Uncluttered: Free Your Space, Free Your Schedule, Free Your Soul

Uncluttered:  Free Your Space,  Free Your Schedule,  Free Your Soul by Courtney Ellis     AudioiBook:  5hrs., 5 mins        Paperback Book:  220 pages         

Great book..I thoroughly enjoyed Courtney Ellis' witty delivery and telling about her own life and how she whipped her home, her schedule and her spiritual life into shape by learning one word NO!   Courtney, who is a Presbyterian Minister with a husband, 2 active sons and a career that goes from the pulpit to speaking engagements throughout the world.   Managing a home, a congregation and still having time to devote to God first, family second and still maintain observance of Sabbath time (the relaxing time God spells out in the 4th commandment we are to observe)  was overwhelming her first year in full-time ministry and she was so burned out after that first year, she considered leaving the ministry because it was all so hard to keep up with and she was dead tired and cranky all of the time.   Realizing she was giving her self and her time to her congregation and snapping at and being snarky to her family and becoming resentful and behaving in unloving ways she knew she had to do something and fast.   Praying about it and beggng God desperately to intervene and let her know His will for her life, first God taught her she had to still and listen for His voice and that is when He taught her to say NO.   She had previously thought it was her duty to accept whatever request any one made of her,  accept all offers of speaking engagements, bake cookies, etc. for the kids schools, volunteer for all field trips and any requirement teachers or the school made of her until it came to babysitting the classroom's pet bird over a holiday vacation - the teacher reminded her she was the only parent who hadn't taken a turn babysitting the bird yet.   Her husband put his foot down.  The answer is No.  They weren't set up to care for the bird and having a bird was the school's choice not theirs so it was up to the school  to find a solution.   She told the teacher No they would not be able to care for it.   After that initial NO, she began to find out how easy and peaceful her life could be when she said No.   When friends and relatives wanted to come visit, she learned to say No if it was not something she and her family wanted to do.    She learned to say No to projects she used to squeeze in to her own detriment and increased stresss level.    When someone wanted to dump their clutter off on her, she learned to say No thank you.   And, she also learned she didn't have to say why she was saying No! No was enough she did not have to justify herself.    She has found that No has released her from an overbooked schedule, released her to spend more happy fun ties with her family, given her time to declutter and downsize her and her family's possessions and given her the much needed more time putting God first and spending more time in prayer and meditation with him that has enriched her life,and her family's.   Now, the former chaos is gone and in its place is serene peace, family fun nights, romantic date nights and prayerful joy in the Lord enriching her soul and allowing her to impart that wisdom from God to her congregation and through her writings and seminars.   A very good book, a funny book as she discusses her life and a great teaching tool as she imparts ways that have worked for her and can improve all the clutter we weigh our own lives down with technologically, materialistically and adding to our own stress load when we really don't have to do it all ourselves.   No is now in her vocabulary and she did a fine job of teaching it to me, too.   Take on what you want not what everyone else wants you too and you will have the peace that allows you to hear the quiet teachings and words of comfort and love God offers.  Life keeps getting better and lighter and as your clothes get emptier your heart will know you have set goods free to go on to serve our fellow inhabitants on this little blue planet.   We help ourselves by helping others.   Does life get any better than that?  

 - Shirley J

The Wabi-Sabi House

The Wabi-Sabi House by Robin Griggs-Lawrence       Hardback Book:  192 pages                  Genre:  Adult Non-Fiction, Accepting Your Circumstances and Improving on Them  Decorating,  Making art

In Japanese the word Wabi Sabi means humble beauty.    The author discusses finding the beauty in things that may not be new, may be rusty or the paint faded may be second, third or seventh-hand but can still be eclectic and beautiful.    Unlike Chinese Feng Shui which balances the elements of wind and water, Wabi Sabi does not look for perfection it looks for comfortable, and like that favorite pair of worn jeans that feels so good you always wear them or the rusty wagon wheel you found in a gulch in the southwest and brought home to stand in your yard glowing with unappreciated character until you found it and gave it purpose and saw its inner beauty.    It is found joy.    A wabi sabi house is full of love and feels well lived in.   The furniture is loved by its owners for how it makes them feel when they see it.   Wabi Sabi houses don’t have to be perfect, a well lived in home with people, pets and artistic pursuits is a wabi sabi home.   Humble beauty abounds not like those HOME BEAUTIFUL magazine photos, but, with a sense of love and commaraderie that Is strongly felt and seen by the artful use of what is there, what is repurposed what is loved and accepted for the beauty it reflects like bright shining eyes crinkling in a sea of wrinkles on a well-lived person’s face a joy still there a sparkle emanating from the soul within that is wabi sabi not airbrushed fake perfection.   Wabi Sabi art in a home might be driftwood gathered on a family vacation that holds beauty and meaning in its coarseness so much that you have to have it near you where you can see it often.  A very good book sharing a Japanese concept of acknowledging the less than perfect and seeing its charm not in spite of its weathered persona but because of it.    Wabi Sabi doesn’t strive for the sterile pristine modern look it includes every thing beautiful and meaningful to the person so that your home is a reflection of your heart and thoughts.   People want to come to a wabi sabi house and it may be hard to get them to leave because they feed on the effervescent vibe of acceptance there.   Wabi sabi people would be street people with stories to tell and songs to sing who brighten your life by sharing theirs with you.  Humble beauty what a wonderful concept.   I would definetly recommend this book.

The Everything Feng Shui Decluttering Book

The Everything Feng Shui Decluttering Book: Simplify Your Environment and Your Life by Katina Z. Jones         Paperback Book: 271 pages               

I loved this book.   It is so informative.   It helps if you have an inkling already on what Feng Shui is and a plus if you are familiar with the bagua but I think beginners will benefit immensely from this book, too.   I am fascinated with the concept of Feng Shui which means wind and water.   Feng Shui actually translates from the Chinese language to wind and water in English.   Feng Shui is a system of balance keeping one’s yin and yang or quiet and boisterous aspects in life, work, play, your home, family, career, etc. balanced.    If a person has too much going on one way or the other it can throw everything in your life off but with cures and adjustments that this book will tell you about,  you will be able to get things back in balance all by following the principles explained here.    I have read several books over the years on feng shui and this is probably my favorite.     There is also a huge bibliography for the reader to be found at the end of the book and lots of resources included to further study or get help with getting your chi (the energy of life) flowing.   Chi or qui is said to be the energy from above that was set free on earth.   Chi needs free flow through all the areas that affect you.   If chi is slowed down or worse made stagnant by too much stuff in its way so will your life be.    Chi needs free flow at home, in your work space, and if it isn’t it can leave you with a feeling of being out of control of these areas.    If chi becomes blocked or stagnant it can cause anxiety, loss of control of finances, feeling out of sorts and/or unable to focus.   Blocked chi can cause problems in relationships, finances, career, your reputation, wealth, your marriage, your relationships with your children, it can even block your pursuit of knowledge and keep helpful people away, make travel plans have to go on hold, blocked chi is hazardous to your health, too, however, blocked chi is an easy thing to fix and this book will give you the skinny on just how to do that.   It includes cures or as you will come to see tiny miracles that are so easy you will not break a sweat nor a nail doing.    Easy peasy.   I recommend this book whole heartedly for anyone.   If you are wondering why things in your life seem out of control or overwhelming this book can offer you solutions.     I think you will be amazed and surprised at how things work out when you apply the knowledge found in this book.   Try it and see, I guarantee it will be as though a weight has been lifted off of you.   You will feel the energy surge and it will spur you on to do more to improve your situation by simply checking where you may be stockpiling stuff without even realizing it which throws the balance in your universe off.    It is uncanny how elements, color and the 5 human senses along with cleaning, clearing and decluttering your life will illuminate the disorder so you can fix it or adjust it to work in your favor to lift you up.   If you are feeling lethargic, no energy, joy is hard to come by try feng shui and as a Gypsy once told me, “Stand back and be amazed!”   You really will be.   I strongly recommend this book.   Another manual to add to the books for a better life everyone should have to as Mr. Spock says, to “Live Long and Prosper.”   Excellent book.

Breathing Room: Open Your Hear by Decluttering Your Home

Breathing Room: Open Your Heart by Decluttering Your Home by Lauren Rosenfeld & Dr. Melva Green              Paperback Book: 261 pages                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 in our stuff

Good book.   A little metaphysical, transcendental on the Lauren Rosenfeld side a little learning to understand the psychological attachments we attribute to the stuff we bring into our homes and often hang onto far longer than we should.    Think the Dalai Lama meets up with your bestest best friend.    It is a spiritual, philosophical read full of support and comfort from psychiatrist Dr. Melva Green who holds the readers hand as she entreats you to join her in looking at your stuff in terms of whether you are holding onto it out of love – it makes you happy, I love this stuffed animal given to me by my nephew when he was 3 or does it bring you guilt – I have to keep this guitar Mom got me when I was 12 because she really wanted me to learn to play it and I never did or worse, shame, I have to keep Grandma’s huge, heavy four poster bed because I didn’t go visit her the last 6 years of her life.   Both ladies approach leading you through the journey of seeing your stuff for what it is, what meaning you have assogmed to it and how to look at it as the object not the attached emotional baggage so you can surround yourself with things you love that lift you up when you see them, not cluttering up your head and heart as well as your home with rooms full of guilt, shame and regret that forces you to carry an unwanted burden not to mention making your house a wreck with a slender path through the forest of despair.    If you don’t see space and give yourself a breathing room, be it an actual room for meditation and joy calling forth an effervescent fountain of happiness and good vibes for you or a closet you can open and decorate with things that make you smile every time you see it  or even a shelf you can make into your altar appreciating your higher power and offering thankfulness for all of the blessings that have been bestowed on you in this life, if you are not establishing your own space to breath in and out purposefully to release all the tensions of the day, then re-read the book again because clearing space in our home is related to everything else in our lives.    Everyone needs just a little room to expand their consciousness and hold sacred as their own special happy place to reenergize their spirits.     If the home is out of whack your life will be affected in every other aspect, too (work, relationships, finances).   If you lose control over one aspect of your life, like dominoes, the effects will be felt in every area of your life.    Learning the WHY is the key.   Center yourself with your breathing room then gain understanding of who you were and who you are so you can go on to become who you are meant to be.    Paring down on the emotional attachments given to stuff presents you with the space you need to create the beauty you desire.   Accept the truth of what was and cleanse the space of what is to be thw wonder of what it can be.    You will feel so much lighter in spirit so much so you can fly.   Let’s stop clipping our own wings and allow the lightness of being, our true selves come out of the cocoon of all the stuff we have hoarded and surrounded ourselves with to cushion us from the fear we build up of letting go.   If birds stayed in the nest forever, they would never know the delight of soaring through the sky.    Loved this book.    Like hanging out with your bestest best friends who know your reality, love you for who you are, offer a hand up and say, “now let’s get busy and jump into moving this out of the way so we can dance!”    Good book!

How To Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind

How To Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind: Dealing with Your House’s Dirty Little Secrets by Dana K. White        Paperback Book:  223 pages         

I love this gal’s writing style.   She is so funny.   And she is so real.    She has invented several new words like deslobification clearing up all those piles and stacks of stuff you have sitting around so long you don’t see them anymore and procrasticlutter the process of putting off going through a pile of stuff until  later and later never comes until your mother-in-law is on her way over or  someone rings the doorbell.   She tells how she started hosting weekly meetings (book club, craft club etc.) so it would force her to clean her house knowing people were coming over and would see it.      She talks about her own trials and errors and how she finally learned you can’t do things once and expect them to stay that way forever.   You have to get in the habit of doing things every day.    She gets so many questions from fans of her blog: http:www.aslobcomesclean.com/manage

 asking how do I do this?   Is there a certain to keep your house clean and together at all times?   Do you have a daily plan that tells how to begin and what to do when?   So many people who feel overwhelmed with housework have asked her for help that she came up with a 28 day plan titled:  28 Days to Hope for your Home which is included in the book.    Warning:  there is no way out – we all have to clean and clear every day – if we don’t do it – it doesn’t happen.    She eases the reader through Day 1 – Do the dishes.    Even if it takes you all day to catch them up  because you have dirty dishes all over the house– do the dishes.  Nothing else, just the dishes.   She asks how strange does it feel to have all the dishes caught up?   She tells so many stories on herself it is hilarious.     She talks about when she ran out of clean dishes even with owning a dishwasher, she would go buy more instead of taking the time to wash some.     When judgement day came and she forced herself to do ALL of the dirty dishes she was amazed by how many dishes she had.    She ended up giving 6 boxes full of dishes away and started keeping up with the dishes the family tended to always use over and over.   She learned the value of keeping up with the dishes so  Day 2 Do the dishes again– she bets the family has dirtied up some more dishes since you finished washing every dish yesterday.  Spolier alert – you are never going to be free of doing the dishes it is listed every day for the 28 days.   She says we have to learn to accept that there is no day off from housework not even the weekend o.k. maybe while on vacation if you eat out – but if you are home, do the dishes every day.    By day 3 you are doing the dishes twice a day.   On day 8 she adds sweep the kitchen floor to washing the dishes.   Day 11 she slips in do the dishes, sweep the kitchen and before you go to bed wipe down the table and countertops.   Nothing too horrendous, but do you see the pattern here, she is teaching you in a very simple way to ingrain habits that will serve you.  By day 15, she adds clear the clutter from the bathroom.   Not clean the bathroom, just pick up any wet towels, clothes, shoes, toys etc. that may have been left in there.   Just pick up what doesn’t belong there and put it where it goes.    It becomes a routine eventually.   Put away the dishes you washed the night before.   Put dirty dishes in the dishwasher or sink throughout the day.  Sweep the kitchen floor.   Clear the clutter from the bathroom.   Wash the dishes before you go to bed and wipe the table and countertops off.   On Day 22 you begin adding do a 5 minute pick-up   Watch the clock or set a timer for 5 minutes.   Pick up stuff that you see that is either trash and can go straight to the trash can or pick up stuff that belongs in other rooms and take it to where it belongs.   Don’t go over your 5 minutes.   Stop.  You are done for the day.   Surprise!   Day 28!  Dana White says the hope doesn’t come from what your house looks like after 28 days,  the hope comes from knowing what it takes to keep it looking that way every day.    She says when she first started she honestly believed doing all these things was just temporary and that now her messy home would always be orderly.  She says  the bad part is she has realized there is no magic fix.   No end to the dishes orthe sweeping or the picking up but the GOOD NEWS is these are skills and skills can be learned and honed and practiced and developed and when they rusty from lack of use they can be relearned.   She says she still continues to struggle with keeping her house work done.    Some days that crusty marinara sauce spilled on the stove just gets to her and she has to walk away even if it is easier to clean it off while it is still wet.    She will share more about her day to day struggles on her blog and invites the reader to check it out and feel free to share your own housework and hoarding horror stories.   She was so happy and relieved to find out other people have the same problems she has it isn’t always possible to maintain everything day in day out.   She just always reminds herself no matter what – go do the dishes.   Fun book.   I love her sense of humor and her fearless sharing of her realities.   Great job, Dana White!  O.K. O. K.   I’ll go do the dishes.  J