My First Post

The new year seems like a logical time to start a blog but I want it on the record that this has nothing to do with a New Year's resolution, which I don't normally bother with. The credit for this blog has to go to my new friend Mary Cody, whom I met at the scrapbooking weekend in Colorado this past fall. She has a fun blog (see the links at the side), which I enjoy and that first planted the seed that maybe I should do one. I recently read and loved 2 books that were based on blogs - Julie and Julia and Bitter is the New Black, which is based on jennsylvania . I couldn't help but think, "I could do that." I also batted around some ideas with friends, especially Maria, for 2009 that also helped get me here. For instance, Nora and I discussed, from a scrapbooking standpoint, taking a picture every day of 2009. Talk about setting yourself up to fail! I was three days behind before I even started. Clearly that wouldn't work. I gave it some more thought and was ready to bag the idea when I saw something that gave me hope. This weekend I caught a segment on Good Morning America called "Your Week in 3 Words." How perfect! I could use this as a template for my blog. Even I can commit to writing one post a week, summing up my week in 3 words, plus maybe including a picture and a paragraph or two on the subject. That said, here's my first entry, which starts not with 3 words but just one. Enjoy.

Credit for this first post goes to Mary Cody too. She inspired me again with her "one little word" for 2009. I gave my word quite a bit of thought on New Year's Day and even discussed it with friends I crafted with on the 2nd. After discarding a few I found the perfect word to focus on in 2009. Drumroll please! My word for 2009 is....

Enough

For those who know me well, you know I struggle with having too much stuff. Ironically, when I did the Clifton Strenghts Finder test, the results showed Input, which includes collecting stuff, as a strength - go figure. Strength or not, too much stuff has been a problem my whole life, exacerbated by my propensity to procrastinate when there's anything more fun than cleaning/organizing on the horizon, which is almost always. I made great progess in 2005 with my New Year's resolution that year to stop shopping in thrift stores, which I've stuck to diligently, and the very cathartic Purge of '05. Between spending that winter going through all my stuff and donating car loads (I'm not exagerating) of stuff to Goodwill, I got things a bit more organized and felt more in control of things.

Now with my word for 2009, I've begun phase 2. I'm now going through all the stuff that made it through the first purge, deciding how much is enough and getting rid of everything else. There is a part of me that resists getting rid of things that are still usable but I've been fighting to overcome that and just delivered my first Goodwill load on Saturday. I no longer have so many clothes that some live in laundry baskets. I also went through things as I put my Christmas presents away. For instance, when I put away the cute notecards Carolyn put in my stocking, I went through the drawer I keep that kind of thing in and got rid of about half, some of which was writing paper I'd bought in the 80's. Considering I only use 5 or 6 cards a year, I probably kept more than "enough" but at least the drawer closes easily now. I plan to keep up this culling process all through the winter and will blog my progress.

But that's not all! The beauty of "enough" is that it works both ways. Like, am I eating enough fruit? No but I'm working on it. Have I had my old TV long enough? Yes, which is why I finally retired my 1985 model and bought a new one. See? It's SUCH a good word for me.

That said, I'm loving "enough" as my word for the year. It should help me attack my stuff, help me make decisions and, hopefully, this blog will help keep me accountable for writing about my progress. Time will tell. : )