simplicity sake

oops...elimitating the non-essentials may include elimintating some blogging

Our intention was to have a series of posts on Simplicity Sake about the book The Power of Less by Leo Babauta, author of the awesome blog Zen Habits. But...in reading the book, I guess we all started to actually follow Leo's advice. In cutting out non-essential tasks (one of Leo's main concepts in this book), we found that this Simplicity Sake blog was sort of...non-essential. We all had other things that were just more important, more essential.

Nonetheless, we HAVE been discussing this book quite a lot. Sometimes I will be driving up to the city to go to the San Francisco Zoo with the kids and my mom will accompany me. She'll bring the book, read a chapter on the way up and we'll discuss it throughout the day. For the last three weeks, I was in Cape Cod with Robin and we did a fair amount of journaling on what our goals for the year are and what we can eliminate as non-essential.

The Power of Less continues to be a book that I pick up over and over to read bits and pieces of, to remind myself of what is important, to center myself and recenter myself. It is an ongoing process.

As for the Simplicity Sake blog, I'm not sure where it is going. We may post here from time to time...if we find it essential. Or not. No promises.

Thanks for reading.

the power of less project: an upcoming series

We are Simplicity Sake are all reading the new book The Power of Less by Leo Babauta, author of the blog Zen Habits. It is a book club of sorts. There are three of us here so far - Linsey, Robin and Karin. We spent last weekend together, talking about our dreams, plans, goals, talents and the desire to be less stressed in our lives, while at the same time having more impact on the world around us. We picked up this book and it immediately resonated with all of us. We have decide to create a Power of Less Project here at Simplicity Sake - we all be focusing on our own goals, taking each chapter or section of the book at a time and writing about our progress.

About The Power of Less: Do Less. Get More Done. With the countless distractions that come from every corner of modern life, it’s amazing that we’re ever able to accomplish anything. The Power of Less demonstrates how to streamline your life by identifying the essential and eliminating the unnecessary — freeing you from everyday clutter and allowing you to focus on accomplishing the goals that can change your life for the better. By setting limits for yourself and making the most of the resources you already have, you’ll be able to work less, work smarter, and focus on living the life that you deserve.

We invite you to read along with us and join in the ride.

cluttercasting: a new way to get rid of your junk

A new blog called Cluttercast is showing us a new way to give away items you don't need or want anymore. It is more personal than Goodwill or freecycle...and perhaps more entertaining? As Darryl Pollack, Cluttercast's founder says: "It's the perfect solution at the perfect time. and everyone wins." Here's how to get started. 

sunday dinner

Each Sunday, my family of 5 heads over to my parents house for dinner. It is a simple ritual and a nice end to our weekend. My husband often makes soup that he will then take to work during the week for lunch. And we'll make something else too - salmon, spaghetti and meatballs, things the kids will enjoy usually. We drink wine...and then coffee. Desert? Always! In the summer, we pull out the BBQ and eat together in their backyard. In the winter, we huddle inside and light candles for the illusion of warmth. We play, we talk politics, we listen to music, we catch each other up on our lives and get updates about what other family members are up to. It is always casual and relaxing.

What do I like best about it? In some ways, this is time for me. Although I am still with my kids, at my mom and dad's house I get to be the one taken care of a little bit. I usually don't cook much of the meal (my dad and my husband being the primary chefs on Sunday!), my dad always pours me a glass of wine right when we arrive, and there are 4 adults there to help with the kids (most of the time during the week I am outnumbered, being the only adult for 3 small kids). At the end of the weekend and before the start of another week, this is such a treat.

limiting kids screen time...and mine too

An admission: My husband and I have recently found ourselves with a bad habit. Every morning for the past week, when we all get up in the morning, the kids (having recently learned how to work the remote control) turn on the TV and my husband and I each crack our laptops. You know, just to quickly check email, catch up on the Google Reader feeds, update our Twitter and Facebook statuses (well, that's more me than him. He's not into social networking...yet...). By the time we know it, an hour has passed and we haven't gotten anything done around the house. We still have kids to feed, to dress, to brush teeth, not to mention getting ourselves ready. What's worse, that hour has felt like it was sucked from us. I have no recollection of the time passing. Quality time spent together? Um, no.

So yesterday, while at the Campbell Farmer's Market, I relayed my concern about our developing bad habits to my husband. He was not overly concerned, but then again, he is sort of like a junkie, we both are. And I'm realizing that we need to limit our info-junkie habits, not just for us, but for the kids. Our kids are getting old enough to really need more limits in terms of their screen time - they don't watch too much, but with the addition of the computer and the Leapster, it is becoming more and more available. It is up to us, their parents, to lead by example.

Our new rule - no screen time in the morning. No TV in the morning. No email/Google Reader in the morning. How WILL we survive?!

Now, I'm not saying we are getting rid of our TV, our computers, our screens. I lot of how I view simplfying my life is in terms of using tecnology. But technology has to be used in a way that isn't draining on your Real Life.

thoughts on the happiness project

I just started following Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. A former lawyer (like me...well, I'm still a lawyer, although part-time from my house for the past 5 years), she is working on a book (and accompanying blog) which chronicles the year she is spending grappling with the challenge of being happier. It sort of reminds me of Eat, Pray, Love, but in a (maybe?) more practical way. I think I'm going to email Gretchen and ask for a copy of her resolutions chart.

The other day, Gretchen asked what day you would want to re-live (ala. the movie "Groundhog Day"). When I think back about my happiest days, I think of hiking in the Scottish highlands with my sister and my husband, parasailing over Lake Tahoe with my sister, camping with my kids. Super active stuff with the people I love is my favorite thing to do and it is what makes me happiest.

A funny thing, though. One of my other (secret) favorite days was a day in Monterey about a week after I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma 8 years ago. I was still going through staging for my cancer and hadn't started treatment yet, so a lot was unknown. It was a scary time. But it was also weirdly empowering -- the idea that I could do anything, because who knew how much time I had left. It was actually sort of freeing.

I think when it comes down to it, the relief of feeling free of trappings of society, my social identity, my obligations, my "tapes" that I play in my head, result in a huge happiness for me.

I'm intrigued to keep reading The Happiness Project. Maybe

eating raw

I am not an extreme eater or foodist. I am not vegan or vegetarian. I drink coffee - decaf, but still. I do shop mainly at Trader Joe's and try to go organic as much as my wallet will allow. I did grow pumpkins last year, but not any other vegetables in my garden. I am pretty mainstream. I do take my kids to McDonald's (gasp!) and eat there myself from time to time. But...I read an article the other day from Zen Habits that got me thinking - 10 Reasons Eating Raw is Heathier for You and The Planet. The last couple of months with the holidays and my sister visiting (we drink A LOT of wine and eat A LOT of chocolate when we are together!), my eating has been, well, pretty horrible.

So I decided to give it a try. Not 100% raw or anything. I have just been trying to eat "more raw" the last couple of days. And I have to say I am feeling a lot better already. I am not (right now, at least) looking at any guide to tell me what to eat. I am just grabbing an apple instead of a cookie. I am eating A LOT more fruits and vegetables and nuts. I am drinking more water. All because I am focusing on eating "raw."

One of the things I like about the mindset of "eating raw," as oppopsed to eating better or not eating junk, etc. is that it focuses on going towards something, rather than depriving yourself of something. And I think that translates into more success. We'll see how it goes. I'll keep you posted.

what we're reading at simplicity sake

For getting things done...and a good dose of perspective:

• Mashable has a published a GTD Toolbox: a list of 100+ resources for Getting Things Done
• David Allen's new book, "Making It All Work," goes for a deeper perspective
  
• All this talk to getting this done...but what really matters? Here is a great article from Zen Habits on what would you do if you only had a short time to live?

using facebook to give away your stuff

Trying to unclutter and organize and have less stuff? I have tons of baby items and random stuff stacked up in my garage to give away. I would like to share some of it to my friends. What a great idea to use Facebook to do this. Put up photos of your items and let your friends take their pic.

what we're reading at simplicity sake

This week, Simplicity Sake has been getting ready for twins' birthday parties, going on business trips, but we're still finding a little bit of time to read:

• Our toy organization post got us thinking about when should you sell and when should you donate. See this post for some great guidelines: Ask Unclutter: Sell or Donate?
• Linsey is on twitter (follow her @linseyk), but can you Get Things Done with Twitter? Zen Habits has a very interesting article on how to actually Get Things Done with Twitter...as opposed to having it be a complete time suck, which it really can be.