Simple Life by Design

Incubation.  Sometimes you just need to step back, see what you have created and reflect. That's what I've been doing the past few months. My husband and I moved to a little island off the Gulf Coast. We leased a small beach house and decided to live the simple life that we have been seeking. We eliminated one car and vowed to keep our new environment simple and functional.

Maintaining the spirit of the 100 Things Challenge, we decided to create a minimalist home from scratch. We have a new home in New York, so this was an experimental adventure to see if we could live minimally. And, I'm happy to report that we have been able to create a very simple, clean, creative beach home. We decorated the walls with star fish, sand dollars and simple paintings of the Gulf.

Its surprising to realize what you "don't need" in your daily life. This helped us to appreciate the fullness of our "real life" which was filled daily with nature, beauty, clean white sugar sand beaches, and beautiful turquoise water. Our days are spent exploring dunes, and sand bars, watching the birds and turtles and dolphins. There is so much to do outside each day that we find ourselves waking earlier and staying outside later in the evenings to watch the stars. All of it with no connections to "things".

I'm saddened to report,though, that our beloved beach and water might be in the path of the BP oil spill. How will that change our simple life? My focus now will be to appreciate and share glimpses of the simple life while its happening now......focusing on the now.

Breathe!

Breathe! 7 ways to simplify your life today
I recently saw Dr. Nancy Snyderman on the Today Show speaking about simplifying your life. Her thoughts on this topic are in alignment with my focus. Below is a transcript from the Today Show site: www.msnbc.msn.com


Dr. Nancy Snyderman on how to improve your health and well-being

Simple life can make you healthier, happier.
Jan. 28: Inspired by her recent assignment in devastated Haiti, NBC’s chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman explains the power of simplicity to TODAY’s Matt Lauer.


From giving back to taking a moment to appreciate each day, Dr. Nancy Snyderman reveals seven simple steps to live a healthier and spiritually more satisfying life.

1. Give back. If you don't volunteer your time, you've got to figure out a way to do it. Whether it's helping out at your kid's school, a nonprofit or abroad, you have to do something. Wherever you go, it's a great thing to do. Another good option is to give cash if you can't give your time.2. Get rid of stuffShed stuff, clothes, etc., that you don't want or don't need. You'll get a good feeling not only from donating it, but also living in a newly decluttered space.

3. Get moving. People really need to get back to moving around the way man was originally intended to: on foot. Plan a weekend without your car and figure out what can you get done without an automobile.

4. Simplify your diet. We've heard about how there are higher rates of diabetes in some communities that have fast food on every corner and that fresh fruit and vegetables can be sometimes be expensive (a dollar for an apple in some areas and 15 cents in others, depending on where you live). Those are valid arguments, but a can of beans is cheap anywhere you go. Beans are full of protein, have very little fat, and are eaten all over the world. In fact, we probably under-eat beans in this country.

5. Drink water. You don't need flavored water, just regular water. It's the best thing for you. And in most parts of the country, you can drink it from the tap. And if you don't want to drink from the tap, get a water purifier.

6. Breathe. Most of us don't breathe normally. And when we're tense, we hold our breath. We also breathe too fast, which can make you feel like you're having an anxiety attack. If you stay in the moment, breathing, you metabolize things differently and you put less strain on your heart and your brain, plus you sleep better. I recommend inhaling and exhaling through your nose. But it doesn't really matter how you do it — just find your breath.

7. Take a moment to appreciate each day. Find one thing — either visual, auditory or olfactory — to focus on and find the gift in. Every day, try to register something that gives you a pause. I truly believe this goes to the core and makes you feel that you're part of something bigger. It makes you connect with the idea that we share the earth with millions of others and we don't live isolated lives.

Clutter's Effect on Your Life

Today I'm "recycling" an article I found online that speaks to minimalist ideals. I enjoy reading about feng shui and use it often as I clean and declutter my life. As I pursue the 100 Things Challenge, I find that cleaning is an important aspect of the process. I hope you enjoy Kathryn Weber's advice:


Clutter's Effect on Your Life

How clutter changes you

©Kathryn Weber

Publisher, The Red Lotus Letter

www.redlotusletter.com

Creating a healthy, energetic home or office relies on diligence. It's much easier to let your home or office become cluttered and messy than it is to keep on top of papers, throw out old magazines, or otherwise dispose of the things that you no longer need, want, or use. For that reason many people don't bother with this kind of routine maintenance. And that's how Spring Cleaning should be looked at: maintenance for your home.

Now, I'm not going to tell you what to do for your personal Spring Cleaning because only you know if you are harboring clothes in your closet from 30 years ago, or if your addiction to paper has gotten out of hand. YOU ARE THE EXPERT at your own mess. Give yourself permission to clean it up and let go of it.

Let's go over some basics about dirty, cluttered homes versus clean and organized homes...

What does a dirty, cluttered home do to you?

• It makes you feel tired. A cluttered home is a visual and psychic drain. All that stuff makes you fatigued. One of the most fatigued people I know simply can NOT throw anything away. Antiques are her specialty. Everything is a "collectible." But that does not mean SHE has to collect it. This client is slowly letting go of her addiction to acquiring and is finding her energy is rebounding.
  

• It makes you feel hopeless. Simply put, too much stuff is overwhelming and we can't handle it all, so we throw our psychological hands in the air in frustration. This leads to that hopeless, it's-all-inevitable feeling.
  

• It makes you poor. Yep, that's right: POOR. Ever notice those homes of the mega-wealthy? They'e a study in restraint. You notice their homes because stuff isn't everywhere. Time and time again, I notice the environments of people who are struggling to make ends meet, and I notice that they have an overwhelmingly HUGE baseball cap collection or some kind of collectible. Get rid of all but the most meaningful things. You can DO it.
  

• It makes you feel out of control in your life. That's because the stuff is in control and you're not. Put yourself in the driver's seat of your life and take control of all THAT STUFF by donating it, throwing it away, or organizing it.
  

What does a clean, organized home do for you?

• It gives you a sense of calm. Imagine walking in to a room where the tops are cleared off and there are no papers and mess scattered about. How does it make you feel? That's the AAAHHHH feeling you get when you walk into a hotel room...it's neat and you can SEE the ROOM and not all the STUFF.
  

• It gives you back your health. Dirty, cluttered houses can make you fatigued, constipated, have back pain, and congested. Not just because there's stuff everywhere, but because there is dust on all that stuff -- and dust is nothing but negative energy. Unclog your home and your health might be better to boot!
  

• It gives you wealth. Think about the times when you were doing well financially... As money worries piled up, did you ever make the correlation that so has all the stuff around you? Get rid of it and you will see financial flow again! I know someone who built a house, and it had that model home look for about two years and then slowly but surely the knickknacks began taking over every surface and stuff began to pile up in corners. As this has happened, this person's financial situation began to deteriorate as well.
  

• It puts you in control of your life. Suddenly, order appears in the Universe, you can find things, the feeling of being overwhelmed isn't omnipresent and you look forward to things!
  

© Kathryn Weber, All rights reserved

Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in authentic Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE E-book "Easy Money - 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui" visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

In the Pink...

Next for my 100 Things Challenge is getting rid of too many beauty items in my drawers. Today I'm going through my nail polish collection. Yes, collection. Is there a reason that I need this many colors? No. I know they're toxic. You can tell immediately as you open the top. And, the polish remover is just as odorific!

Two tasks today:

• #1: get rid of all the toxic nail polish in a responsible, eco-friendly way.

• #2: find a healthy, non-toxic replacement.

#1 OK, so here's what I found out about nail polish:

-Most nail polishes contain toxic formaldehyde that is known as a carcinogen.
-Nail polish ingredients often include toluene and xylene. These are petroleum-based products linked to cancer.
-Nail polish is considered a hazardous waste by some regulatory bodies.
-Chemical solvents like acetates give off chemical fumes, pollute the air, are highly flammable and even explosive.
-When nail polish is applied to your nails, the solvents evaporate into the air and surround you with heavy pollution.
-Unless you hold your breath, you are inhaling toluene, acetates, formaldehyde, alcohol, and phthalates.
-Phthalates have the potential to disrupt hormone levels and potentially cause birth defects.
-Nail polish remover is just as toxic, it contains acetone.

So what to do with these bottles and polishes?
Believe it or not, I found a recycling program for nail polish!

Its a company based in Ohio called Chemwise. They are an award winning chemical recycling and disposal organization, with a mail-in program that you or your community organization can use.


#2 I found environmentally friendly nail polish alternatives:

-Recently, a water-based nail polish has been developed which is based on an acrylic polymer emulsion and the colors (pigments) are similar to those used in water color paints.
-Several companies now make toluene-free and formaldehyde-free nail polishes.
But, these still contain chemical solvents like acetates.
-Several companies are now making water-based nail polish where all the chemical solvents are replaced by water. So, this way, when your nails are drying, it's only water that is evaporating into the air, not toxic chemical fumes.

I plan to do a little more research on this and will post more info later.

Until then, keep those toes and fingers safe. Go natural!

Less Space,Less Things, More Life

The other day I was watching the Oprah show where she was talking with women from Denmark and visiting their homes. Danish people prefer to live simply in small spaces. She took a tour of this one home that was the epitome of simplicity. I loved it. I could live there very easily.

Yet, my house doesn't look like that at all!! (not yet)

During the tour, the woman's husband came in and Oprah mentioned that Danish people are comfortable with less space than Americans.

His comment was perfect: "Less space, less things, more life."

In my search for simplicity, I'm finding that I am very happy with less things, but also, less space. I spend a lot of time outdoors.

Next week, my husband and I are moving to a little bungalow on a small island off the west coast of Florida. Its not furnished. I'm looking forward to having fun living from scratch!
Simple, small, effortless....with lots of ocean, sky, and color......

Here's a video clip of a typical Danish home. If you don't have a lot of "things" then its easy to be neat. Its amazing how little we actually need to live.

Less space, less things, more life."

One for the road.....

My enthusiastic approach to pare my personal belongings down to 100 Things, has permeated our household. My sweet husband, Lex, is tearing through his closet pulling clothes and shoes and bringing bags to the donation center.

All this letting go activity prompted "the discussion"........although, not what you may think.

We discussed why we needed two cars. We're both retired and go about our lives in a leisurely way. We really don't need two cars.

But....I've never not had a car. My car was my freedom. I could go anywhere, anytime with my little car. I didn't have to be beholding to anyone, I could just go................and, I could stay as long as I'd like because no one else needed the car.

Throughout my entire adult life, my car was an extension of my being. It moved me forward, carried all my "stuff", took me to new places, entertained me with music (cd's, radio and 8 track tapes long ago). I kept my "personal" stuff in my car. I laughed and sang and had fun with family and friends in my car. I drove fast. I traveled across country and had romance and adventures.

How could I give up that kind of freedom? I was very resistant to this idea. It's probably the one "thing" that I would never consider leaving off my 100 Things List.

But, in the spirit of "Do I really need this thing?"
I've let it go..............

I have to agree that this was the best move for us. Only one car payment, one insurance, one bill for tune-ups and oil changes.

We ended up selling both of our cars and getting a new one. We've come up with a schedule so we could both maintain a semblance of freedom. We now have a calendar highlighted with times we each need the car. This is actually working out well.

I know there are people with no car at all. And, I'm so grateful that we have a reliable car and that I have a great friend and partner to share it with. I'm a lucky girl......

100 Things Challenge: Hello-Goodbye

Cleaning out my drawers, I found two old cell phones. One was a pay-as-you-go and the other was about five years old. Just sitting there taking up space. So, in my quest for release, I did a search on what to do with old phones. I knew that there were phone collection sites that helped schools earn money by creating collection campaigns and sending in old phones.

If you are connected to a church or school organization, or any group for that matter, then you might want to check into Secure the Call. Its a non profit charity that is dedicated to providing free emergency 911 cell phones to people who need them. Over 250 community-based organizations have joined this group already to help redistribute the phones after reprogramming.

Here's some quick info to answer some questions you might have:
-They accept all makes and models of mobile phones.
-They recycle phones that cannot be used.
-Secure the Call checks for suitability as 911 emergency access phones.
-They clean, wipe out old software and old numbers, reprogram and test each phone.
-You can download a tax receipt and mailing label here- Secure.

Another great program that will enable you to recycle your phones and help others at the same time is Verizon's Hopeline. I heard about this program on the Today Show when Maria Shriver talked about donating her cell phone that she got caught driving and talking with! Anyway, this program at Verizon Wireless assists victims of domestic violence with wireless service and a phone.

Here's information from their site:
The long-running HopeLine program collects no-longer-used wireless phones and equipment in any condition from any service provider. The used phones are either refurbished or recycled. With the funds raised from the sale of the refurbished phones, Verizon Wireless donates wireless phones and airtime to victims, and provides funding and other contributions to non-profit domestic violence shelters and prevention programs across the country.

Verizon also concentrates on protecting the environment by collecting spent rechargeable batteries for recycling. More than 200 tons of batteries have been prevented from entering community landfills. Consider donating your used phones to Hopeline.

Let me know if you donate a phone and if you find other programs for recycling cell phones.

Day 5: Steppin' Out.....

Working on my 100 Things Challenge by clearing out all my old shoes. Still working on what to do with them. Dress shoes can be donated to the local City Mission along with clothes. But, the sneakers and flipflops need to be recycled. My goal is not to throw anything away.

Recycle, reuse, repurpose, reinvent....

I did a little research online and discovered a great program that Nike has developed called Reuse-A-Shoe. Since 1990, they've collected more than 24 million pairs. What they do is grind down old shoes to use the rubber in synthetic sports fields and playing surfaces. There are three grind categories:

Nike Grind Rubber is made from the shoe's outsole. It's used in track surfaces, interlocking gym floors, and playground surfacing.
Nike Grind Foam is from the shoe's midsole. They use this as a cushion for outdoor basketball and tennis courts.
Nike Grind Upper is recycled from the fabric. They use this for cushioning pads on indoor volleyball and basketball courts.

Check out their site and you can see several interesting videos on recycling old shoes and find out how you can participate. They have programs for group collections as well as individual donations.

I found a shoe recycling directory: recycledrunners where you can find local and international drop off facilities.

Have you heard of soles4souls? Their mission is to affect as many lives as possible with the gift of shoes. They've collected more than 1 million pair of shoes for relief efforts such as the Asian Tsunami and hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Runtheplanet has a listing of worldwide shoe donation organizations.

Then, on to the flip-flops.....
Did you know that thousands of flip-flops wash up on the African shoreline every year creating an environmental disaster for the marine eco-system? An organization called UniqEco works with the locals to collect and recycle the rubber and then turn it into jewelry, baskets, rugs, and many more items.

I'm ready to send those flip-flops to Nairobi. How about you? Check out some of these sites and let me know what you think.

Blog Action Day '09

Around the world today, bloggers are uniting to write about one topic: Climate Change. Over 27,000 posts are focused on this important issue. Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 is focused on Climate Change and will be the largest ever social change event on the web.

I've listed quite a few links you can check out if you'd like to see who is participating. Look for the "Recycle-Rethink" list to the right.

At simplelife2day, I am focusing on narrowing down my personal belongings to 100 Things. But, more importantly, I'm trying to recycle, reuse, rethink what I am doing with all my "things" as I get rid of them. I do not want to throw anything out. My goal is to create a simple life that does not impact the environment in a negative way.

So far, I've donated and sold items, but I also plan to post videos of what else can be done with things we no longer need. I've been creating art from recycled items for a long time. I'm looking forward to sharing with you some fun, creative ideas as I repurpose instead of throw out my "stuff."

Its all about choices. As we continue to clutter the earth with all our "stuff", we are damaging our environment. The choices we make for our lifestyle, how we travel, the food we consume, and what we buy and throw away all influence our carbon footprint.

"This ecological footprint is a monitor of human demand on ecosystems. It shows that humanity is already using nearly 30% more natural resources than the Earth can replenish." (GreenPeace)

If you'd like to learn more about carbon emissions and measure your carbon footprint check out the calculator at the Nature Conservency. It measures how many tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses your choices create each year.

So, what can we do?

Stop throwing away so much stuff.

Join me in consciously choosing to recycle, rethink, repurpose, reuse all our stuff.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you are doing to reduce your carbon emissions.
thanks....

Day 4: If the Shoe Fits.......

As I filter out all of my belongings in order to create my 100 Things List, I'm starting to realize that it is a layered process. I've discovered that I can't just pick a category, give away, sell, recycle or repurpose everything and then be done with it.

I still have that tape running in my head: "Maybe I can still use this." Or, how about this one: "I haven't worn these at all this year, but I'd better hang on to them because I might need them."

Today, I'm focusing on shoes. I think this category is a little more difficult for women than men. We need different shoes for jeans, and pants and also for dresses, etc. I counted seventeen pair of shoes in my closet. Some are for summer and some for winter, including boots. I've got sandals, and sneakers, and flip-flops, and heels, and flats, and clogs.....

I think I'll approach this by choosing five pair that I absolutely wear now and will continue to wear, like sneakers. My husband and I are retired, and this winter we will be living on a little island off the coast of West Florida. So I really don't need boots, and winter shoes like my dansko clogs. Should I keep these? I'm not sure what to do.

Black heels...short, medium, tall.....pointy, not so pointy, and on and on.

OK, I have to make a decision here. I'm not sure what to keep. Any ideas?
Please leave a comment. I need some guidance.....