Original Date: Dec 21, 2016

A Season for Simplicity

My life has quieted down quite substantially since Thanksgiving. What an odd feeling,,, some days I am not sure what to do with myself. With our house on the market, I have prepped the house for viewing, removed family pictures, done a bit of organizing, and repainted a room. I find little ways to keep busy. Part of me understands that this is temporary ease. Starting in January, I will be driving 160 minutes a day down to Westminster VT, to bring the girls to the Compass School.  If we get activity on our home, things will get very busy very fast! Meanwhile, I am enjoying the down time: gentle walks in the snow with Tomo and the girls (I will miss that time with them when they are in school!), catching up on some reading, and signing a gazillion petitions. It feels good to have this quiet time during December.

In a way, I am choosing simplicity. I am not a fan of overworking the holidays. We only have a few simple decorations out. The girls have only three or four items on their wish lists. Josh and I picked out a few books each. We don’t overdo the family gift giving or holiday preparations, preferring instead to keep it very simple.

If you are looking for ways to increase simplicity in your own daily living, you might find it easiest to begin with material things. There is a lot of talk these days about decluttering, and that can be a good place to start. You might enjoy this link by minimalist Joshua Becker on 7 ways to sample Living With Less.  It could be especially helpful during this season of giving.

Here are a few other inspiring links that I have enjoyed over the past few weeks.

I found an interesting post about social media. A goal of mine is to cut back. Not to get rid of it altogether as the author suggests, but to have better control of how often I “check in.”  Quit Social Media, Your career may depend on it.

And to follow up on that idea: Cutting back on Social Media Distractions. In this article, some great suggestions are made. A few I have been doing all along (such as no phone at the dinner table, and no phone by the bed, and eliminating apps on the phone) Further limits are in order.

I don’t always resonate with Penelope Trunk, but when I do, it is usually in a major way. This blog post hit home big time in regards to our current idea to sell and move.

This guy is walking across the US barefoot to bring awareness to climate change. An interesting project, not so sure of its effectiveness…

And if you still find yourself caught up in too many activities, feeling stressed or irrational for any reason, remember the practice of Pranayama is our greatest tool for calming the mind and finding balance in any storm. Here are four pranayama techniques worth practicing.