Grow Up! It's time to move (your clutter) out of your parents' house

Fall isn't kidding around with this equinox.  I've got my belly warmers (if you don't know what these are I highly recommend them if your love handles get chilly) and my portable tea cup out of storage and keeping me warm.

I have a question for you... 

Do you still have stuff at your parents' house? 

There might be a few things in your old bedroom or stashed in boxes in their basement.  Your old cabbage patch doll with that shiny spot on his nose, notes passed back and forth in chemistry class about what to wear to the Polish Hall dance, Choose Your Own Adventure books and your old High School year books. 

If the answer is yes I have one thing to say to you.

Grow UP! 

I don't mean it in a harsh way, I promise.  It's just that, according to Feng Shui, everything that belongs to you is connected to your energy, which means that if you still have stuff at your parents' house, then in a way a part of you is still living at home. 

And what's hard to do when you live at home?  That's right...

Grow up!  

(Something to point out.  This counts even if your parents don't live in the same country as you.  You can't just move away from your clutter, no matter how far away it is, it's still connected to your energy.)

So, if you still have some stuff hidden in your parents' basement what are you going to do? 

That's right, you're going to go get it and deal with it!

It's not just for you, it's for them too.  If you have 10 boxes still living at your parents' house, then they don't really get to live their lives fully either.  They don't get to figure out who they are without kids living at home and that's just as important as you growing up.

Everything above can be applied to stuff you may be keeping in other peoples basements too.  Exes, friends, aunts, old roommates, cousins, etc... 

Just think about it...  What do you think is happening if you still have stuff in your ex's basement or they have stuff in yours?  Hmmm...

Do you still have stuff living at "home" or in somebody else's house?  How does it feel, how would it feel to get it out?  Do you even know what's there?  I'd love to hear from you so mosey on down and leave a comment below. 

If you know someone who is always complaining about her mom and still has her old bedroom in perfect condition back at her parents' place, go ahead and pass this post along, I'd love it if you did and she'll love you for it too. 

Take care, 
Cecilia
ox

p.s. If you're reading this and you're not on my list, you should really get yourself on the list!  I send out a fun and useful email just about every week on clearing clutter and living life.  Just pop on over here to get on!  All the cool kids are doing it!

Who Do You Think You're Packing For?

Summer is (almost) over, but my shoulder still hurts from lugging around my way too big suitcase on the many trips I took in July and August. 

Doing what I do, I have cleared a lot of clutter in my home.  There is always more and there will always be more as I grow and change, but there is something seriously funny going on when I pack for a trip. 

I rarely run at home, but when I'm on vacation, I bring along my running shoes.  That book I've been meaning to read for five years, it can come along as well.  I bring high heels to a house in the woods.  Makeup to the cottage.  You get the idea...

I'm not the only one.  A writer friend of mine admitted to carrying around five empty notebooks in her suitcase while she traveled for a year.  Five!  

This points to an optimism that comes with leaving home. 

Just think about those five notebooks.  You're a writer and you want to write.  What if you get struck with inspiration on a remote beach and you only have two notebooks with you, and one is half full?  You're going to wish you had five notebooks, because when the Muse visits she won't wait for you to run to the convenience store and buy a black and white composition book.

The thing is, when you're carting around five empty notebooks, the Muse is a little overwhelmed by the amount of blank space she's expected to fill and decides to go swimming instead.

You imagine that as soon as your foot boards that plane, train or automobile you become a different person.  Your best self.  The self who writes stuff, reads stuff, wears stuff, makes stuff and does stuff that she doesn't do at home.  All the things you've been meaning to get around to, but you haven't, whether because of lack of time or desire.

So what's the truth? 

The truth is, you don't magically change when you go on vacation, at least not in the way that you think.  Something does shift when you leave home and the best thing you can do is to leave all of those shoulds, mights, ifs or maybes at home, so that you can discover who you are when you get a little distance between you and your stuff. You may be surprised at what shows up when you do.

Like that time I went for a unexpected mountain hike in my sandals.  I suddenly felt like running, and what do you know, I didn't need my running shoes to do it, I just took off my sandals and ran barefoot down the trail. 

Are you an hopeful overpacker, or are you a t-shirt rolling minimalist queen?  Let me know below and if you like what I have to say, go ahead and share it with a friend.

Have a lovely, lovely week.

Take care, 
Cecilia
ox

Who's Hiding In Your Fridge?

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I have a very sad looking watermelon in my fridge.  It's still whole, some of it's skin is still green, but it's covered in little brown spots like an old woman who spent her life by the ocean.  Not very appetizing. 

Why is it there?  Well, I suppose I must have bought it.  I got it at a nice health food store in my neighbourhood, they had a huge octagonal box outside full of these tiny watermelons, perfect to carry home and enjoy.  It was a hot day when I bought it and it had a super cute name like, "the sweetest most adorable watermelon you'll ever know!". 

I couldn't resist.  I could just see me and my little melon living it up in the sunshine, running through sprinkler rainbows, grooving on the slip and slide, intimidating each other with our super soakers.  We'd sit on the curb, as the sun set and the cicadas turned up the volume, our heads almost touching as we told summer secrets, summer crushes, bruised knees and sun burnt noses.

But tonight I realize that all those promises of the best summer ever, didn't materialize .  The sweetest most adorable watermelon, is now none of those things, it's promises unfulfilled, it's tasty pink pages closed.

Where am I going with this?  Good question. 

It's just that this watermelon situation, it is not the exception.  More often than not there is something mouldering in my fridge or shivering in my freezer, something that I bought and then forgot I had.

Farmer's Markets are the worst.  The produce isn't displayed in boring old rows like at the supermarket, it's been merchandised.  They have samples!

Little baskets overflowing with perfectly ripe strawberry tomatoes (those ones are new and 110% more enticing to buy than boring old cherry tomatoes, *yawn*).  Hand woven bins with a medley of new potatoes, the reds laughing it up with those rare purples and the regular white ones.  Carrots!  With tops!  Candy striped beets cut open so you can see the carnival inside.

There's the stuff you've never heard of and you're not sure what to do with, ramps and sea asparagus, ground cherries and romanesco. 

"But it's so pretty!  It's from the farmers market!" 

My Achilles heel is leeks.  A little while ago I was at a little fruit and veg shop and saw the fattest most beautiful looking leeks.  They were huge, organic and the greens were so green.  They were perfect.  I'm aware of my fresh produce issue, so I tried to leave them there, but I couldn't. I was worried that someone else would buy them who didn't care how perfect they were.  I put them in my shopping bag and hoped that I would come up with a suitable recipe for such gorgeous leeks.  

I didn't.  I found them a couple of weeks later, grey and slimy, and they were so disappointed in me.  

So, now I have a rule.  I can only buy pretty produce if I have a specific plan for it which includes a date.  So it can't be some vague plan to make Vichyssoise, with those incredible leeks, I need to know the specific day and meal. 

It's just that simple.

I'm going to run and clean out my fridge now, but I'd love to hear what's in yours.  Do you have food clutter?  Is there a kind of food you just have to buy even if you never end up actually eating it?  Mosey on down to the comments and spill your beans (ha ha, get it, beans are a food!). 

If you liked this, I would be delighted, like big fat leeks delighted, if you shared it with a friend. Seriously, I'll cook you up some ramp stew, but not until next Spring, it's a seasonal thing...

Take care, 
Cecilia
ox

p.s. Hey!  Remember last week I was talking about those books I was going to either read or get rid of?  Well, I just wanted to give you an update.  I am almost done The War of Art.  It's really good and has inspired me to sign up for an Art Journaling course.  AND, this is even more exciting, remember the rock and roll dreams I had?  Well, after getting rid of Rock and Roll will Save Your Life, guess what I did last Friday?  I sang!  On a stage!  In front of people!  Mind you, I was one of about 100 people, but still, I did it!  I don't think I would have if I hadn't really looked at that book and remembered my rock star longings. Here's a peek of the singing, super extra bonus points if you can find me (psst, look to the right).
 
p.p.s. If you're reading this and you're not on my list, you should really get yourself on the list!  I send out a fun and useful email just about every week on clearing clutter and living life.  Just pop on over here to get on!  All the cool kids are doing it!