Unfortunately I couldn't make this post with less words,
I needed more......
"That which is less complicated is often better understood and more appreciated than what is more complicated; simplicity is preferable to complexity; brevity in communication is more effective than verbosity. (Wiktionary)"
I like these examples from: The Other Side of Complexity
- When we schedule less appointments, we can give more focused attention to those we keep, as well as breathing easier in the margin.
- When we expose ourselves to less screen time, we tend to be more creative, less fatigued, and have less risk of damaged eyesight.
- When we have less clutter in our homes and workplaces, we have more peace of mind and better quality work.
- When we buy less, we have more to save, give & invest.
- When we take less work home, we can spend more time with our family & friends.
- When we put less in our schedule, budget, closet, life…we tend to have better results.
So my point is that if I spend less time here I will have more time to get to all the things I've been neglecting for several years now. What I have been wanting in my life for years now is simplicity. Less clutter will bring more peace of mind rather than the feeling of being overwhelmed in my home.
I made myself a promise last year that come November I am going to get down all the Christmas boxes and go through them to get rid of the things I no longer put out. This is not the only area in my home that needs this done but I feel it is where I need to start at this time. The rest can follow beginning in January.
Sure I do the normal things like laundry, dusting, straightening and vacuuming but the closets and cabinets have been neglected for far too long. I admit I have become lazy due to my time on the computer along with my illnesses over the years. Lazy breeds lazy and I don't want to be that way anymore. I have to start to push myself through this and I know once I start I won't want to stop because it feels so darn good to declutter!
I could easily say that it has been wasted time but it hasn't been because there has been an enormous amount of joy in the friendships I have made with all of you. I'm not going anywhere, I'm still going to be here but my time is going to be more limited. I will continue to post three times a week because this is my journal, my way for future generations to get to know something about me, my likes, quirks and opinions.
I have always been what I call a 'pay it forward' type of blogger. I read blogs in my Feedly account from oldest to newest. Unless your brand new to my blog I don't visit you because you commented on my post, I visit you because you are in my line-up and I like to read your blog.
I just don't see how I can continue to read 60+ posts each day. If I spend 5 minutes reading and responding that means I am doing that for 5 hours each day! I also have emails, Facebook and Pinterest, along with a game I like to play. Yes I have been doing this for many years now! Needless to say that is why other things have been neglected......
Granted some days there are less to read or I have just been less interested some days. I have mentioned this before, it is something that a blogging friend had told me and it has been on my heart a lot lately. "You are spending your time reading other people's lives instead of living your own!" True enough but I do enjoy knowing what is going on in your lives. That's what friends are for.......
Being ill the last two month has made me reflecting more on my life. I'm thinking of the time I spend here when I should have been cleaning something out when I actually had the energy to do so. My house doesn't look messy or cluttered. If you visited you wouldn't see a thing out of place and I'm not a hoarder. It's just time to live a 'less is more' kind of life.
We will definitely be moving in a few years to a smaller place. Also being ill you start to think about the mess you would leave for others to clean out and I don't want to do that to my loved ones. If you do go over to the link above where I shared the examples you will also see that it doesn't mean you can't buy things! Looking at things I have I recently discovered that things I wanted 10 years ago don't have the same thrill anymore.
By the way I am feeling better each day. I'm not out of the woods yet and we never found out what was wrong but I am thankful that I am starting to feel like myself again. I actually bowled on Thursday without getting winded or having my head sweat which is so embarrassing.
As much as I hate blogging this way I am going to start to visit those who comment on my posts and then when I have some down time (or a day when I'm not feeling well) I will go to each of my favorite bloggers and pick a few posts to read and comment on. This should free up some time for me right now especially with the Holiday's coming which is always a busy time for most of us.
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22 comments:
I do believe Less is More and have lived the last 30 years that way, i have done since i retired all of your list except i spend to much screen time, but i love it so i do it and my closets need to be attended to... the rest of the list no longer fits my life.. now about my blog, the word verbosity is what i want to change about my blog... i talk entirely to much, also show to many pics.. i promise myself to adhere to less is more and then keep on doing it the way I do.
the first of this year, i dropped from reading 50 plus blogs every day to 25 and sometimes 30, i did it because it was effecting my health. i read in feedly to and i went from commenting on all to doing my favorites first... i slowly backed off commenting on all blogs i followed and whittles it down to managable... i would not do that but have to... it sounds like your plan will work fine.
forgot to say glad you could bowl and breathe
Good morning! I think all of this sounds great! I think all bloggers struggle from time to time knowing how much time and effort to put into this world we all seem to love. I only post two or three times a week and honestly I don't think I could come up with more if I tried, lol. Like you, mine is kept MAINLY as a journal of sorts for future generations. I print my posts into a book at the end of the year, and it is the only way I print pictures anymore, unless I am hanging pics on my wall or sitting them around my home somewhere (which I RARELY do btw). I have never counted the amount of blogs I visit, those I comment on (there are MANY I just read and NEVER comment on) nor how many hours a day I spend doing so. It would be an interesting experiment. Honestly I don't think I have more then 20 (if that!) or so I regularly read. I have often felt it is a very manageable list and I have wondered why so many bloggers are soo interested in adding readers and commenters to their blogs. There are just so many you can work in my opinion. I spend around an hour in the morning (maybe...some mornings not that long) and then maybe another hour late in the afternoon. And again, not always another full hour. I'd be sitting relaxing in some way during those hours anyway, so why not blogging? I never answer comments back with an email unless I have something I MUST say, lol, so it is really rare if I do. I facebook on a very limited basis. Maybe 10 to 15 minutes a day. And Instagram same thing. Both of these are just to see pictures my kids may have put up of my grandkids, lol. I read at least one book a week (this is my in bed right before I sleep time and trust me MOST of the time I last about 10 minutes, lol). Like you I do need to get into closets and cupboards and ruthlessly get rid of things though. It is a good feeling. I don't do it more then once a year, and yet somehow "things" have accumulated all over again, lol. I have no idea why I have written you this novel, lol. Guess I have been thinking about this too. I am glad your feeling better. Nothing like a long time where you are forced to be down to think things through. Enjoy your week-end!
i do the same thing - i have almost 300 blogs in my reading list. some don't post every day but some post daily or even a couple a day. i give too much of my time to blogging, but i also have the time to give right now. when i need to pare back, i will. like you are.
good luck!
Lazy does breed lazy and I'm tired of being that way too. I've started by boxing up most of my nativity sets and have begun selling them on eBay. I'm going to try and do that with the Santas too but those will be harder. I have to keep reminding myself that it really does feel good to declutter, as you said. Yes! I think of the mess I would leave for others to sort out if I don't get moving. I told the husband that I would not be coming to his funeral because I would be too busy throwing everything he owns away. He's 1,000 times worse than anyone I've ever known. I've had to cut down on blog reading too. Right now, I'm doing most of it on the weekends but I've got to get busy. Hang in there. You and I have Facebook at least! I'm so glad you're feeling better. Do keep us posted on this.
Totally agree with what you said, Debby, and totally support your efforts to limit your time on the computer and to get on living your life :)Really wise too to declutter so others "behind" you won't have to. You want to be remembered for you and not what people had to do afterwards after you have passed to clear up messes left behind so to speak. I am glad you got to bowl last week and it was an enjoyable experience.
Over the years I've cut back on blogs read and where I comment. I used to go looking for new blogs; don't do that any more. I would say my time reading blogs is about an hour a day and then I'm an hour or two on computer with Facebook, games, etc. I do need to cut that back but I also use the timeto unwind.
I need to go through our Christmas stuff too. There's things I haven't put out in years that I need to sort through too.
We can do this!
betty
Well, good for you Debbie! You will feel so free when this task is behind you. We are building a new house and we have lived in our current house for 33 years and have more stuff than the law allows. I have started packing and going through and am being very deliberate about what I keep and at the end we are going to have a big estate sale and rid ourselves of the rest. Our new house is as big as our present one but I hope to have some empty space and not fill it up. I, like you, do NOT want to leave a bunch of stuff behind one day for my poor kids to have to go through. Stuff can easily rule our lives and I'm afraid that it does many folks. Blessings to you and do keep us posted on the progress.
Glad you are feeling better! Every summer I purge stuff but still feel like I have so much stuff! I'm going to get really hasty this next summer and clean out anything that hasn't been used in forever. It just needs to go. It might even happen over Christmas break since we are supposed to have 3 weeks. I feel like I have so much Christmas stuff and I've gotten rid of stuff I don't like. But I keep all of my boxes for stuff and that does take up more space. But it's hard to get rid of boxes for fragile pieces like Willow Tree so I mostly live with it. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Glad you are feeling better! Every summer I purge stuff but still feel like I have so much stuff! I'm going to get really hasty this next summer and clean out anything that hasn't been used in forever. It just needs to go. It might even happen over Christmas break since we are supposed to have 3 weeks. I feel like I have so much Christmas stuff and I've gotten rid of stuff I don't like. But I keep all of my boxes for stuff and that does take up more space. But it's hard to get rid of boxes for fragile pieces like Willow Tree so I mostly live with it. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
I think everything you said rings true with me. I originally started my little blog for keeping and printing photos and memories of our family and recording some of my thoughts. I have never tried to grow a blog, and I don't tag. It's amazing to me the amount of time there is spent in front of the computer or iPad with trying to keep up with others and noticing that they are able to blog every single day and have so much interesting things to talk about. I am quite sporadic about this myself.
Good luck to you getting back to your normal healthy self, and accomplishing things. Having worked outside the home for 45 years, it is in my nature to feel I absolutely must be productive and accomplish things each day, but I notice I haven't been doing things I should, such as getting rid of clutter and cleaning out closets.
Great post!
First off - I am very glad to hear that you are feeling better. I hope it gets even better than that in a hurry.
As for 'less is more' and blogging in general - it really comes down to your priorities. And you if you feel the need to change or straighten yours out, then that is what you have to do. You have to be happy. With which ever way you are living you life. To a big part it is all your own choice and you chose to change. I hope you'll find the time to breathe and declutter, because truly that does feel good!
Have a great weekend!
I'm so happy you are feeling better and I agree 100% with your post. I'm slowly pulling myself away; I want to live my own life, too. ;)
Good for you. I realized a while back that I could not devote as much time to blogging as I had been.
Also, I'm planning to do the same thing this Christmas - pare down on Christmas items. I do think the more clutter you get rid of, the more it frees you.
Such a good post. Sorry you have not been well, but so glad you are feeling better. I love you.
I am glad you are feeling better even though they did not find out what was wrong.
And i know you have been struggling with this a long time - and from the comments so have we all.
We have to blog in the best way we can - you go girl!
So glad that you are feeling better Debby. I understand how you are feeling...I too have cut back on my Blogging. Still visit, my favorites a few times a week but I haven't written a Post in a couple of months. Need to get back at it soon!
I am now trying to get caught up on my blogging...not posting just reading. I do agree with what you have said. BEST WISHES.
So glad to hear you are feeling better! That's the best news :-) I understand everything you have said and good for you! Blogging should be a two way street and you should feel like you get as much out of it as you give. Sometimes other things have to take the front seat. Continue feeling better and striving for that less is more vibe. Big hug, Ann
You go girl! I've been thinking along these same lines--that less is more! Today I actually set the timer when I sat down to read posts.
I, too, need to go through and get rid of some stuff. Although I got rid of piles of stuff seven years ago, when we downsized, somehow it's accumulated again. (It didn't help when Ed's mom died and we inherited more stuff)
I wish you well with your projects, and with spending less time on the computer! I'll be trying to do the same... ((hugs)) We can do this thing!!!
I'm so happy for you and this decision! I have been feeling much the same this year. I haven't been blogging, or on the computer, nearly as much and have been able to be much more productive and spend more time with my family! I've even been able to volunteer more, which feels great! I'd really like to catch up with the blog, since I like to use it as an online scrapbook (and sometimes journal), but it feels so good being away from it too!
Best of luck Debby! :-)
Hi, Debby!
I know exactly where your coming from.
I follow bloggers through G+, Bloglovin & Google Friend Connect.
I rarely visit GFC bloggers.
Years ago when I first started blogging GFC is all there was.
Now there are the other two.
Between reading books for review, writing posts and doing a book study I don't always have time to visit & comment.
I did feel bad about not visiting and commenting daily.
Now I am learning other bloggers actually have a life and so should I.
Blessings to you as you begin this new life.
I am so glad you are feeling better, even though they did not find out what was wrong.
Happy Autumn!! Stay warm!
The only thing that matters is your health and happiness. Period. Take care of you and do what you can.
I am lucky if I post twice a week and I don't feel guilty about it. Life happens. I still love having my blog though. I'll look forward to your 2 to 3 times a week. Take care!
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