I Believe In Inspiration + Beauty

September 9, 2011 By TheOrganicSister 8 Comments

This is my new MacBook skin and I ♥ it.

It’s beautiful and meaningful and I enjoy having it adorn the space where I do so much of my purposeful and creative work.

When we began to downsize from our house to our first RV I made a very conscious choice to let go of anything of mine that I didn’t ab-soul-lutely need or find to be beautiful.

My two questions as I sorted through our home were:

How often do I use it?
Do I pause to look at it when I see it?

Yeah, I got rid of a lot of crap with those two questions.

Clutter happens quickly in a small space such as our 5th wheel, even when you’ve gotten rid of so much “stuff”. And clutter, my friends, does not feel good to me. So we’ve found our way back to those two questions as Justin and I feel the inspiration to slowly sort and purge again.

I believe in the need for inspiration and beauty within me and around me.

As I move toward the things inside myself that inspire and motivate me (and move from those things in my actions), I get to create the things outside myself that do the same. Whether that’s bird hooks or painted walls or houseplants or laptop skins that make me smile when I see them, I create it as a reflection of something deeper.

Because beauty and inspiration feed me. They mean something. Something much deeper than just “stuff”. Something more than vanity.

The things I fill my life with have the power to remind me of what I believe in and what I love and the purpose behind what I do.

What beautiful “thing” feeds you?

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: beauty, decluttering, home, home management, inspiration

Glad We Didn’t Sell The Epsom

February 21, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 10 Comments

My niece, sending off the estate sale shoppers with waves and blown kisses.

Thank goodness for family. If it wasn’t for my sister and my mom, I’m pretty sure we would’ve been overrun. All things considered (including only 45 minutes of sleep and too much theft), we did really great! I loved watching things that we once enjoyed go to someone who’s eyes lit up at the sight of it.

I failed to get a photo of Zeb and his lemonade and homemade cookie stand. But let me tell you, he’s rolling in the dough (haha very punny). Great customer service, that kid, but he pays his staff lousy.

Now we’re packing things up for a local women’s shelter, cleaning the house and helping my sister and her family (including that ridiculously cute kid up there) move in. One of our dogs has moved in with Justin’s mom where he will be spoiled with affection; the other is very old and (cue violins) when talking to my sister about my concern over introducing her into a new environment she took pity on her and offered to keep her here!

I’m exhausted, sore all over and getting more nervous by the moment. And that sleeping situation? I’ve found a foam pad makes a great substitute when you’ve sold your mattress but aren’t quite ready to say goodbye to your bedroom.

Filed Under: Life on the Road Tagged With: home, RV, RV transitioning, transitioning

Reflections

February 20, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 26 Comments

It’s well past midnight and in a few short hours I’ll have been up nearly 24 hours, most of those spent working hard on the house in preparation for the sale tomorrow (er, today). My eyes are itching, my nose running and my throat congested from the dust we’ve stirred up, and while I should be sleeping I can’t because my husband convinced me I’d be needing some caffeine to keep me going. So, although I’m physically exhausted, I just can’t fall asleep.

We were suppose to sleep in the RV tonight for the first time, but we’re not. Instead we’re sleeping on our soon-to-be-sold mattress, bare of any sheets and with whatever blankets we hadn’t already placed in Benny’s care, too tired to retrieve. And if I’m honest with myself I must admit I’m a bit nervous to do otherwise. It’s not the RV I’m nervous about – it’s more the giant step of making it official. I’m not sure what it is about this bed, in this room, in this house that is holding onto me. But there is a small part of me that is nervous to say goodbye. So I suppose I’m hanging on a bit longer, at least until this mattress is gone and my options are whittled down to the floor.

This is it. Our things are slowing making their way out our doors and soon so shall we. We’ll leave behind the garden we worked so hard on, the dogs we love (they have been rehomed to family, so at least we’ll see them again), our home for the last five years. I’ll take one last photo of the door marked with my child’s measurements before we close it behind us for good.

I guess it’s natural for a bit of fear. Or apprehension? I’m honestly not sure anymore what this is I’m feeling. I’m so excited for the adventure and opportunities before us, but unsure what to expect.

Traveling full-time for an undetermined amount of time brings with it a certain lack of stability. Can we find a way to feel at peace on the road? Might it not be possible to feel a security that comes from within…or at least from the people we choose to travel with? These are the things I wonder at 2am.

I hope so. I hope that *we* become each others security, rather than the false sense we derive from the “sticks and stuff” we surround ourselves with.

As I look around at all our things tagged and arranged, it’s impossible for me to not feel a bit detached from it. I’m in disbelief at what begins to look like “junk” – odds and ends and sometimes, even trash; we’ve thrown out boxes of trash. Broken, ripped, or simply objects without use. How did we have so much trash in our home, hiding beneath beds, or in attics and cupboards? It’s ridiculous! It’s utterly insane to see the shit we’ve piled into this house, things we didn’t know we had or have no idea where they came from. And we didn’t even feel like we had that much!

I’ll be happy when this is over, when our connections and communications are restored and we can breath easier (quite literally *cough*) for the next week and enjoy the company of friends and family and each other. It’s hard to stay connected when you can barely think, let alone talk or collaborate. All we’ve managed is to chug along, happy just to remember to eat.

But this phase is soon to be over…and that’s when the giant question mark begins. Is it any wonder I want to sleep in my queen size bed one last time; I need a bit of familiarity while our entire lives and relationships undergo this transformation.

Filed Under: Life on the Road Tagged With: change, fear, home, RV, transitioning

Transitioning (Phase One)

January 23, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 26 Comments

If New Year’s was the commencement of our transitioning out of the house and into the RV, we’re about one-third of the way in.

There is still a lot to do and I fluctuate between doing well and feeling claustrophobic under a suffocating pile of Tasks. But if I’ve planned it well, I’m still on track. And that amazes me.

At the beginning, I made a list of every room that needed sorting, every task that needed attention, every To Do that needed To Doing. Then I looked at my calender and counted the weeks between now and Then (“Then” being “The Big Day”, the day we move). And I divied up the list, a little bit for each week. Six weeks to sort, 2 weeks to sell, one weekend to say goodbye. March 1st: We leave.

And it’s been surprising how well it’s worked. It doesn’t matter what next week holds, I only look at this week. When I’m done, I’m done for the week and I can goof off. If I think of something that needs to be handled, it gets scribbled in this or another week.

Another secret of my “success” comes from FlyLady and was brought back to my attention by Hillary. Putting on shoes in the morning makes all the difference. (So does showering and getting dressed actually. Who knew?)

But that’s all the detail-oriented transitioning. The mental transitioning has been a different sorta beast.

Somewhere along the line – I’m not exactly sure where – I let go of my attachment to our stuff.

I took a great, deep breath and asked myself if every time I see these things, do they make me smile? Does it hold some special meaning, have a real and practical use, or would it be difficult to replace (or even need replacing)? The answer is almost always “No”.

I looked at the boxes sitting in my garage from my decluttering last summer and I can’t for the life of me remember what is in them. I try to recall what is in a particular room and only the truly important things come to mind.

My home has become filled with the inconsequential.

And when I look forward to the possibilities that await us, nothing inconsequential has a place in our journey.

And there it was; that magical place of unattachment to what doesn’t truly matter.

We are starting over. We’re discarding the things that don’t properly represent us – and you’d be surprised how much that is. I’m not sure how I got to this place of feeling so underrepresented in my own home but it hardly matters. I can recognize it for what it is and I’m not going to find myself here again. Those questions will remain my guiding force.

So, we sort. We pack what will be stored and move what will be taken and leave in place all that we will sell (about 95%). And it’s liberating and peaceful. In fact, the further I get the more at peace I feel.

3 weeks and 3 rooms down and this is all that is being stored so far:
some books, photo albums, ornaments and some keepsakes.

Part of the 1% we’re taking on the road:
games, art stuff, movies (in the CD case), sewing and knitting.

Through all this, we’re trying to enjoy what we will truly miss: time spent at the park with our unschooling community, playdates and sleepovers with friends, dinners and afternoons and time with family. We’re also getting through library lists and our book series and the Netflix movie queue and video game goals. And we’re finishing up projects – a childhood dollhouse for my nieces, Zeb’s Lego creations and a business venture of mine.

Some days I’m motivated and accomplishing. Other days (like today) I stay in my pajamas and putter around. Some days it’s surreal; others it’s as if this is normal, everyday life. Everyday has at least a little piece of joy.

Yesterday, while Zeb went to the movies with his Gramma, Justin and I went on a lunch date. We talked about social expectations, the hidden messages we received as children and what we are imparting to our own. We talked about what success really means – both now and on the road – and how we will be below the poverty line. And we talked about what we hope to find on the road. Both of us have the same answer: Ourselves.

And so we created a focus. To question our motives, to remain in the moment, to allow self-discovery to occur. And whether we’re broken down in the middle of nowhere or having a Grand Adventure in the middle of somewhere, we’re going to Allow the moment to impart its wisdom. If we begin to lose our focus, we’ll shift – shift our actions or shift our perspective – until it meets our intentions again.

We’ve stumbled across the opportunity of a lifetime. It would be heart-breaking to waste it.

Filed Under: Life on the Road Tagged With: changes, home, RV, transitioning

We have solar power!

January 1, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 14 Comments

And we’re pretty dang excited about it! Justin posted about the installation process here: Solar panel installation.

In addition to solar power, we also have a general idea of when we’ll be moving.

It should take us about 6 weeks to sort through our possessions before we move things into the RV (or into a storage unit). Then another couple of weeks to hold a few estate sales. If it works out, we could be road ready by the beginning of March!