It appears that (so far) I am a once-a-month blogger.

Yes, I know that that is hardly what REAL bloggers do. But I don’t seem to be able to wrap my brain around hours and hours of reading and writing on the computer.

I write and read personal email and subscribe to a couple of newsletters but surfing the web for hours??? Doesn’t seem that it will ever click for me.

I have chosen to get only ONE daily advice letter– from IDEAL BITE. If it doesn’t seem immediately relevant I delete it but they have a bunch of good advice; given that I would like our Earth to continue for a long time I figure we need all the help we can get.

Do have a look and see what you think. And by the way- Happy July! Joanna

p.s. If you haven’t yet, you are certainly invited to sign up for my free bi-weekly organizing tips.

A friend sent me this link … wait till you see the latest in storage places.

Also a interesting site for lots of organizing info … I’m amazed at how much some people manage to write — not sure how they do it but here’s a link worth looking at .. and my kudos to the folks who produce the site! Surprise - you are walking up storage…

You know when you are TRYING to get organized and it just doesn’t happen, over and over?
You may tell yourself it’s just your RESISTANCE.

I’ve just read a wonderful article by Mark Silver on resistance which seems to me could be helpful to anyone who is getting stuck on ANY project including decluttering and organizing.
If you keep getting stuck when trying to get organized, go have a look at his blog article on Resistance and see if it doesn’t help.

http://heartofbusiness.com/wordpress/

Hoarding in the Encarta Dictionary: To collect and store, often secretly, a large quantity of something such as food or money for use in the future.

You may have read some of the studies on hoarding. Psychology Professor Randy Frost at Smith College has recently been recognized as a pioneer in the subject.

Sometime soon I hope to read his book Buried in Treasures. An article on Frost’s work refers to the website with mulitple resources. http://www.ocfoundation.org/hoarding/

The closet that’s WAY too full of clothes and still you buy more; dozens of unused tools in the garage. It’s not necessarily full blown “hoarding” but there’s an element of hoarding in that…especially if you don’t want anyone to know you’ve brought in that one more thing.

Do you or anyone you know have a tendency to hoard? What is the difference between hoarding and keeping stuff? At what point does it become a problem?

Don’t hear a word they say - only a shadow on my mind…”
That may not be the exact quote but that’s how I remember it and rather than go searching I thought I’d say hello.

There’s so much information “talking at us” all the time that I have been pondering the purpose of this blog as related to all the messages you already get; thinking how Breathing Space and I can best use this space.
I think I have finally figured out how this blog will be different from the organizing tips I send out to folks who ask for them. The tips are available and over time I will make them more so … an RSS feed etc and so forth…
But, I do want to talk about organzing and world issues somewhere; about specific ways in which we humans can make small differences that add up - and this blog can officially be that place.
As you who have visited my website know, for me, the main reason for spending any time on organizing is to make it more possible to do what you really love and care about. And the STUFF we have AND what we do with it are also very much linked to how the world-at-large functions.

ELECTRICITY!!!

The most recent world helping/organizing tip that I have heard is about saving electricity by plugging in your electronic devises to a power strip. When you leave your work space - or entertainment space - TV etc. even if you have turned off individual machines - it saves more electricity if you also turn off the power strip.

Most electronic devices have some electric pull even when you turn them off. Those little red lights inform you that SOME electricity is being used simply in order to tell you that the device is NOT being used! Do you need that?

The investment for a power strip is as low as $4.99 and you will save a bit of electricity every day. Every bit adds up!

Do you have other tips that have worked for you? please share!

I just discovered this resource! Hurrah! You may, like so many of us, have a large collection of unwanted computers and computer equipment taking up space in your garage,basement,attic or your office. Would you like to get rid of them in a earth friendly and people friendly way?
In case you don’t get my weekly tips- here’s the scoop. (Go to www.dell.com/recycle to get the full story.)

” Donate
Dell provides consumers a donation option for old computers. When you are ready for a new system there are neighbors in your community who could make use of your old one. Through Dell Recycling,consumers can donate their computers to the National Cristina Foundation to help disabled and economically disadvantaged children and adults in your own community. The foundation will pick up your computer at your door and put it to good use in your community.

Recycle

If recycling your computer is your preference, Dell offers an environmentally friendly method to dispose of outdated computer equipment that no longer has useful life.

Dell is happy to accept any brand of computer, keyboard, mouse, monitor or printer. And Dell will pick it up at your home. ”

WOW! That’s what they are promising. Give it a try during your spring decluttering! And please let us know what happens!

No- not the other way around.

I am not writing about the causes of clutter though I could and should at some time.
But rather - once again a major concern has crossed my desk. In some ways causes do feel like clutter. There are endless numbers of causes; you can only think about so many before your mind and heart become overwhelmed.

At the same time- there are some things that each of us decides to let in. And today for me it is the issue of Guantanamo prison. Here is what avaaz is saying about it. Seems like a pretty timely cause for this week — what with Passover and Easter. It’s something that CAN be changed!
Here is the info from the Avaaz email:
Adel Hamad grew up in a small village in Sudan. Through hard work, he became a schoolteacher and hospital assistant. To support his family he took a better job at a community hospital in Afghanistan. Then late one night he was torn from his bed and sent to hell, as Guantanamo Bay Detainee #940.

Adel Hamad has had no trial. He has seen no family members for four years. Even US military officers reviewing his situation have called his detention “unconscionable.” But he and nearly 400 other prisoners are still trapped at Guantanamo. Last week US Defense Secretary Robert Gates finally said Guantanamo should be closed. President Bush’s advisors are split down the middle on this issue — a massive global outcry could tip the balance, and push Bush to close Guantanamo forever. Click below to sign the Close Guantanamo petition, and we’ll run ads next week in major US papers announcing the number of signatures:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/close_guantanamo

It’s now clear that many of the detainees are simply innocent people caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Guantanamo’s former commander General Jay Hood has admitted, “Sometimes we just didn’t get the right folks.” This is what happens when people are held without charge or trial.

After being held for five years, last week Australian David Hicks was finally charged — and sentenced to just 9 months in an Australian prison. This hardly looks like the “worst of the worst” - words the Bush Administration used to justify ignoring basic standards of justice. Meanwhile, as regimes around the world use Guantanamo to excuse their own human rights abuses, international law keeps taking a beating.

Sign the petition calling on the US government to close Guantanamo , and for its inmates to be tried in a legitimate court or set free. Let’s run ads in Washington DC and show that citizens from every country on earth want this injustice to end:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/close_guantanamo

In hope,

Ricken, Milena, Tom, Graziela and the Avaaz Team

I advise clients, who are trying to take new steps with color in their homes, but have no sense yet of what they want, to go to the library; look through a bunch of home beautiful books, put paper strip markers by the spaces that appeal to them …and dream. It costs nothing!

My heart of business tele-class partner from Alberta, Pam Klappstein, has a wonderful business called Your Inner Artist . Her free newsletter this week was, in it’s simplest, about how it is necessary to deliberately schedule time in your life for your dreams… ahhh- yes Pam.
So last night I went to have a look at the Spanish immersion school in El Sal - a site I had bookmarked months ago- take a look if you like. I’ve emailed a question to the school. That doesn’t cost anything. True, an email doesn’t make the trip happen. But it’s a start.

It’s time to turn off the computer. I have a lovely client at ten this morning - we are working on sorting through all the STUFF in her kitchen before she has it redone- so that she will know what really fits in her life now and then build in accordance with that.

Yes- I DO love my Breathing Space work and am very glad it’s what I do. The Spanish is about allowing myself to imagine another dream becoming reality. And, because of doing that, having more energy for everything.

I’m wishing you the same!

Joanna

* * * * *

p.s. To Dylan Emrys of whatyourbabyknows.com , classmate and friend, who just taught me by phone how to LINK successfully- many thanks.

In February I sent out a tip about “Doing a Joanna” - which can also be called the scoop method. It’s what works best for me.
Anyway — I received back an email and poem which I have been planning to post here for weeks. But I haven’t been able to figure out how as it came to me in PDF format.

Finally - at 6:15p.m. March 29 my husband Bob gets “Super Geek” status - in my eyes for sure! He showed me (oh so simple- to him) how to copy and paste a PDF! Yahooo! If you like beautiful furniture take a look at what Bob really loves to do by going to www.rueterwoodworking.com .
Here with her go ahead are Connie’s email and poem:
“After I read your message, I decided to send you a poem I wrote after decluttering an important space. I had already decluttered it when I got your message, but it was just what your message described and it was recent. This is a small space, about two forearms long and one forearm wide.

Writing Table

For years I’ve loved the hodgepodge
of rooftops, chimneys and windows
I see from here
a jumble of planes and angles.
No one could have planned it.
For years I haven’t sat here
to write. Two babies at once
is a lot, but the truth is,
I let myself diminish:
I had nothing to say.
Once upon a time my table
looked out on raspberry brakes;
there was a neighboring mule.
I dwindled to zero there.
If, God forbid, I live to a hundred,
will I learn? We get the same lessons
over and over until we see
yet not the self-same.
(We’re going in, Scotty.)
I’m heading for the language
behind the language:
table brake self-same
The winter’s first big snow, unstinting
(although our green blob map online
does show an end in sight),
is late this year,
filtering colors out of the view
from my writing table,
which is still divine.
© Connie Vial Green
February 2007

Adam Kayce just sent out a fine article called : Why Boldness Counts
Below are the first lines -go read the article and come back and talk with me…. ok?
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
– Henry David Thoreau

We’ve all been there. Times when we’ve found ourselves squeaking along, trying to just get by and not ruffle any feathers, or have our own feathers ruffled….

(and the article continues- it is SO on the target with the blog I wrote this morning !

Hey folks– let’s get out of the box / and clear out the boxes that don’t fit our lives anymore - eh???