constantly forget to bring in my cloth bags, so I bring home quite a few brown paper bags. Then I feel some green guilt about "wasting" a bag and want to reuse them. I use them to hold my recycling, but other than that...I don't have much use and they just sit around and take up space.

In the end, if I remembered to bring in my own bags, I wouldn't take home so many. I also need to just recycle them quickly because they take up valuable kitchen space.

To add to this bag conundrum, reusable bags can get pretty germy. It's not sanitary to use unwashed bags repeatedly. Outlawing plastic bags was meant to be a green move, but there have been unforeseen consequences and a rise in bacteria spread via bags. (FYI: "The baby carrier portion of the grocery cart is the most contaminated public surface you ever come in contact with." Thanks, USA Today.)

Growing up, we seemed to have only a reasonable number of bags stored. Perhaps because plastic is smushed and stores more easily. At any rate, I need to work on:

1. Bringing in my own bags--cloth or past paper ones. (Paper might be more sanitary because it's disposable?) I wonder if I need a sticky note in my car to remind me?
2. Washing cloth ones occasionally.
3. Recycling about half of my current paper bags. I can't use them fast enough unless I come up with a clear system of leaving some in my trunk and using them for a while. 

It's the Time of the Season for...Relaxing?

(Sung to the tune of 1968's "Time of the Season" by The Zombies.)

Gentle reader, I've been behind on decluttering as well as blogging, but that's okay. I'm usually quite diligent about mentioning the next free shred day, but I didn't make it this year. Too busy! It makes sense that at some point, the mountain of stuff from deceased relatives reaches a tolerable level and life focus shifts for longer stretches. Enough has been chipped away, and now the stuff left is mine or things I've inherited and could conceivably keep. I still need pare down, though. I have a guest room that could ideally be usable, and right now it's too crowded with a hodpodge of grandparents' keepsakes, my dad's photos, and my own stuff.


I had a very busy spring workwise, so this summer, I decided to just veg for the first part of the break. As in watching bad movies on cable because I can. Gone in Sixty Seconds is not a total waste of time. I admired the cars and some of the humorous dialogue. Is Angelina Jolie's character realistic? No. But I was still glad I watched it. (I also tend to rewatch Harry Potter movies in the summer, but that's higher quality.)


Sometimes it's the season for relaxation. For multiple summers, I'd go on a major decluttering spree giving away things like an old hatchet, vintage cleaver, fishing poles, and whatever weird but cool things I could find in my grandparents' old house. Friends were often amused and excited to see the current list of odd items leaving my home. I got a lot done, but it wore me out some. I'm not particularly left-brained, so it usually took a lot of mental and emotional energy to dig into that stuff.


This summer I decided to relax, so I'm having a cleaning service come by twice a month. They don't declutter so much as do the basics of housecleaning. Two very nice young ladies work for less than two hours. I've noticed I end up cleaning for the cleaning ladies before they come over—you don't want to get embarrassed by the kitchen, right? So their coming keeps me on my toes some. I doubt I'll keep the service past the summer, but there is something lightening and relaxing about having the basics done in such a short period of time. Knowing it'll be taken care of has freed me up to do more nitpicky things, like find my old pairs glasses from high school and my 20s and finally donate them. Fun declutter fact: Take old eyeglasses to Walmart optometry to donate old frames to the Lions Club charity.


I suppose there could be some judgement in hiring a cleaning service. In theory it's better (and frugal) to get good at cleaning my home quickly and regularly, and I have tried the Fly Lady system for “side-tracked home executives” at various times. I think cleaning one's own home is a necessity for most people, but I've also heard that if you aren't talented at something and can afford to hire someone else, there's nothing wrong in having someone else do it. I recently heard blogger and internet guru Michael Hyatt talk in podcast about his wife reaching that same conclusion about housekeeping. You also provide someone else a job. I have mixed feelings about admitting someone else can do it faster and easier, but my hope is that by having the basics done this summer, I can keep channeling energy into other things, including relaxing.


One weird chore on my list, though, is finally selling a couple of slide rules on eBay. A while back they were worth selling, so I'm hoping the market is still strong. I first saw a slide rule in a museum back when I was in elementary school—for the younger folks, they were the predecessors to the calculator. So yes, I have found two in my house, from the 40s or 50s, and yes, it's worth taking the time to list them, package them, and mail them out. I have to make enough of a profit to make the effort, but sometimes eBay is worth it. It would also help fund my summer cleaning service, so while things might cancel out some, I end up feeling like I'm getting a luxurious treat. This summer, it's worth it.

Declutterring Stuff on Your Body...in 7 Minutes

All right, I know I'm not using the knowledge I have to be as fit as I could be, but I'm excited to share that getting healthier doesn't have to take as long as we once thought. Shorter workouts are enough to make a big difference--and the science is here to back it up.

I'd heard about interval training and short workouts from a couple of different sources. One is the online bootcamp site No Excuses Workouts. When I faithfully did my 30 min. workout 6 days a week, I saw real results. The problem was I got a bit bored with the repetition.

I heard more about short workouts while watching a great BBC documentary called The Truth About Exercise (shown on PBS) featuring Dr. Michael Mosley. Some genetically blessed people can get a way with just minutes of intense workouts each week. But not everyone fits into that group.

Then today as I was perusing The New York Times with my new subscription, I saw this great summary of how a 7 minute workout can make a big difference. Hurray for new trends in exercise science! Now the trick is to just do it. I hope that with the same information coming from so many sources, I'll spend more time getting my "mood up and energy up" to tackle life, as the No Excuses instructors say. Not to mention that I'll look better and live longer. Yay simplicity!

Helpful Podcast for a Summer Jumpstart--ADD or Not.

I like to mention useful books, sites, podcasts, etc., and I've found another nice resource: The Taking Control podcast, designed for folks with ADD. I personally don't have an ADD diagnosis, but I often wonder how to order my tasks and can forget to do mundane things, like declutter the entryway. Because I've benefited from other ADD tips, I decided to give this podcast a listen. And most of the advice sounds helpful for my own housekeeping. I also wonder if people with hoarding or OCD tendencies will benefit from much of the same advice. I think there's some overlap.

I'm also willing to bet that if you're decluttering your kinda messy relatives' stuff, you might not be incredibly organized yourself. (Or you rebelled and are extremely tidy and Type A!) So here's a new resource to try out and enjoy. The shows aren't that long, so it's the perfect amount of time to fold some laundry and listen in.

Surfing YouTube and Finding Insight--Why People Can't Let Go of Stuff

If you don't remember, I originally started this blog as a way to discuss how to dispose of items from an inherited estate. More specifically, I was the last relative standing dealing with my grandparents' belongings, and as cool as my relatives were, it's important to say they were on the hoarding spectrum. I always say they didn't have dead rats buried under paperwork or anything like that--more just keeping and retaining regular life items without culling through them--bills, glasses, dishware, travel souvenirs, etc. They did organize stuff by category, at least--they just didn't let go of it. And I would guess this clutter tendency got worse as they aged, though growing up during the Great Depression probably caused them to hold onto everything as they went through life.

As I've gone through layers of their home (literally and metaphorically), I've sought information and watched a fair number of TV shows about hoarding. Today I found some short and helpful online videos from the International OCD Foundation featuring Randy Frost, PhD, giving insight into how hoarders process information differently. According to Frost, they see more special details about objects and then have a harder time letting go of them. If you see extra knowledge as empowering, these videos could be for you. And while hoarding causes stress for family members, one positive note is that hoarders can be creative people who notice what others miss. If you're intrigued, see his helpful videos--"Causes of Hoarding" is below:

Summer Giveaways and Your Brain

A couple nights ago a friend said to me, "I got your email about giving away some fishing poles and thought, 'Yup, it's summer again! Hilary's getting rid of things!'" And it's true--it's a seasonal ritual where I send out lists of random things to sell or give away. Favorites include the vintage meat cleaver and an old hatchet--and yes, there were takers.

This summer I'm proud to say my load is lighter, but I'm left to ponder about some stuff--like what do I do with a electric-start gas mower that appears to be broken? Sell it for parts? And now that I don't have a truck, how do I transport it to a shop? Maybe craigslist is the way--or the super easy but no-cash-flow trick of putting it on the curb.

I will say it takes time and having more urgent things taken care of to even have the energy and, dare I use the term, "bandwith" to ponder such things. Disposing of this stuff can get so particular and detailed, and I don't think my brain is really suited to deal with stuff stuff stuff all the time.

Speaking of the brain and having time, I discovered open (i.e. free) university courses online...so if you want to check out free lectures, I find the MIT Intro to Psychology course pretty fascinating--especially the part about how the left hemisphere of the brain deals with details and the right side deals with things holistically. And the prof is delightfully nerdy and knowledgeable.

Tying back to my blog topic, I think decluttering is more of a left-brain activity and bet it's easier for folks who tend to be left-hemisphere dominant. And that would not be me! That's why some are suited to be professional organizers and some... are not!

City of Austin Free Shred Day Sat. 5/17, Road Show, and the Pickup Left

It's back at the Austin High School parking lot this year--the FREE City of Austin shred day, where they'll take a whopping five boxes off your hands! I have about five boxes still in my trunk from when I missed the UFCU shred day in March...just as I was pulling up, the big truck was driving off. So get there early enough--I heard the lines at the March one were long!  Time to get the dusty boxes out of the car. 

Time: 8-1:30.

More info: "The Austin chapter of ARMA International is sponsoring their 11th annual free SPRING Shred Day.  With the increased awareness of identity theft, it's important to carefully dispose of personal records.  Households can bring up to five boxes of paper records per household.  All of the shredded material is recycled.  Please make sure your records are paper only (no hard plastics, no plastic bags, electronic media or three-ring binders) and are not wet or moldy.  Mobile shredding trucks will be provided by Balcones Resources, Cintas, and Iron Mountain.

ARMA International is a not-for-profit professional association and the authority on governing information as a strategic asset. Monetary donations will be accepted with a  portion of the proceeds going to ARMA Austin and the Capital Area Food Bank."

In other news, I was NOT selected in the drawing to receive Antiques Road Show tickets. Kinda bummed b/c how often will that show be here?

Happier news:  This week I sold the 23 year-old gold Dodge pickup truck that had been passed down from my great-uncle all the way down to me. I hardly ever drove it, but man, I miss seeing a truck in the driveway because I associate "truck" with family. I've often had a diesel pickup in my life somehow--funny how I'm not a country girl but find trucks comforting because my dad usually owned one. But now, when would I get one for myself? And why? I'm considering a Honda or Toyota to replace my current main car...compact = less gas. But car shopping is another story. 

I still feel good that I decluttered my driveway if someone else will get more use and pleasure from that truck. It's had little use in the last decade in my family. So farewell, loud truck. I'll miss your dusty smell and cozy fabric seats. May your huge engine and non-computerized parts make others happy. Vroom vroom.

Decisions must be made...

Last night I read about a decision-making system designed to help children with ADHD. I think adults who need help with decision-making while cleaning and decluttering might like trying it out as well. I know sometimes I get overwhelmed with all the possible tasks and options before me, which can slow me down quite a bit.

The decision-making process is called KITE.

K--Know your situation. Take in the specifics and details.

I--Identify your choices and options. List out each plan and the good and bad points of each.

T--Try the best plan.

E--Evaluate how it worked or didn't.

Taken from The Survival Guide for Kids with ADD or ADHD by John F. Taylor, Ph.D.

I'll let you know if I find it useful this week as I do some spring cleaning!

Disposing of Pesky Broken Things

This is one of my more random posts, but...
I have a broken ironing board. I also have a small city trash bin that saves me some money. This ironing board won't fit into the bin.
I also hate the idea of trashing a hunk of metal. So I was quite happy to hear today that Goodwill will take most broken items for recycling. Ironing boards, TVs, etc. Just not baby stuff, like cribs. I read that thrift stores recycle a large amount of their donations, including clothing, but I always heard it was an insult to give them items that belong in the trash. I guess times have changed and it's okay to bring in my broken ironing board. So green and so convenient.

How Long to Keep Papers...and Ghosts of Deeds Past

Today I helped a friend pack some boxes for a move, and as we stood around chatting with his coworker, how long to keep paperwork came up. I know I've shared that I found insurance bills from the 1950s in the garage, so I feel strongly about this topic. Not that I am perfect myself, but letting things go 50+ years is a way to invite unkind sentiments from your surviving family.

When you google "how long to keep papers," a government site comes up--Managing Household Records. It's not the most exciting topic, but as I told friends today, when it comes to taxes, you just need your papers from 7 years ago and up...and with other stuff, you can chuck it annually or sooner or, if it's incredibly important (will, deed, etc.), you should check a guide to decide how long you should keep it.

Deeds are another funny topic to me--I found deeds from the 1930s and earlier! My relatives just never thought to dispose of them, maybe rightly so--as long as they still owned the property, they needed to keep the deed.  (Also funny how never letting go of papers seems to be inherited! Martha Stewarts we ain't.) While it's been interesting to see where people lived, I felt good parting with the "more recent" deeds of my grandparents, ranging from the 1960s and up. Occasionally I thought, gee, maybe I should keep these as a historical record of where they lived! It could be interesting, like when you watch those genealogy TV shows like NBC's Who Do you Think You Are? or Finding Your Roots on PBS. When those guests find out what Great-Grandfather did for a living and where he lived, it's super interesting and surprising. (And yes, the U.S. Census provides great information.) But, I realized when it comes to my storing old deeds and other papers in a shoebox under my bed...that's more history than I need to keep in my space and haul around. (And while I don't totally believe in feng shui, apparently keeping stuff under the bed is bad for chi. And for your sleep.) Perhaps I would never make a great guest on one of those TV shows--I know too much and it wouldn't be very exciting or suspenseful! Maybe a few hundred years back would get good.

Yes, I kept a few of my great-grandfather's typesetters' union membership cards--and I confess I learned about a relative I knew nothing about via her death certificate and some deeds. Thank you for cluttering, relatives--it has been interesting to learn about my great-great-aunt who owned a cafe near the coast. But they could have seriously pared it down. It took a lot of energy to sort the interesting from the expendable. So yes, save a few items and tidbits worthy of historical preservation. But keeping all 10+ union membership cards and every deed this family ever signed? No. Not worth it. Not with ancestry.com and all the other folks out there who have done research now available online. My grandmother herself was a genealogy nut and did some great research considering there was no Internet--her info often matches what I find online. But unless we lose the Internet forever, it's safe to let go of some of her notes and the various papers mentioned--it's time to get busy living! What a lovely relief.

The Antiques Road Show is Coming....

It's finally happening. A few years too late for me in some ways, but still, it's exciting. If you have possibly valuable furniture, you can contact PBS' appraisal road show and maybe hear the cha-ching sound when some expert tells you what it's worth. Or you can just enter the drawing for tickets and enjoy all the old stuff from Texas homes. And from what I have seen, Texans have got some pretty interesting old stuff laying around. To see the 2014 tour locations, check out the show's site and then apply for tickets--for Austin, the deadline is in April. (I might send in some photos of some items, but I'd be happy to just attend.) This truly is one of the happier ways you could declutter.

The Garage Returns, and Happiness in 2014

I haven't written here in a while...

I have some tiny bits of info. Shred day got rained out so I now have two boxes of papers sitting in my trunk...I think the next free shred day is in March. I'm stubborn and frugal enough to hold out because shredding service seem to run about $40 for small jobs here. Maybe the desperation to be rid of boxes will get me to cough up one day, but geesh!

Tonight I grabbed a few small boxes from the garage and was amused and dismayed (as usual) to find:

• A box of my great-grandmother's letters, postcards, and Christmas cards, the Christmas cards mostly from 1967--when stamps were four or five cents.  I wish there was a market for canceled stamps, but I haven't really found much info saying it's worth finding buyers. I will say the retro Christmas cards are kinda cool--and many are the size and shape of a business envelope. Sadly, I doubt the thrift store will take used cards. I'm sure some art student would like them, but...it's a lot of trouble to find said art student.
• A box of quail and duck shells from 1985.
• Hand grip exercisers. (Ouch! Never could use those.)
• Walnut grabber pick thingies--what are they called?
• A dusty turtle and frog figurine.
• A relative's paperwork from 2002.
• A cool retro metallic but beat up measuring tape.

Pretty typical! The garage is much easier to tackle in cooler weather, so I should consider a weekly visit and sorting in there this winter. 

Traveling in an airport last year, I bought Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, where each month she tries out common self-help habits to see if they really make here life happier. It became a bestseller, and I confess I only read a few chapters so far, but she does tackle the "organize your home" habit. She mentions that not many studies have been done relating decluttering to happiness, but the common knowledge out there is that cleaning up will lead to less stress. Hmm. If anything, I'd say having a to-do list hanging over your head--as in, get rid of a bunch of stuff--does cause stress, and as I slowly but surely unload things, I do feel some triumph and like I'm moving on with life. The more time goes on, the more I want just my own stuff--not the stuff of relatives--hanging around my home. And aesthetically, I am tired of seeing the stuff. I am still surprised (but not) by the little random items I find--and as amusing as it can be, here's hoping I can part with many of these things in 2014.

Holiday Care for Stress and Loss

Sorry for that unhappy title, but the focus is on good self-care and stress reduction. Most people have heard of holiday stress. And while I have not suffered a loss of anyone close to me for a few years, the holidays are when I and many people feel grief bubbling up as our memories of yearly traditions surface. And it's so random sometimes! I was at the grocery store around Thanksgiving and with all the seasonal foods in view, I suddenly remembered holiday grocery trips to Albertson's with my dad. It was sad but sweet. It wasn't the type of grief to bowl me over, but when we lose important people, the grief will cycle back from time to time.

I do know some folks who've recently lost people, and I sent them a good blog post about holiday self-care for the bereaved titled Six tips for getting through the holidays with grief by author Sameet Kumar, PhD. Even if you just find the holidays (and your family) stressful, the tips Kumar gives are quite solid and helpful. (I could so benefit from working out more in this season!) Kumar explains, "Most of the people I've worked with over the years find that no matter when their loss occurred, the spiral path of grief tends to circle back to very difficult emotions around the holidays. . . The holidays are stressful under even ideal circumstances. In the context of grief, they can feel absolutely terrifying. There's not much you can do to skip them, so you might as well find a way to get through them as healthy as you can. Grief sometimes feels like a battlefield; the holidays are grief's bootcamp. The goal of getting through this time of year is to not only endure but to grow into a sense of resilience." Well said. His tips would help anyone struggling this season, not just with bereavement but with any stressor or void. Holiday resilience sounds like a good goal--and I still plan to have some fun.

For anyone looking to read more of Kumar's work, he wrote a good book called Grieving Mindfully--it is probably the most helpful book I read on mourning. The "mindful" approach is to be accepting and non-judgemental of whatever feelings come up, assuming that they will not last forever. The idea is that most feelings, negative or positive, simply exist and are temporary--and resisting them can actually cause them to hang around longer. And they'll come out later anyways--we're human and can't avoid them entirely. Combine mindfulness with compassion and self-care, and that's a recipe for resiliency. Strength and recovery don't come from an absence of grief but the ability to feel and experience and still bounce back, over and over. It's become more normal for me, I'm happy to say, and learning how to grieve has helped me in other areas of my life. I guess it's one of the redeeming qualities or blessings of loss.

Inspiration from...Rejection?!

I noticed that a past post on the topic of forgiveness got a lot of hits, so I'll venture into the personal growth arena again and share another interesting video.

If I need to tie it to decluttering and moving on, I'll say that if you struggle with decisions and worry about making the right choices, then you probably wrestle with fear and perfectionism, which perhaps carry over to other parts of your life.

SO, here is a fun 20 min. talk by a man named Jia Jang. Realizing he was selling out staying in his secure but unfulfilling job, he wanted to toughen up his skin as he pursued his real dream to be an entrepreneur. He tried out "rejection therapy" and gave himself 100 days to get rejected in all kinds of ways. He asked a cop if he could drive the police car...and the cop said yes. He asked a man if he could fly his private plane...and the man said yes. You get the picture.

And to paraphrase Jang, if you avoid rejection from others, you'll end up rejecting yourself for not being true to what you really want. Ouch. And scary. He also said that people are really nice and he didn't know that before.

Check out his 2013 talk on vimeo:

http://vimeo.com/70167462

Or just see how he fared at Krispy Kreme in Austin (using a hidden camera) when asking for custom-designed donuts:

November Shred Day--Donations Accepted

I confess I forgot about a free shred day last weekend. But thankfully I was recently sent an email about a free shred day in November. Bring up to 5 boxes (wow!) and paper only. See info below: 

Free Household Document Shredding

The Austin Chapter of ARMA International (Association of Records Managers and Administrators), and Balcones Shred are sponsoring a FALL free “Shred Day.”  

Mark you calendar for Saturday, November 9th, 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Balcones Shred (9301 Johnny Morris Road).  

Households can bring up to five boxes of paper records per household for shredding.  Box size should not be larger than 24” X 24”X 36”.    All of the shredded material and cardboard boxes are recycled.  Please make sure your records are paper only (no hard plastics, no plastic bags, electronic media or three-ring binders) and are not wet or moldy. Monetary donations will be accepted with a portion of the proceeds going to Blue Santa.

Slowing down with Mindfulness

Decluttering is not the lightest topic--and clutter can cause stress. If you're looking to add some relaxing moments to your day, you might look into some free online mindfulness meditations. Mindfulness is a pretty hot topic right now--even physicians talk about the health benefits of meditation, showing how brains of those who meditate have better brain connectivity, as in better sensory awareness and attention span. (See a Harvard health article for a 2011 study.) Before you think you have to join a new religion and focus on nothingness, you can try out some free general relaxation meditations from the UCLA itunes podcast that focus on body awareness and breath. My experience has been that such meditation is actually about focused awareness, not about nothingness, emptiness or adopting a new theological perspective. If anything, mindfulness helps me slow down, get quiet, and become more aware of how my body and mind are connected. I was more physically active and aware when I was younger, so it makes sense that getting back in tune with my body reminds me of my youth and happy memories of both playing and slowing down.

I don't meditate as often as I should, and it's funny how slowing down is now on the list of to-do's, like exercise. But I can say that just like after exercise, I usually feel better after taking the time to relax, especially knowing I've done something healthy (despite no sweat or burning tons of energy). What a treat to say, "Gee, I now have to lie down and be quiet for 20-40 minutes." It's like getting away with something some days...though other days it's really hard to focus and not feel like more pressing tasks should be done NOW. It's great that in the name of health, relaxation meditation can be a high priority, as pressing as other daily tasks. Now if I could just keep it up along with a new workout plan, I wonder  what that would feel like. (Amazing?!)

For a larger and more recently updated UCLA audio meditation selection, go to the Mindful Meditation at the Hammer Museum page to hear a new meditation each week.

Random Task Day and the Urgency of Creativity

If you follow the online home organization guru the Fly Lady, you know that Friday is clean out your purse and car day. I confess I am not very good at following this routine, but I heartily applaud it. But today I will do some random tasks I've put off--washing my yoga mat and bag, plus some other tote and little bag I use all the time. It's been a few years since I cleaned these. I don't want to think about all the germs on this stuff and go all Sheldon Cooper--I just want to finally, finally wash 'em as I keep saying to my yoga buddy.

If you're interested in reading a blog by someone who followed Fly Lady for a year, check out http://365dayswithflylady.wordpress.com/ I searched for "alternatives to Fly Lady" because I've never fully committed, and I stumbled upon some wise words about how routines help us make space for creatitivity. She talks about how when routines help us go on auto-pilot, we get stuff done and have time left over to do what we love. I wish I could find the post I read a few days ago--my memory is that she said the housekeeping is NOT a replacement for creativity. It simply keeps us freer and lighter so we have more mental space to focus on the fun stuff. I've heard this and even written about it, but it's taking a long time to sink in!

As for  the importance of creativity in the lives of ordinary people, I love what  Dr. Brene Brown from the University of Houston said in an interview with Oprah. According to Brown, "Unused creativity is not benign. We are creative beings!" That rings so true with me. I feel much more joyful when I tap into my right-brained side. Brown has some new stuff coming up on Oprah life classes this September. I hope I can check them out online. If you haven't yet seen her famous TED Talks, go check them out. Her research is encouraging because it's stuff you already knew, but now there's proof!