I love hearing from readers about mindset changes and personal victories. This one is great! Though, to be clear, Lisa’s the one referring to me as Guru, not me! I would say “fellow struggler who thinks about these things WAY more than the average person” would be more fitting!
I love how Lisa shares the impact of simply changing the way she thinks about her home and her stuff. Re-thinking is a powerful tool.
Dear Guru Dana,
I’ve been a follower and fan for maybe six months. I could go on at length about how helpful your magic has been to me. I’m forever mentally drafting a book called A Return to Good Enough: Reflections on How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind. You know, sort of like Marianne Williamson’s A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles except instead of rethinking love I’m rethinking, well, thinking. And cleaning. Rethinking thinking about cleaning. A bottomless pit for me. Your observation about how for many folks, managing the dishwasher or putting away the laundry or just tending to any little mess now rather than a big scary mess later aren’t decisions. For many folks, these are automatic responses. Huh. No thinking or decision making required. I get it.Anyway, to the point, three weeks ago today I ran across your 2010 post about containers. At the time I was lamenting the condition of my night stand. It’s a small thing, but I use my nightstand the way some folks might use a desk. At night, I need books and a phone charger and actual pen and paper for ideas and notes. Early morning–between the Mister’s departure and teens up and at’em for school–I need my laptop and a perch for my coffee mug while I get a bead on the day ahead.This was my nightstand AT ITS BEST on the day I read your container post:And this, 7 minutes later, after I grabbed a basket that was headed for a return to the store (wrong shape/size for the napkins for which is was intended):Perfect? No.Totally good enough and awesomely functional? YES. YES. YES!Books, note pad, tissue, laptop, power cord, charging cord all in one basket. My eyeglasses case got moved to a bathroom drawer where my eyeglasses are actually used when I take a break from contacts. And the special-occasion dusting? I don’t actually know, of course, but I suspect it will be sooo easy ’cause what do I have to move? Three things. THREE THINGS. Instead of . . . maybe a dozen?So, thank you, Guru Dana. You are making the world a better place and the people in it a little happier.
I’m about half-done with a major art/craft studio cleanup and organization project. It is fueled almost entirely by you! I’m making photos along the way and building a blog series to document my fits-and-starts and ah-has! and uh-ohs!; I’ll share it with you as it rolls out.Again, huge, HUGE thanks for your self-awareness and willingness to share it with the world. What a gift.Lisa
Thanks for sharing your experience, Lisa!
Wow! I wouldn’t have thought of that idea, but I’m pondering now. I got your decluttering book a while back and read and reread it several times before sharing it with my sister. She did the same, then requested your cleaning book from the library which she read and reread before sharing with me – we’re both thinking buy, this is a must have resource! But I was at a local store which is closing down this morning and saw some dolly pegs there and thought “I should SO get those, I could make peg dollys for my (not yet even conceived) grandchildren” and then I heard a voice (I don’t know if it was yours, I’ve never listened to your podcasts) reminding me that I can buy for that future when it exists, I don’t have to clutter my now with tomorrow’s dreams. Thank you so much for sharing your journey.
Great phrase — I don’t have to clutter my now with tomorrow’s dreams!
Nice! What a difference the container made!
A basket! For years (*years*, Dana & Lisa) I have been seeking a solution for the stack of books on my night stand. I have thought about bookends, but since the night stand sits away from the wall, the books would inevitably fall out the back. But a basket! That would work. This changes everything. Thank you, thank you, for sharing.
I love “I don’t have to clutter my now with tomorrow’s dreams!”
Rose, please consider submitting it to wecroak.com to inspire others.
I also REALLY like “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” Henry David Thoreau on the website wecroak.com.
Thanks Nany for everything !
I LOVE both of those phrases.
I will keep them with me!
Love the Basket Idea also. In fact, I just did a very similar thing.
I have a lot more to declutter but it does make life a little simpler each small step I take.
So glad to ‘run into’ Dana’s books and now this blog!
Praying for that button of motivation to figure out – no, to SPARK – that Determination and Dedication to just Dig in and get started. I keep these ‘D’ words, and others, in my repertoire. And while they have been helpful in some areas of my life, I’m still working on the homefront.
thank you for your encouraging words of action and response.
so
I know I’m late to the party, but I just read this — and thought it was a fabulous idea! I looked around my apartment for the perfect basket for my bedside table. An issue I’ve struggled with for YEARS has been resolved. This idea has enhanced my life! Thank you!