December 26, 2011
Yearly Review
It is that time of year when I like to sit down and reflect on the past 12 months and think ahead of the next 12 months. I’ve been inspired by The Art of Non-Conformity.
Last year my theme was Letting Go and it was a year where a lot of things ended. In addition I set out to get rid of one thing a day. I think I was fairly successful at getting rid of stuff and I want to continue clearing out the things I don’t need in an effort to live more simply. I wonder if I posted everything I bought in a blog if that would be a good deterrent to shopping? I still have a way to go in the spending department!
My theme this year is: All About Me. I want to spend some time making decisions about my life and what I want to do with my days. I have been thinking about this and will map it out a little more in the next week.
Are you doing a yearly review?
How are you planning for 2012?
April 18, 2011
No I Don’t Want To Give a Dollar to Your Cause
The constant requests at the check out to donate a dollar to a cause or charity is becoming a pet peeve of mine. First, it makes no sense from a tax perspective. All those loonies add up and you may as well make a donation and get a tax receipt. I feel like it is designed to put you in a position of giving or feeling like an uncaring person.
This weekend was the icing on the cake. I was shopping in The Bay and the sales associate said to me after she rang in my purchase, “Do you want to donate your HBC points to Japan?” Really? Japan? The government? An agency? Do they have Zellers in Japan? Wow! At least have the courtesy to tell me where my money is going!
How about you? Are you tired of being asked at the check out to make a donation?
And don’t even get me started about the swim team outside the grocery store! Here’s an idea – how about being at the exit and taking my groceries to my car? Then ask me to make a donation – I might be more sympathetic to your cause then.
February 26, 2011
Mother of the Bride
The big news around here is the engagement of our daughter. She will be getting married later this year and between now and then we’ll be doing a lot of wedding planning. It is a weird feeling to have a daughter getting married. It seems like such a passage of life. The first time this week I used the word ‘fiance’ I was surprised how weird it felt.
And does any parent watch their child head into a marriage without at least a little apprehension? I’m sure the whole engagement phase will have its ups and downs as we plan all the details of the wedding and let go of our little girl.
I know she’ll be a beautiful bride. I’m confident she’ll be a great partner as well. I hope I pull off a model mother of the bride!
January 23, 2011
Attachment
It is my annual tradition to adopt a theme that reflects my hopes for the coming year. For the first time I added a vision board to the mix. It was a good process to go through and although I don’t consider myself an artist – especially in the area of collage – I had fun creating this board. It is 12X12 and I plan to frame it and hang it in my office.
My theme this year is ‘letting go‘. The past 12 months were marked by transition and in the midst of the upheaval I felt at times that I was holding on to things and wanting them to remain the same. This year I want to ‘let go’ of the past, of fear, of worry, of doubt, and of anxiety. I want to ‘let go’ of things as well. It surprises me how attached I can become to material possessions. One of the ways I am practicing ‘letting go’ is by getting rid of one thing a day. Most days is not a challenge at all. I think as the year goes on and I get beyond the superficial stuff it might get harder.
This past week I got rid of a nice Diesel bag I had purchased a couple of years ago. I could count on my fingers the number of times I used it and I have not used it once in the past 18 months. I really struggled giving it away. I have no idea why! I don’t use it. It was just a bag. I paid under $100 so it was a big ticket item. Why are some things easy to let go and others a struggle to clear out?
I’m sure I will discover just how attached I am on a deeper level to things as the year goes on. I was reading Presence by Peter Senge, et al, over Christmas. This quote on letting go inspired me:
If we are able to integrate changes and the sense of loss that may accompany them, we take the steps towards letting go and ‘moving on’ in our lives. We will become aware of our ability to make transitions in our life without feeling overwhelmed and destabilised.
These same authors defined the idea of detachment as “getting to the different place”. So that is what this year is about for me – getting to the different place.
