Simple (Goal = Less is More!)

I want to keep my life simple. Less Management. Less Stuff. More Experiences. Pay for a class, don't invest in ALL THE STUFF so I can do it myself... (for example - the mosaic class I took... I don't want to manage mosaic stuff... am I still in the Amazon return window?)

This short really spoke to me this morning: 

What do I want?

Singing - Performing

Reading - back to reading for pleasure and not for "Personal Development" or "Self-Improvement." Keep yes to inspiration (Traveling/Camping, Simplifying, Decluttering, Health Goals) but no more "How To" stuff. Less "How to Be Better" Self-Improvement stuff. Everything I need has been given to me in the Bible. There are great teachers who help lead me/us to find it.  Make the Bible one of my hobbies!

Experiences - I have been saying for years that I want to age with energy and be active. "Use it or Lose it" is the name of the game. I want to get back to walking. If I call it a hike I get negative (thanks a lot Girl Scouts), but I have goals to get outside and be in nature and do "forest bathing." Get back outside. It's good for the feel-good hormones!

Learn new skills - I know lots of people learning to play or already love playing Pickle ball. I was a pretty good tennis player and always liked Ping Pong - I want to get back into physical shape to learn to play. Badminton was fun, too.

Paint Rocks - creativity that is low pressure!

Learning to Crotchet

Keeping Up with birthdays for friends and family with written notes - something my mom was so good at, I want to embody this part of her.

Watch movies (even if I've seen my favorite movies over 100 times... watch my favorites!)

Eat Simple foods that don't require recipes. Find a couple easy and tasty mainstays: Lentil soup, Chili, Cornbread (I love cornbread!), white sweet potatoes, yukon gold potatoes, spinach, broccoli, corn, beans - in a can if it makes life easier!

Learn to cool some fabulous Vegan dishes that even Omnivores will love (and not know or care they're not eating meat & dairy). 

Farmers Markets 

Healthy Food (Meal) Deliveries

Eating out gives me a lot of pleasure, that is one of the things I don't want to give up. Having enough extra in my budget to give me this very simple yet sometimes extravagant luxury.

Photos - digital frames - finish the scrapbooks I've started. Make a scrapbook of my current house and all the work himself did to make it a great place to live. I am living with regret that I didn't voice my gratitude more often to how hard he worked and toiled to make this a great place to live.

Animals - more than one (?) I go back and forth - it's harder to be spontaneous with four-legged fur babies.

Writing

Journalling

Plants - not necessarily a huge vegetable garden, but some houseplants and some flowers and some shady trees, a "shady grove" where I can go sit and pretend I'm "out in nature" - it'll be kinda like nature, but in my backyard.  

Bird watching - keep my bird feeders full.

Less tech - less subscriptions 

Less - LOTS LESS social media. More blogging! 

I just want LESS. I want to want Less. To need Less.

Less Money.

Less clothing.

Less dishes.

Less Housework - have enough in the budget to have someone come in twice a month to clean my kitchen, floors etc. 

Less Hassle.

Less is MORE.

More Space Between Things.

More Space. 

More Time to do nothing. One of my favorite Calvin & Hobbes quotes, "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."

I get in these mindsets... the mindset that I don't need much, that I need to just clear out the stuff... then something goes awry and I get into a spending spree. DANGEROUS!!  I need to develop some mindsets and strategies that KEEP me in this "Less is More" mentality!

What goes awry? listening to social media, listening to influencers... and all of a sudden I'm no longer "enough." Or depression. When I haven't done all that I believe I'm supposed to do. The "what if I need it someday?" trap. All the "shoulds" that get stuck in my head. I should exercise. I should eat better. I should go to sleep earlier. I should get up earlier. I should... stop - Stop - STOP "should-ing" all over myself!

Right now I'm in a pretty low spot - husband died, mom died... no close family in-state. Some cousins up in the Phoenix area, but never have been very close to them. I have a few pretty close friends who count as family, but they're not family... being alone too much. I'm mostly an only child - with half-siblings and ex-step-siblings (bonus family!), so I'm okay being alone. But I like sharing time with people, and I think if I haven't made a plan to share some time with people - then I try to fill the void with food, stuff... junk.

Remember to ask myself - "do I really want to spend my time taking care of this?" The more I own, the more I have to manage!

I want to get up in the morning with just a few chores - clean up the yard (animal 'doodies'), water the plants, fill the bird feeders, sit and listen to a podcast or praise music... maybe start a load of laundry or put one away, put away clean dishes and then be done with chores! Have a very small "chore" routine, then have a routine of things to do that bring joy to me and/or to others!

More Roadtrips! More Singing! More Art! More Writing! More Relationship! More Connection!