2009 and simplicity

i don't "do" new year resolutions - probably because i suck at at them. but i decided this year, 7 hours and 43 minutes into it, that "simplicity" is my word for the next 12 months.

i know that simplicity is going to involve paring down and uncluttering my life a bit - that probably means i am going to have to devote some time to the throwing out or giving away everything that i'm not using. although i have made a conscious effort over the last 5 years to consider the time i will spend maintaining - dusting, vacuuming, cleaning, polishing, whatever - the object of my latest desire BEFORE i plunk down my hard earned cash, i still have stuff that i don't need and i'm not using.

one place simplicity has kinda worked in the past is my wardrobe - and i use the term "wardrobe" loosely - my closet is a study in black - jackets, pants, and skirts. i have shirts that are different colors but i do have to admit to wearing black shirts with the black jackets and pants and skirts a lot - me and Johnny Cash - what can i say? i made that wardrobe choice when my kids were young and i went back to work part-time and then full-time. with a black wardrobe i didn't have to waste precious time contemplating what matched - it all did and does. (i do own a few pairs blue jeans but i pare them with black shirts and jackets, of course.) i wonder how much contemplating time i've saved over the years??

side road - i prefer color in my surroundings. a gallon of paint is the simplest, cheapest, easiest way to change the mood of a room. i cook in an ocean-blue and white kitchen, study and blog in an ocean-green and white office, and read or play the piano in a honey-mustard living room. i haven't painted the rest of the walls because my better half is part Norwegian. And that "part" is committed to white food (no joke - fish, potatoes, bread, kumla=dumplings, kringla=sugar cookies without the sugar) and white walls. i count this "color deferment" as part of my wifely submission duties - i'm not sure God does, or Dave for that matter. but i'm hoping to win them both over with my sincerety. :)

back to simplicity. . .
a friend gave me a very cool bulletin-board thing - it sits on my desk. right now i can look over and read the name of a woman i have never met. she is a friend of a friend. her name on that scrap of paper represents all the women who don't fit in easily at church or women's ministry. she represents the kind of women that Shattered Stained Glass is hoping to reach. seeing her name daily has served to remind me - push me - challenge me to do my best for her.

it can be a powerful thing. . . one printed word.

so this morning i added another piece of paper with the word "simplicity" - another reminder, another push, another challenge. no goal here, really. . . just fine-tuning a mindset.

simplicity - a call to major on the majors and minor on the minors. . . less drama, less stress, less stuff.

a good read and resource on simplicity. . . Sarah Ban Breathnach's Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, The Simple Abundance Companion, and Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude