August 23, 2011

i curl my feet under me when i sit....


her internal alarm clock went off and she up was up at 6am and needed to go outside. even though my eyes weren't open, i grabbed my camera and took photos of the sky while she sniffed all the smells that had arrived in the yard overnight. the sky was brilliant with shades of pink pleading with the orange streaks to get of the way. but they didn't budge. 


shortly after the exhausting fight, the orange dissolved into tiny little pieces and was replaced with an ebony sky with the most perfect skin tone that made me want to reach out and touch it.
 it brought heavy showers and let its thunder shake the house. 
it was that perfect morning storm that you wish had happened a bit earlier while you were still dreaming about being a fashion photographer in central park.
oh wait. that was probably just me.


recently this is what i've had on my mind.
 i think you can have everything you've ever wanted, but if that everything isn't filling you up and igniting a flame, then all that everything is really nothing. let me put that in a simple way. if you have tons of clothes in your closet, yet feel you have nothing to wear....see, now you're getting it.
~
i heard about an author whose book talks about the need for all of us to get rid of 75% of the things in our closet. that we tend to only wear our favorite things. 
i'm not so sure that 75% pertains to just our closets. i think she was referring to things that weigh us down. the things we aren't passionate about or have any use for. look around you. does everything that surrounds you right this minute, make you happy. 
if you're like me, the answer might be yes. i love my office and all the things that surround while i sit here and type. but other parts of my house or my house in general, not so much.
~
let's go back to the closet. could you. could you happily get rid of 75% of the items in there.
i might try it. 


if you're still here reading my words and i haven't lost you, well then you deserve a medal.
but this is how i am. who i am. how i think. how i talk.
and 
if you lived next door and wandered over in your pajamas to have a cup of tea with me on this now very grey morning and we sat in comfy chairs facing each other with our feet all curled up underneath us.....well you get the picture. 
*


41 comments:

  1. I would love to wander over in my pajamas and have a cup of tea and discuss all of the things we might get rid of in our closets and otherwise!

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  2. Beautiful images - but I think you're right. I keep going back to my favorite clothes and rarely wear anything else. Probably time to purge again.

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  3. we are doing just that. andy is recently retired and all his "work" shirts and "work" suits are biting the dust. off to good will. he is streamlining his wardrobe to black tshirts and a few long sleeves. he has always hated clothes shopping and hates the decision making of what to wear. i applaud him! we are moving and closet space is an issue. at the cottage i only wear four or five things. all summer and i am perfectly happy. i wish i was coming over for a cup of tea.

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  4. That is what makes you special and YOU! I'm not a clothes horse so my closet is quite sparce. As for the accumulation of things, i am all about paring down, but i think there are gnomes in my basement that keep sneaking stuff in! Damned gnomes!

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  5. wish i was close enough to wander over today and ponder life. and i'd help you sort thru that closet. :)

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  6. preaching to the choir comes to my mind when I read this lol!

    "Our stuff" and it's habitual getting "in our way" and weighing us down is something I work with every day.
    That jammed full closet, messy garage etc drops our shoulders a little lower each time each time we see it and think "I have to take care of it." So many of my clients are burdened, and I mean burdened by their stuff. Quantity is not always the cause, quality enters in also, and guilt and much more emotional soup.

    But I keep trying to cheerlead everyone on toward a lighter, more thoughtful load. :D

    Have a great day- the porch sounds like a perfect place to be.
    xx
    z

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  7. i'm in my pajamas this moening as well. i love and try to live the concept of reducing belongings. i recently moved in with my elderly mom to take care of her and i got rid of so much stuff. i can't tell you how nice it feels -- lighter and freer and just the chnage i needed.

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  8. I adore the way you talk and the way you think...your photographs always make me catch my breath, but your words always drive it home. You paint such beautiful thoughts!!

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  9. i have one foot curled beneath me when i sit ... or i will sit crossed legged, even in chairs.

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  10. black with a little bit of honey please ♥

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  11. And this is why we love you, it IS like sitting down and having a cuppa with you and KNOWING you too. And yes, I could do the 75 percent in my closet without blinking... in fact I plan to this fall. Its so very freeing! The space that opens up is indescribable- both physically in the room, but also within your person.

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  12. on my way with a cup of earl grey in hand...and yup, still in my jammies.

    i could so get rid of 75% of my clothes, i wear the same things over and over. of course it helps that i rarely get dressed...

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  13. About three years ago I got rid of about a bit more than half of my clothes and never looked back. It's very freeing and allows a bit of challenge at the same time. I only have now clothes I absolutely love.
    Good luck :-)

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  14. Your posts are one of a kind.

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  15. Love your images and words today Beth. And yep, I only wear about 10% of my closet! The other stuff is there for "what if's" but slowly it continues to be given away. I love downsizing, although hubby is a saver!

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  16. If I lived next door we would be going through our closets right now!!! I am definitely working up to a big purge!

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  17. that's it...i am coming over for tea! ;)

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  18. Oh, I so could get rid of 75%...maybe more! It would probably be a good idea to evaluate other rooms. Except my office, my cocoon that I love. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Wish I had been sipping tea while reading along...

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  19. Sounds like a super good plan ...

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  20. I used to do the feet curled under me trick. Not anymore... over lappage of fat gets in the way these days. LOL

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  21. I think there is no mistake that the older I get, the simpler I want to live and the less I need to have, maybe because I know better what I want and who I am. Happily though, as I look around, many of the things around me have brought me joy in some way or holds a memory that makes me smile.

    Now... about that closet though, probably due for another shedding :).

    thanks for the lovely thoughts and pondering, and the tea ;)...

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  22. well I've been thinking about this very thing for about two months now. I went to Europe for nine weeks. Took a bag that was 50 pounds. Used a about half of what I took. This got me thinking if I don't even use half of a suitcase full of stuff, why is our house so full of stuff? I've been thinking about us looking at our lives here in this house and seeing what we could walk away from and still feel like we have what we need. I too think it goes way beyond clothes. yesterday was the two year anniversary of my Mom dying. What I know that I didn't before her death was that the more I move into grief, feel it and let it go, the more space I seem to have for joy, fun, laughter etc. So, this is why I think the getting rid of 75% is more than just clothes. Maybe this year instead of all of us doing spring cleaning, we can do a fall releasing of our physical and emotional baggage.

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  23. I have a friend who used to live around the corner. We were both insomniacs and once in a summery blue moon we'd each realize the other was online and one of us would head over to the others in our robes with a couple of glasses of wine. I hadn't thought of that in a long time. :)

    Beautiful pictures AND photos.

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  24. well... i like the way you talk. and write.

    sure would be nice to live next door and wander over in my p.j. and drink tea and talk. the three of us we'll have to do this when you visit!! this where the b&b would be lovely!

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  25. oops... forgot to say, i LOOOOOOOOVE that first photo!

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  26. Closet cleaning is so much more fun with a friend! Especially one that wears your size and wants to help you make room for the new!

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  27. I always sit with a leg curled underneath me, or cross legged (criss cross applesauce, as my little one says)... its comforting. Even the words "curled up" are comforting to me. :) I like to participate in clothing swaps... I usually come back with about 1 item I LOVE for every 20 I bring with me that I liked OK but clearly didn't need or wear much.

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  28. i'm fortunate enough to have a neighbor with whom i can sit with outside my back door, sipping tea...come winter, we just wave and quickly drop off warm cookies in each others back door.

    that's worth more then 75% of our stuff...

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  29. No need for a medal; your wonderful images are reward enough and I've spent more than a few mornings marveling at the birth of a new day. I don't curl my legs but my wife sure does. I swear that woman has a few extra joints in her lower legs!

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  30. Yes! I've done it many times! And I really do like the way you are and the way you talk and the way you think and the way you look at life!

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  31. So funny...was in Chicago and wore the same 6 tops and 3 different pairs of pants over and over and over. Can't even remember what clothes I have in my closet. Such a great metaphor for life...

    Gorgeous photos! xoxo

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  32. This is so true, and I've been trying to do that the past few years. Life is too short! Unfortunately, now I feel like I've gone and bought a bunch of new clothes to fill up that space - and I love them all and wear them all! I'm getting tired of changing clothes so often though. Wish I could come sit in that comfy chair to discuss it with you :)

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  33. I do wish I could curl my feet underneath me, sip on a cup of tea, and visit face to face. I do agree we often weight ourselves down by having so much stuff.

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  34. I feel like I need to get rid of 75% of all the "stuff" in my life...I am sure I would love the pared down feeling...but it is so hard! I am starting though...I think it is my age...ready to get rid of stuff rather tham accumulate.

    Can you tell my feet are curled up too?

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  35. ohhhhh, I'd love to ditch this stuff
    but I'd have to toss the hubby
    first
    and
    well
    I think I'm gonna slide the stuff
    around some more instead.
    He is just too cute.
    -Jennifer
    (thanks for the chat:))

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  36. I look around me and get overwhelmed. The books I love, crammed all too tightly into double rows on a shelf. Enough art supplies to give Michael's a run for its money. Clothes that will take me from size to size, season to season. I am getting ready to pare down. And this is difficult for me. I don't part with things easily. Internally or externally.

    I wrote a poem I rather loved a number of years ago for Rick about trying to "pack lighter than before." Mixed results, sometimes, but I am trying. I'm glad I'm not alone.

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  37. While I was outside this morning trimming flowers and pulling weeds, hubby came home from his bike ride to tell me a storm was soon to be here. The sky was getting darker and the wind was stronger. I haven't been out walking with the camera lately; instead, I have been scraping off the old paint on the little hippie garage and repainting it. I for one like the way you talk and share your thoughts.

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  38. If I lived next door, I suspect we'd only sit and talk for a a few minutes or so...we'd grab our cameras and be setting off to find some lovely things to capture - Visual Huntresses -and the other neighbors, sitting quietly drinking tea and watching TV would never know!

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  39. heavenly pictures! thanks for sharing.

    I've been simplifying my life since we gave up a 4 bedroom home and moved into the BEST 1000sq ft turn of the century cottage (1 bedroom). It's definitely a process--a trip not for everyone, but I often wonder why not.

    Have a great week.

    http://www.woolythyme.typepad.com

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  40. I am all about tossing that 75%. LOVE LOVE LOVE to get rid of stuff.
    AND I love to tuck my feet underneath me when I sit. Always have!
    t

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  41. You know how people talk of spring cleaning? I never want to do that kind of cleaning and clearing away in the spring...because that is when I care nothing for indoors, and want to be outdoors.
    But now...now that fall is coming, I can feel the nesting tendencies emerging out of me. This is when I want to clear away anything that isn't working for me as I prepare to become much more intimate with my indoor spaces. The first thing I want out this year is the paint colour. I have loved it for years, but now I need a change. I wonder what colour I will end up with. Will I love it? I hope so!

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**I love reading the comments you leave, as they make me feel like we're sitting in my kitchen, having a cup of tea, discussing life and wondering where all the time has gone ...beth