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n the last six months I have done quite a bit of clearing out. We have a half finished area in our loft that's accessible by a ladder. It's a room with a skylight and it's where the girls do their messy crafty stuff and then when they're done, I can just close the hatch and the chaos is contained. I decided I wanted to sort out the space so it was more useable and also so we could see the floor as the creativity had gotten a little out of control. I literally have craft supplies up there from 10 years ago that I bought with great intention but never got around to using. I saw a quote on Pinterest that said something like crafting and collecting craft supplies are two separate hobbies. I totally relate to that as the thought of creating something crafty is often a lot more alluring to me than the actual act of creating it. The ideas are more exciting than the reality as I'm never quite sure what to do with the finished product. Anyway, I decided to clear out almost everything that I hadn't used in the last six month and had no definite plan for using in the next six months. This pretty much eliminated most things. I found that by clearing out all the junk, I was able to focus on the stuff that really mattered to me. I still have more work to do up there as there are boxes of photographs and things that I hope to organise at some point, but I am no longer hanging on to stuff that I doubt I'll ever use.
I subscribe to an email list for a guy named Charlie Gilkey. Today he sent out chapter 3 of his new book Start Finishing. It was sooooo good, I'm going to have to buy the book now. I imagine that was his marketing strategy but in my case it worked as I'm a sucker for books like this. He actually talks about letting go of projects that we're never going to get to and how that frees us up to focus on the stuff that really matters. He asks the question, "How much of your soul is tied up in things you'll never get to?"
I find it fascinating how sometimes you hear the same idea from lots of angles and it seems that since March, I've been hearing/reading/doing this in my life. Some of you know I attempted to sell Tropic for a while. It's a natural skin care company that's awesome and I love the ethos, the products and the founder, but for some reason I just couldn't get into making it into a business. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't sustain excitement for it and I finally gave it up. Since then, I've had so much more headspace for the stuff I do want to do and for what really matters to me. I thought I'd regret giving it up or miss it, but I actually don't as it's freed my mental energy to focus on other things. After reading this chapter today I'm now wondering what other endless someday projects are weighing me down. He goes through the steps you need to take to figure out what's most important and I am going to do them. If anyone is interested, I'm happy to forward the chapter to you as it really is worth reading.
My quote for today is taken from this chapter, but by a lady he quotes called Susan Piver, "Ideas are like blind dates. Either may appear perfect on paper--smart, interesting, and attractive--but if there's no chemistry, it won't work. You can go on a million more dates, but that will never change. It's a matter of history, timing, and the mysteries of destiny. What looks good on the surface is only the beginning.
When the world falls in love with your work, you'll know it. In the meantime stay strong and confident in yourself, but develop the capacity to read the signs clearly, respond fearlessly, and remain open to what comes next. It may be better than you've ever dreamed."
My photo for today is of a perfect flower that I took while on my walk. There's no clutter or extraneous stuff going on. It's just perfectly beautiful doing its thing. I want my life to look like that, a splash of colour, amazing design and the ability to make people stop and contemplate. (I took this photo outside a random house and the lady opened the door and said, "They were supposed to be pink!" So we had a nice little chat about her lovely garden and how much I enjoyed her flowers.)
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