10.26.2009

Less Space,Less Things, More Life

The other day I was watching the Oprah show where she was talking with women from Denmark and visiting their homes. Danish people prefer to live simply in small spaces. She took a tour of this one home that was the epitome of simplicity. I loved it. I could live there very easily.

Yet, my house doesn't look like that at all!! (not yet)

During the tour, the woman's husband came in and Oprah mentioned that Danish people are comfortable with less space than Americans.

His comment was perfect: "Less space, less things, more life."

In my search for simplicity, I'm finding that I am very happy with less things, but also, less space. I spend a lot of time outdoors.

Next week, my husband and I are moving to a little bungalow on a small island off the west coast of Florida. Its not furnished. I'm looking forward to having fun living from scratch!
Simple, small, effortless....with lots of ocean, sky, and color......


Here's a video clip of a typical Danish home. If you don't have a lot of "things" then its easy to be neat. Its amazing how little we actually need to live.

Less space, less things, more life."

One for the road.....

My enthusiastic approach to pare my personal belongings down to 100 Things, has permeated our household. My sweet husband, Lex, is tearing through his closet pulling clothes and shoes and bringing bags to the donation center.

All this letting go activity prompted "the discussion"........although, not what you may think.

We discussed why we needed two cars. We're both retired and go about our lives in a leisurely way. We really don't need two cars.

But....I've never not had a car. My car was my freedom. I could go anywhere, anytime with my little car. I didn't have to be beholding to anyone, I could just go................and, I could stay as long as I'd like because no one else needed the car.

Throughout my entire adult life, my car was an extension of my being. It moved me forward, carried all my "stuff", took me to new places, entertained me with music (cd's, radio and 8 track tapes long ago). I kept my "personal" stuff in my car. I laughed and sang and had fun with family and friends in my car. I drove fast. I traveled across country and had romance and adventures.

How could I give up that kind of freedom? I was very resistant to this idea. It's probably the one "thing" that I would never consider leaving off my 100 Things List.

But, in the spirit of "Do I really need this thing?"
I've let it go..............

I have to agree that this was the best move for us. Only one car payment, one insurance, one bill for tune-ups and oil changes.

We ended up selling both of our cars and getting a new one. We've come up with a schedule so we could both maintain a semblance of freedom. We now have a calendar highlighted with times we each need the car. This is actually working out well.

I know there are people with no car at all. And, I'm so grateful that we have a reliable car and that I have a great friend and partner to share it with. I'm a lucky girl......

100 Things Challenge: Hello-Goodbye

Cleaning out my drawers, I found two old cell phones. One was a pay-as-you-go and the other was about five years old. Just sitting there taking up space. So, in my quest for release, I did a search on what to do with old phones. I knew that there were phone collection sites that helped schools earn money by creating collection campaigns and sending in old phones.

If you are connected to a church or school organization, or any group for that matter, then you might want to check into Secure the Call. Its a non profit charity that is dedicated to providing free emergency 911 cell phones to people who need them. Over 250 community-based organizations have joined this group already to help redistribute the phones after reprogramming.

Here's some quick info to answer some questions you might have:
-They accept all makes and models of mobile phones.
-They recycle phones that cannot be used.
-Secure the Call checks for suitability as 911 emergency access phones.
-They clean, wipe out old software and old numbers, reprogram and test each phone.
-You can download a tax receipt and mailing label here- Secure.

Another great program that will enable you to recycle your phones and help others at the same time is Verizon's Hopeline. I heard about this program on the Today Show when Maria Shriver talked about donating her cell phone that she got caught driving and talking with! Anyway, this program at Verizon Wireless assists victims of domestic violence with wireless service and a phone.

Here's information from their site:
The long-running HopeLine program collects no-longer-used wireless phones and equipment in any condition from any service provider. The used phones are either refurbished or recycled. With the funds raised from the sale of the refurbished phones, Verizon Wireless donates wireless phones and airtime to victims, and provides funding and other contributions to non-profit domestic violence shelters and prevention programs across the country.

Verizon also concentrates on protecting the environment by collecting spent rechargeable batteries for recycling. More than 200 tons of batteries have been prevented from entering community landfills. Consider donating your used phones to Hopeline.

Let me know if you donate a phone and if you find other programs for recycling cell phones.