Oh dear... possibly a tsunami level of inward flow at the Jackson house.
You Won't Believe What Came Into The House This Weekend
I enjoyed a lazy morning in bed reading a book... actually, I read through to 1pm and then had a little sleep. Loved it! Meanwhile hubby went off to enjoy his passion at the local DVD store which was closing down... sign of the times hey? It was an opportunity for him to pick up some classics missing from his collection. INCOMING WARNING!!
I didn't realise what this meant until I saw the pile. 36 DVDs made there way into the house. Oh boy!! It started a conversation about moving all the DVDs to an online medium. This would enable us to get ALL the DVDs out of the house. Jerry was saying this was not as easy as it sounds. Time to research me thinks.
In the mean time we may have come up with an interim solution. The issue with the amount of DVDs we have is the space they take up. We have a little home and 300+ DVDs take up quite a lot of space. It may be more than this... have to count them.
The solution we are going to try is to put each DVD in a sleeve and keep the cover art with the sleeve. We will convert a drawers into a DVD storage system like they do at the DVD stores. It will take up so much less space. Don't know exactly how this will work however the end result will be the bulky plastic cases will be gone-ski . One option is something called Discsox. It appears they are high quality sleeves just for this purpose. I will let you know how we go.
This will enable us to take the (somewhat ugly) cabinet out of the lounge room. This will clear the space in readiness for the lounge room makeover we have planned.
What came in - 36
36 DVDs - classics
What went out - 1 items
1 top I don't wear
INSIGHTS
(1) Finding a solution to the things you cherish is fun to do
(2) Piracy creates the need to protect from theft yet hampers all users making copies of items they have purchased. A strange industry.
TOTAL: OUT - 797 IN - 112
TOTAL CASH sales from gone-ski items = $48
A quick one today... nothing really to report.
Device Distraction Disorder
I coined this phrase at work when holding meetings and watching people on their devices. I call attention to it as I point to my laptop, my personal iPhone 5 and my work iPhone 6 plus. We all laugh, but the truth is this distraction is disconnecting us from being present.
Distractions are a way to escape the discomforts of life. TV, alcohol, social media etc are all obvious ones. Being aware is the key. Like anything we do in life, awareness helps us navigate with intention.
Which brings me to todays 'Hans Christian Anderson' moment. Where does all the old tech go? In a box in our cupboard of course! You know the box. The one with the cords, old iPhones, broken (just in case) ear-buds, storage devices no one has readers for, floppy discs (no, really?!), and other stuff we don't know what it's used for. Have you got one of those?
Any-who... (change of subject)
The last two nights have been social nights out for us. We loved it. Dinner with great friends, a farewell to a colleague after work and staying in the city overnight results in no gone-ski items for two days. Does this bother me... nah!
We will get back to it.
Have a brilliant day
Cheers from Deb (tired and looking forward to a sleep in)
What went out - 0 items
Zip (a-dee-do-dah)
What came in - 0 items
Naught (ty)
INSIGHTS
(1) No matter how committed you are, a night with friends, good food, fine wine and a sleep over cannot be overlooked as a spectacular excuse not to gone-ski items.
(2) Note to self... SLEEP IN TOMRROW!!
TOTAL: OUT - 796 IN - 76
TOTAL CASH sales from gone-ski items = $48
With the digital world changing how we get our information, storage becomes the new bookshelf.
What Books Do I Keep?
Today I was looking at our book cases. I love the look and feel of books. They add warmth to the home and each one holds wisdom and adventure. So what will this look like in 5 years time? What about in 20 years? Will we be all fully online for everything? Then what will happen to all the books in the world?
My thoughts around this involves the constant shifting of storage types. I mean one upon a time we recorded digital media on tape drives, then floppy drives, then CDs, DVDs and now hard drives. Will there come a day when my hard drive will no longer be read by the device and programs I have. Then what? We are already looking at recorded media at our house that is likely not to be read. I have videos of me playing touch football 20 years ago that may no longer play.
Books on the other hand last as long as the paper (based on weather conditions etc). Stories in those books enable us to know cultures, people and events. The cultures we know little about are the ones that have not recorded their stories.
This tells me how little we really know. Makes me see the power of intuition and the travel across all time and space we can do by sitting in stillness to connect with that which we don't know.
So what will we do with our books? I don't know.
For now, I ended up finding 4 books I bought when pregnant that showed you how to unleash your child's genius. They are amazing books. One in particular came from the US and cost (wait for it) $140 to ship. The book was only $15. (clearly I am not over that!!)
From these books, I made a lot of props to support the stimulation of my gorgeous daughters genius. She was reading before she could speak.
So now it is time to get rid of them and the props. I will definitely be putting these on the 'for sale' pile.
As for the rest of the books... not sure what we are going to do with them. Time will tell.
Cheers from Deb (perplexed by the info storage challenges of the future)
What went out - 4 items
Books
What came in - 0 items
Nothing again... (big fat silly smile)
INSIGHTS
(1) The world is in a constant state of flux... changing with it enables growth
(2) It is not the book itself, it is the insights one gets when reading them, that creates value
TOTAL: OUT - 796 IN - 76
TOTAL CASH sales from gone-ski items = $48
It only takes 5 minutes a day to get into the habit of clearing out the clutter.
Clearing out is the easy part
Stopping the incoming items is the hardest part. The idiom 'nature abhors a vacuum' explains the tension 'naturally' generated when we deem a space empty. It is about redefining the space.
Is it empty or is it open and clear? What does a clear, clean space mean to you? How does it feel? Where will you put the time you used to invest in moving, cleaning and dealing with the clutter? What passion have you got inside your heart that now can be explored?
A reduction of items coming in has meant a big difference to us. We use our time differently. We use our space differently. We appreciate our things so much more.
This journey is changing our lives in a lovely, slow and permanent way.
Have you been inspired? Share your experience here (my blog's facebook group)https://www.facebook.com/groups/427233054096059/
Cheers from Deb (soaking in gratitude)
What went out - 7 items
One pair of shoes and 6 pieces of clothing from Jerry's wardrobe (his choices)
What came in - 0 items
Nothing again...loving this.
INSIGHTS
(1) The definition of clear space impacts how you use it
(2) Stuff has no value what so ever. The way we use stuff makes it valuable.
TOTAL: OUT - 792 IN - 76
TOTAL CASH sales from gone-ski items = $48
You have two choices. To sit and do nothing or to get up and do something.
How Simple Actions Can Create Great Change
I opened up one of the sides of my dresser where I stash my soft 'warmies' (pullovers etc). I'm not sure if doing this in summer is smart or really stoooopid. Any-who, a quick try on session and out go 10 items. It felt really good. Someone in need is going to really like these.
This is how the should I or shouldn't I thing went down...
I was sitting in my chair watching TV after a long day. I really didn't want to do anything! However my nagging gone-ski angel was continually tapping me on the shoulder to get up out of that there chair missy. Boy she is pushy sometimes (secretly glad but putting on a sad face anyway).
I realised I had a choice to either sit there or get up and do something. The later was not appealing but I knew it was the truest thing to do. So I dragged myself out of my comfy chair and walked into the bedroom and looked around for a place to investigate. Bam...there it was, my 'warmies'.
I realised I had about 6 of the same kind of zip up pullovers (not really a pullover then are they...LOL). And some of them were just tired, not worn any more and needed to go out. Gone-ski!
The item shown in the picture is going up for sale as it is brand new but I've never worn it. Should add to our holiday fund nicely.
What went out - 10 items
Various pullovers - this makes up for yesterday (snicker)
What came in - 1 items
I bought a ceramic pot for an indoor plant that needs some loving
INSIGHTS
(1) Having others vote on whether to toss something helps a lot
(2) You can only wear one thing at a time
TOTAL: OUT - 785 IN - 76
TOTAL CASH sales from gone-ski items = $48
Another day without gone-ski plus we brought 8 new items into the house.
I can hear my consumerism rules ringing in my ears
Sammi (miss 12) and I meet a dear friend for lunch (planned) and then went to the Gnostic Rocks (a gemstone shop on the Central Coast NSW Australia...also planned) to find a pendant. It was a planned shopping trip for something on my wish-list.
Strangely last weekend we dropped in at the same store as it was next door to where we picked up flowers for the 80th birthday party. And unexpectedly a piece jumped out at me....darn! It was a black ring, shungite. I loved it however I couldn't afford it, nor was it on my wish-list. I asked if they would hold it for 1 week to see if it really was meant to be mine.
When we dropped into the store today I showed my friend who immediately agreed it was my ring. I knew I couldn't buy it today...so put it on layby. Yay! Now to find the piece I came for. And it ended up being the first pendant that jumped out at me. It was a black smokey quartz unpolished, set in silver and open at the back. As soon as I put it on my whole chest activated and it radiated through to my back. Wow!
It was an obvious yes. I also picked up two black stones: a black taubaline and a black obsidian.
Sammi found herself the moonstone pendant she had on her wish-list. She paid for it out of her own money.
So how does all this stack up against the rules of the game?
The rules of the game:
(1) Each day I will clear out at least one item from my life
(2) More items are to be cleared, than to come into my life
(3) No more gifting people with things that clutter
(4) No purchase is made from impulse
Not bad...other than I didn't clear any items. No big deal, I will just have to clear out more tomorrow.
Cheers from Deb (in wonderment at the journey and the lessons)
What went out - 0 items
Oh dear... letting the team down here...LOL.
What came in - 8 items
Some jewellery, some stones, a new water bottle for school for Sammi and a camisole for me (all wish-list items)
INSIGHTS
(1) It feels different to shop with purpose
(2) I love time out with my girlfriends and miss Sammi
TOTAL: OUT - 775 IN - 75
TOTAL CASH sales from gone-ski items = $48
Nothing to report for yesterday other than I notice we are distracted by other things. That happens...no biggy.
What happens when there is no more to clear?
Will this happen before we hit December 31st 2015? Will we run out of gone-ski items by day 365? Interesting question posed by Sammi (miss 12 yr old).
I think the harder this gets, the more we will learn about ourselves. When there are no more items to clear, I am sure there will be a level of gratitude beyond what I have known to date.
I have never wanted for anything other than my true hearts passions. I had everything I needed as a child and throughout the years. I have had tough times financially however over the last many years and it has brought home some truths. All this is leading me somewhere. I can feel it coming. Even the shadows are appearing to prevent the next leap.
It's amazing how when you are walking towards your higher calling, forces appear to block the path. I imagine most reframe this as an indication it is the wrong path. Perfect outcome for preventing the risk of failure, right? After all how would we be if after all this time we fail at the very thing we believe we are here to do?
A better question is...
Do we ever fail? Or is simply not trying the ultimate fail? or...
Do we get so distracted by the 'false' life, the one we chase for our egos happiness...?
How can we know?
All very cool questions to explore....have fun with them?
Cheers from Deb (shadow boxing in stillness)
What went out - 0 items
Nothing....doh!
What came in - 0 items
Phew...nothing.
INSIGHTS
(1) Awareness of all aspects of the journey bring freedom, including the shadows
(2) The more tension applied the greater the results (let's see how we feel at day 365)
TOTAL: OUT - 775 IN - 67
TOTAL CASH sales from gone-ski items = $48
