Monthly Archives: August 2013

I’ve spent the better part of this week packing up nearly every thing I own. I’ve lived at this particular farm house for four years and it is amazing how much stuff one can accumulate in that time! I remember unpacking boxes when we moved in and thinking that I would never fill all those kitchen cabinets. Oh how wrong I was!

One of the things I’ve noticed since I started trying to live in the moment is that too many things can really slow you down. The thought of moving out of this house was so completely overwhelming that I put it off for far too long, all because I had no idea what I would do with all those possessions. At one point I owned nine beds, for god’s sake. NINE BEDS!

I’ve been reading a good deal about living with less, minimalism and tiny houses; this weekend I’ll be putting some of what I read into practice and selling all the things that I can live without.

I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. It isn’t. Like most people I’ve developed attachments to the stuff that furnishes my life. Some of those attachments are maybe not so healthy. Like the couch I’ve been holding onto since my divorce. It’s an outstanding couch and I seriously doubt I will ever own another that is as well built or expensive, but it’s become this giant anchor in my life, preventing me from moving into a reasonably sized apartment or even house.

Multiply that couch times a thousand and you’ll get some idea of the magnitude of what I am getting rid of this weekend. No doubt there will be sadness. Maybe even tears.

But I am trying to focus on the fact that I am freeing myself of a lot of things that have weighed me down. There will be other couches that will feature in memories all their own.

I am honestly hoping to never own 9 beds again as long as I live! You should have seen my linen closets. Madness I tell you…

If you are in Central Virginia on Friday or Saturday and need furniture, come by!

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that last year I experienced an unexpected and very serious health crisis. I’m not going to write too much about all that today, for all kinds of reasons. Mostly because I feel like I’ve written and written and written about it more than anyone unrelated to me by blood could ever care to read, but mostly because writing about that time brings it back in a very visceral way for me. It would be too easy for me to live in fear of that bad time returning and that is not how I chose to spend my time.

I only bring up that difficult time because it was the backdrop for a big, big change in the way I live my life. To say that I used to be a Type-A personality would be a bit of an understatement. I have spent a lifetime trying to control every possible variable in my life. Good enough was NEVER good enough for me. I Monday-morning-quarterbacked every party I threw, every meal I cooked from scratch and every relationship in my life.

It. was. exhausting.

Just completely exhausting. And worse that that, I wasn’t getting any joy out of all that work. I recently admitted to a friend that a big motivator for almost everything I did was knowing that my friends and blog readers marveled at my over-achievements. I lived for that praise, that external validation that I was special.

Which is really pretty sad. I suspect it will also sound pretty familiar to some of you who are reading this.

Getting sick gave me one incredible gift- the ability to live in the moment. I know it’s super-cliche but it’s true. Surviving something horrible makes you realize that we have absolutely no idea what is coming and that there is nothing we can do about the mistakes we’ve made in the past. Right here, right now is the only sure thing.It’s the only thing we can count on, wrap our arms around and squeeze every drop out of. This is the show, y’all.

So what does all this woo-woo mean in terms of how I live my life? Are there practical applications? So glad you asked! Most of them are small things but they add up to BIG changes.

• I am completely unapologetic about the music I like now. I no longer feel compelled to password protect my iPod, lest someone discover that it contains both Barry Manilow and One Direction.
• When someone compliments me these days, I smile and say thank you. I enjoy being thought well of, but it is no longer my currency.
• My new footwear axiom: All comfortable shoes need not be sexy but all sexy shoes must be comfortable.
• When there is dancing, I dance.
• I say yes. When someone asks me to do something that is outside my comfort zone, I say yes. It’s making me a more interesting person already.

There are a hundred more ways that living in the moment is changing my life but I won’t bore you to death with all of them. I will say that I am much happier living this way. I worry less and smile more. I am finding that life is much more of an adventure when you are truly present in the moment you are living right now.

I’d love to hear about the little things you do to live in the moment and experience joy.