holidays Tag

holiday priorities

If this is supposed to be the Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, why can’t we just stick with the parties for hosting and marshmallows for toasting, and leave the shopping madness behind? I watched this TED Talk last week, and thought it was perfect for a post today, the day when we’re all supposed to rush like crazy, scouring various retail websites for 24 hours to spend money many of us don’t have, buying crap nobody really wants, so we can take advantage of all those online “deals.”

Year after year, when I see ads for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, they make me want throw my shoes at the TV, the billboards, and my computer. We all talk about how “things” are not important, that people and time are. We greet every Tom, Dick & Harry from the street, our offices, and the grocery store, with huge smiles and “Happy Thanksgiving!” during the 3rd week in November… and then? We forget what’s important just like that. (Please snap your fingers here.) Before granny has passed the cranberry sauce, we’re racing out the door to the mall elbowing that woman next to us in the aisle for the last coffee mug with snowflakes on it set, or we’re opting out of an in-person conversation with our brother we only see once a year, so we can log on and fill up our virtual shopping cart with gifts, putting us farther into credit card debt.

Did we seriously already forget what we’re really thankful for, before we even had a piece of pumpkin pie? Again?

Gallup reports that Americans will spend an average of $885 on Christmas this year. That $885 is not just $885. Add in your time running around trying to find something, anything that person X might want, sitting in traffic cursing at people in parking lots who don’t move quickly enough out of that space you want, fighting crowds like you’re trying to get to the front row at Lollapalooza, and the stress monkey you turn into as you freak out about whether or not person X will even like what you bought them. Now add in items that will end up as waste in the the landfills, and the interest we will accrue on our credit cards over the next 12 months for those purchases.

A Merry Christmas, indeed.

Notsomuch.

The actual COST of what we buy is far more than what a price tag reads.

Before you call me Ebenezer Scrooge, you should know that I fully believe in and promote gifting of time, and/or experiences…at any time of year; Coffee, dessert, lunch, drinks, or dinner out with your bff’s. A gift card for your mom to get a mani/pedi or massage because you know that selfless woman would always feel guilty buying a spa service for herself. A weekend away for you and your sister to have some fun. A special “skip” day for you and your 10 year old to have pizza in the park and hang out when everyone else is at work or school. A hot date night out with your honey- get gussied up and go out to a restaurant you never would otherwise try. A day with me to help your parents, your recently divorced aunt, or your new mommy friend purge all the stuff in their houses that makes them feel buried. (Who can argue with these effective and enjoyable ideas?!:)

I can see the rolling eyes of parents with 3 kids under the age of 12 right now as they read this. Yes, you are probably the only ones who should be speed-racing in a furry to wrap toys and games for stacking under the Christmas tree while your sweet little nuggets still believe in Santy Claus. A living room full of boxes, bows, and screeches of joy from the young ones on December 25th is a cherished and beautiful thing. But for the rest of us adults:

Can’t we all just give each other the gift of a little more time together?

I’m guessing that person who loves you would be thrilled if you spent the money sending yourself on a plane to see them, instead of sending a fruit basket:

Christmas In Madrid

*Photo credit goes to my selfie arm in a sister and mom sandwich. Spain, holiday 2016*

My Christmas wish this year is that we all say THANKS a little more, do more GIVING of ourselves, and we remember to show love throughout the year by SHOWING UP when someone might need us. That is the best kind of gift we could ever give, my friends. (Ok I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I also wish for those delicious cheese straws my friend Sandy makes, too.)

Here’s to more time sharing laughs over pumpkin pie and cheese straws.

#LessStuffMoreFreedomHappyLife #ExperiencesNotThings #TheYearOfLessCrap

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a manageable life

I got this sweet surprise from a client today:

Christmas Gift

I love surprises, but what I love more, is helping people simplify and run their lives and businesses better. 

Why do we have to go and make things so complicated?

It’s the holiday season. What better time for us all to admit that this life is one giant beautiful shit show that we all typically make much harder than it has to be. Even shit shows can be managed.

Those Minimalist guys catch a lot of heat for advising that the best way to get organized is to “get rid of most of it.” I couldn’t agree more. “It” or “stuff” isn’t just stuff, stuff…as in physical things, It’s too much on our plates, jobs we don’t feel passionate about, spaces that drive us nuts, systems that aren’t streamlined, and toxic people who make us feel like crap.

Ew.

My favorite gift to give? Permission to say peace out to unmanageable, unproductive, or unwanted people, spaces, and things. If you’re not jamming out to someone, or something that is your total jam, maybe it’s time to kick off 2018 with the volume all the way cranked up on your existence radio. No need to sit in lonely, painful, buried silence watching everyone else dance.

Whaddya say to shaking a little tail feather together? A simple, manageable life can be so rich and juicy.

#LessStuffMoreFreedomHappyLife #StartDriving #LifeUnstuck

*A huge thanks to all my clients for a great year! Watching you fist pump in the air proclaiming how much better and free you feel at the end of our purging and streamlining systems projects, make me as happy as a kid on (ahem…) Christmas.

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the absolute reality of black friday…

…and all “shopping,” really:

YOU CAN NEVER GET ENOUGH OF WHAT YOU DON’T NEED.

Consumerism

Funny that I’m finishing this book today, on Black Friday? More like perfect, as these now underlined words keep jumping out at me with the same passionate madness that Tom Cruise had that time he jumped on Oprah’s couch.

Have I mentioned how much I abhor Black Friday? A day like this fuels the giant denial fire that so many of us live in everyday. It fuels the debt fire, the stuff fire, the fire of pushing down and hiding away our real lives…because if we get more, more, more…we will be better.

Wrong.

The less “stuff” we have in, on, and around us, the happier life is. Period. This is not my opinion, it is a fact. I would like to be proven wrong, but I have a feeling I’d be hard pressed to find a guy out there with a few hundred thousand in debt, a house full of crap, and a bunch of personal baggage from growing up he’s never faced, who lives in pure true bliss. It’s just not possible. We as humans weigh ourselves down with such an enormous amount of what we don’t need, we actually break ourselves. Ever thought about that?

I hope during this holiday season you take a look around your space and think about what you can get rid of to make room for an extra hour with your friends. I hope you stop and think before going into Target, about what you really need at Target. I bet you’re not nearly out of that soap, lip liner, or rolls of 86 paper towels you’re about to buy. Think about that extra awesome hour you could have playing in the backyard with your kids, that you were about to spend at Target in line getting pissed off about how long they are, just so you could buy a bunch of things that you don’t even need yet. Target is open tomorrow, dooms day is not coming, and imagine- just imagine, actually finishing off one bottle of something before buying another. Imagine putting that “I can never get out of Target for less than $200!”, $200, towards an extra credit card payment that will help pave your road to debt freedom.

Victory!

Do you remember how great it was “doing nothing” yesterday playing football with your sons, watching the parade with your cousins, sipping wine with friends as you chopped and chopped? Do you remember snuggling up having coffee on the couch listening to granny’s stories about that time she burned the turkey? Do you remember laughing until your stomach hurt between dinner and dessert reminiscing with your sister about those really crappy guys you both used to date? Do you remember what you said when you were all going around the table sharing what you were thankful for? Do you remember really missing that person who was no longer around to sit next to and feast with? Do you remember how yesterday was (even in varying degrees of friend and family chaos and drama), all about simplicity and time together? Did we already forget, less than 24 hours later, about the things that really matter?

What kind of gifts are really important for us to give each other, and everyday, not just during the holiday season? I think the answer is time and truth. I encourage us to stop and think about this before we rev our engines and speed off to the rat race of Black (hole) Friday shopping.

#LessStuffMoreFreedomHappyLife #LiveSimpleDoMore #LiveSimpleLiveMore

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