My decluttering project last week was to get rid of unwanted picture frames and to frame some treasures in the basement. I matched art to frames and collected a big box of frames for donation. I completed my goal to declutter, but the basement floor is covered in art, so it’s hard to tell.
Sometimes I wait for permission to do something that would make me happy. Here is a superficial example. My favorite color is red, and I love interior design, but red has been “out of style” for a long time. So, dutifully, after Christmas, I have ushered out most of the red from my house. This year, someone gave me permission to keep some red things on the shelves in January. Four red plates and my seasonal red seat cushions are all it took to make me smile at my January kitchen.
The trends are mainly fueled by consumerism, so here is permission, if you need it, to put whatever you love on your shelves. To ignore the trends. To ignore the noise that tells us we are not stylish enough, sophisticated enough, or tidy enough.
On another level, here is permission to ignore some of the calls to listen to podcasts rather than seek our own revelation from God about life, faith, and joy. Our time is limited. Do we want a life diluted by noise?
There is a universe of possibilities within each of us. It’s a shame when we allow the world to dictate to us that we are inferior and the answer is to chase after relentlessly changing trends. Here is permission to follow the simpler and better way.
My plea to you this morning is to find rest from the intensity, uncertainty, and anguish of this world by overcoming the world through your covenants with God. Let him know through your prayers and your actions that you are serious about overcoming the world. Ask him to enlighten your mind and send the help you need. Each day, record the thoughts that come to you as you pray, and follow through diligently. Spend more time in the temple and seek to understand how the temple teaches you to rise above this fallen world.
Russell M. Nelson
Ah, home ownership. When the stop-and-waste valve broke this month, Richard shopped around for someone to replace it. The estimates were so high that he decided to dig the hole himself and just ask a company to replace the valve and not excavate. This saved us a lot of money.
Richard is really good at finding solutions like this, and this is one of the reasons the kids and I have lived a comfortable life.
Mark made this bed frame and two side shelves with cabinets during the 2023-24 school year. Getting everything set up in his room has taken some time this summer, and the furniture is beautiful.
The painting was a gift, a very generous gift, and the mountains remind me of our trip to the Grand Tetons this summer.
I have learned a secret about the spaces and rooms that missionaries leave behind. They are holy places because they represent many of the things they have sacrificed in order to serve.
I read someplace that people who change their decor each season have a cleaner house because the process exposes dusty corners and reminds you of things you are storing. Thus, you are dusting and reevaluating your belongings often.
Hmmm. I usually associate redecorating with a big mess. It takes me all day to switch out decor in the kitchen with boxes and tissue papers strewn everywhere.
I redecorate for the seasons because I like the change. I am a little spare in my autumn decor this year because I need something simple to view.
Mark was sad to see the summer decor taken down. I reminded him that in a few years when he returns, I will still have the summer things that he has loved while growing up.
“You’re going to go, but you are also going to come back, and this will all be here waiting for you.”
I could say this about the objects, but not about his childhood. I think we both knew he wasn’t really mourning the loss of the little baseball players and ferris wheel. He knew that this was the last summer display of childhood, and he won’t be the same little boy who loved these things ever again.
This blog tells the tiniest piece of our story. So, if you read my last post and don’t interact with me, you might think that I am languishing. Let me be clear that despite the pull to hold still lately, I definitely continue to do things with joy.
Last week, I celebrated a bride, visited a friend, helped host a dinner for Primary presidents, cheered for the summer olympians, coordinated the staffing of baptisms, attended baptisms, and sewed. I also rearranged the upstairs furniture, only to move it all back in place later in the evening. 😅 But I mostly held still. I don’t know how else to function in this heat and smoke but to stay indoors.
As we approach July 4th and all the family memories this evokes, I realize that it might be easy to believe that some years are for making memories and some years are for reminiscing.
My wish is that you can enjoy both this year.
He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy
He who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise
Eternity, by William Blake
(And happy day to us, July 2 is the anniversary of the first day I saw our house in 2012 and knew that we should live here.)
One strategy I use for achieving goals is the idea of a “minimum effective dose.” Let’s say I want to improve my consistency in reading, so I set a small, attainable daily goal that I will read one page. Some days I may only read one page, but I have achieved the goal simply by opening the book for a few minutes. Most days I am likely to read more than one page because I am already reading a little bit and I’m not intimidated and paralyzed by a huge goal. I learned this concept from Benjamin McEvoy for improving reading but I use this strategy in many other areas of my life. Here are a few examples:
Housework: ten minutes to clean the kitchen or I make one improvement.
Scripture study: each day, read until I feel the Spirit and find something for me.
Violin practice: play one song.
Writing: write something each day. It can be a journal entry, a note, a blog post, a few words in my book…anything.
I am amazed at how well this works for me.
It’s been cold lately. My space heater, hot water bottle, and cozy scarves are keeping me comfortable. I have been prone to being cold for most of my life, but I try not to mention it too often. One of these days that sunlight should break the chill.
Sometimes the simplest changes make a big difference. I have been focusing on some of my work spaces and habits.
I realized that if I sit at the kitchen table to study, I am much more likely to write notes and impressions. I am less distracted in the kitchen than when I study on the sofa, so I moved my books to a kitchen shelf for easy access. This is where I begin my day.
I have learned that a single office space for myself isn’t ideal. My adaptable study space in the kitchen is great, but I also like my secluded work space in the basement for writing (complete with a space heater). There is something powerful about a dedicated work area. At this basement desk, I have trained myself to focus on writing only. This desk has some paper, a few pens and pencils, and a stapler, and I am surrounded by books. There is nothing to set up, and I just turn on the computer and go.
I have another desk in the bedroom where I can store important papers and it’s easy to keep very tidy.
One of these days I will reclaim my sewing work area in the basement. What is it about a sewing space that invites clutter?
And yes, if you are counting, I have admitted to having 4 desks in my house. This arrangement is working really well for me right now. 😅