I recently returned from a trip to Olympic National Park on the Pacific Ocean. I saw some big stuff like huge Douglas Fir trees and millions of small stones along the ocean. It was awe inspiring and a visual reminder of how we humans are a relatively small part of creation. And then I returned […]
Living Lightly
Susan Vogt on living more simply but abundantlyBrowsing Posts tagged Clothes
As I continued to search for stuff in secret places this past week, I stumbled upon the letter “S” – sheets, suits, squirrels, and surprises. (Those who like puzzles can stop right here and try to guess the connections.) For the rest of you: Sheets: When cleaning out the linen closet, I counted 11 sets […]
I’m now 11 days into Lent and have carefully looked into hiding places in 2 of the bedrooms. I’ve found 2 expected giveaways, 2 surprises, and 1 disappointment. EXPECTED FINDS 1. Trivia: In a storage dresser I found miscellaneous items like an extra sewing kit, fancy gloves and purses that I have no use for. […]
We’re 9 days into Lent (not counting Sundays) which means according to my master plan I should have spent 4 days pruning our Master Bedroom, 4 days pruning Bedroom #2, and 1 day pruning the upstairs Bathroom. I’m one day behind (the bathroom), but who’s counting. I know curious minds want to know how it’s […]
Sometimes life gets busy. A relative dies. Emergencies come up…and this blog is overdue. That’s when it’s nice when an opportunity falls into one’s lap. That’s what happened today during my walk. I saw a sign at a neighbor’s house soliciting coats, sweaters, socks etc. for homeless people in the community. It’s getting cold. I […]
Christmas has come and gone. That means that we have gratefully received some nice gifts – often clothes. This also means that a natural consequence is the timeliness of giving away older things that are no longer needed or wanted. This is not bad, but it’s also not sacrificial giving. As I looked over the […]
I’ve been saving pruning my desk files for a weekend – when I have more time. Unfortunately/Fortunately this past weekend was Pig Town Fling – an annual weekend contradance which “required” my full presence and hosting 5 people. My nod to giving stuff away took the form of donating 2 contra dresses to the dress […]
At my stage of life (children sprung, I work at home) I don’t need to buy stuff as often as I did when our kids were outgrowing clothes and I needed an office wardrobe. Bottom line – I don’t do much shopping. However, underwear does wear out and thus I embarked on what I thought […]
My last blog talked about “The Beauty of Empty” and how helpful it is to empty out a space to start the pruning process. Now it’s time to start with myself (and my husband). Since my first round of pruning our clothes closet in 2010, I’ve slowly been passing clothes on that I seldom wear, […]
January 1: As we begin a new year, our hearts turn to resolutions but our practical sides often resist – at least after a feeble try at exercising more, eating healthier, becoming more prayerful, etc. In an effort to serve you better and clear my own life of clutter, I keep up with what professional organizers […]
Is there a statute of limitations for hanging on to maternity clothes? The biblical stories of Sara or Elizabeth notwithstanding, I’m long past a possible pregnancy myself. I did think, however, that perhaps some day our daughter or daughter-in-law might want these clothes. I’ve finally resigned myself to letting go. What helped me make the decision was a […]
It’s the end of 2014. Over the past year when I noticed things I no longer needed, I’ve put them in a plastic bin that I keep for giveaways. These items don’t really fit into any neat category and didn’t merit a trip to St. Vincent DePaul just for a few miscellaneous items. I was […]
I’m still in my bedroom because we have two extra dressers that serve as storage for gifts, mementos, and children’s clothes that we still have visions of someday passing on to grandchildren. It’s a little embarrassing to admit that I have two dressers worth of extra stuff and a bedroom big enough to hold them. […]
I started my Drawer-A-Day pruning in the logical place – my dresser drawers and night stand. Here are the stats: 5 days 8 drawers (2 of which I skipped – after emptying these drawers I chose to remove nothing.) I used the process described on Ash Wednesday – Empty the drawer and divide the contents […]
There’s not much to say about this post, other than it continues to be very cold in my little area of the world (Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana). The temperatures have hovered around 0 Fahrenheit. Meanwhile I escaped to Lima, Peru for an international meeting. (I know, it really wasn’t fair to be dealing with balmy sunny summer weather […]
Giving To Those In Need In early January most states in the upper half of the USA experienced a polar vortex, i.e., some really cold weather. I had been hanging on to some extra coats that had belonged to our children for when the ones in balmy Singapore or Kenya came home for winter visits. […]
A magazine, Alive, asked to do an article about my year of giving away and wanted to do a photo. Unfortunately it’s hard to take a photo of what’s no longer in our home. I wondered if we would need to “stage” it to suggest the kinds of things that I gave away but no […]
The S’s are pretty much finished so I’ll tell you about this lovely warm (and rather expensive) fur lined coat that I decided to give away. I actually gave it away last February because I wanted someone to be able to use it while it was still cold out. I decided not to post it […]
With my days of measuring garbage behind me, I can finally get back to the S’s. I found one more skirt that I missed several weeks ago and am totally willing to give it away now. It did look rather lonely, however, and produced only a rather drab photo to simply give away one powder […]
Perhaps it is wishful thinking but I do believe that we created less waste this second week of Lent than we did the first week. This may be due to us learning more about what we can recycle, the fact that Jim was away for 3 days, or maybe we’re just wasting less. My photo […]
