Recycling, Downsizing and Letting go

Remember the other day when I showed you the KonMari book?

I am trying to implement this in my life.  If you know me in real life you may be picking your teeth up and putting them back in your mouth.  I KNOW!!!  I am a packrat.  I love stuff.  I have accumulated loads of stuff.  I have collections of stuff.  Let's face it, I am on my way to being a hoarder.

So I am trying my best to embrace the more minimalist side of myself.  The part of me that sees all the stuff as things that weigh me down, that keep me from being the best I can because I am too busy dusting, arranging and finding homes for all my important stuff.  It is hard to completely change your mindset, especially when you spent years of your life accumulating.  I did recognize years ago that I had a lot of things and made a hard and fast rule that any time I saw something I wanted I had to stop and think of a similar object in my house that I was willing to let go of, be it sweaters or shoes or whatever.  Note:  this rule has never applied to books.  Books are sacred and as such, limitless in the number you can own.

I let things go all the time.  And yet, the clutter persists.  So I am reading and re-reading the KonMari book up there and falling more in love with the idea of having fewer beloved items that now have air around them, that aren't crammed into a large collection so that this item of beauty can shine all on its own.

And you know what is really strange?  Along with minimizing my stuff I am also changing my style of furnishings and things that I want to inhabit my space.  I have always been in the Bohemian camp with loads of competing patterns, fabrics, textures, over-stuffed big comfy furniture and the like.  Nowadays, my taste is running more towards mid-century modern, Danish 1960s looking things and craftsman/arts & crafts.  Where the hell did THIS come from??

I have very slowly over the last 15 years come around to the Small House Movement way of thinking.  I love the idea of making great use of the space you have and not building, heating, cooling and walking through long hallways of unusable space.

That's me right now; recycling things that need to go to someone else, downsizing the amount of treasures I want to keep and letting go of all the things that no longer serve me and no longer spark joy in my life.

Holler at me if you need something, I just might have a collection of said item that I would love to gift you.

Look at my loot!

At the Esperanza Peace Market I shopped at last Friday, I got lots of treasures.  I did manage to get a few unique gifts for my list, but I also got a few spur of the moment things for me.  They may still end up as gifts, but who knows!

Take a look at these goodies.

Those two photos above are skeins made of strips of recycled Indian saris.  The top photo has two skeins on top that are made of wider strips and the bottom ones are really thin.  Absolutely gorgeous colors and sheen and shimmer.  Then there are hand-turned rosewood knitting needles.  They are fairly large (size 17) and should work perfectly with those fibers.  My fingers are just a-twitching to get to them!

These solid color skeins are so cool.  Just vibrant and pearly colors on top of being amazing to touch. Guess what it is made from?

If you are like me you probably did not guess Banana Fibers!  Now, is that just most wonderful use of a plant that might be going to waste?  I kept trying to get closer up pics of the sheen and texture, but they just want to reflect the light and that makes them look blurry.  I wish you could touch the screen and see what I am talking about.

This also got me to thinking that I could head to Goodwill and get some tacky 100% silk dresses for dirt cheap and tear them into similar strips and make something out of them.

Guess who would rather be doing something else rather than putting up the stupid Christmas luminarias?  Heee!!

Really Good Finds

You know how if you go out searching for a particular item you never find it? Really, if you are looking for something it seems you can't find anything! Well, I happened to stop in to one of my local Goodwill stores and I wasn't looking for a thing, so what does that mean? It means that is exactly when you find stuff!

I got a brand new, never worn before, pair of bunny slippers for 1.99. Now I do need a new pair of slippers and I tried these on and they fit and they are cute as can be, so I got them. I never wear outside street shoes inside my house, so I have slippers on my feet 90% of the time. I would love to get to the point where I have a set of slippers by the front door for everyone to wear when they come in, just like the Japanese. It is comfortable, it instantly makes people feel like they are at home, and it keeps outside dirt and crud being tracked all over your floors. Win, win, and win.

I love finding things when I am not purposefully looking for them. The thrill of the unexpected, I guess. Ebay has taken a LOT of the fun out of collecting. Instead of finding one really fun unique item on a trip you have saved up for all year, now the whole world is available on your computer screen anytime you want. It is convenient; just not as much fun.

So, when I was at Goodwill I kept noticing all the things there that I currently have in my own home. You know what I mean? Same thing at antique stores and estate sales, I always notice the things they have that I already have. What does this mean? Do other people think that stuff is now crap and needs to go away? Is my stuff now vintage? Is it collectable? Should I start watching how much it goes for?

I also went in to my favorite used bookstore and asked about their policy on taking items. They sell books, albums, movies, books on tape, that sort of thing. And get this, due to the economy being in the toilet they no longer BUY your books; now they only give in-store credit. wtf? She told me, "Yeah, people were coming in here trying to sell books so that they could buy FOOD. So we changed our policy and just give credit now. But it's WAY better because we give like, twice the credit we used to. So this is really good for you". Okay . . . . . Now I really wanted to say WTF? If her customers are so hard up that they need to sell books to get food, why is this something she thinks they should ban and make it even harder on them? Double the credit is only good if you can eat the book! I completely failed to get the logic on this one. And you know what? When the economy does turn around, you think those customers who were turned away will come back and start spending money in this store? I don't. And I wouldn't blame them. I was actually thinking of lightening my shelves of some of the old VHS tapes, DVD's that we don't watch any more and getting rid of some more books. But my motivation is to increase my savings account, so doing business with this store won't accomplish this goal. So I will check out another store and see how that goes. Sadly, I think my favorite used book store might not be my favorite any more.

Anyhoo, I got way off topic there. What I did find at the bookstore that I wasn't looking for but was really happy to find is 2 issues of Bon Apetit that are the November Thanksgiving issues. I have been collecting the Thanksgiving issues for a number of years now and make a HUGE production every year of reading them all and planning a whole new menu for Thanksgiving dinner. The trouble is the November issues come out in the end of September and by the middle of October they are gone. And I have missed some of them. But there were a whole slew of Bon Apetit and 2 of the Thanksgiving issues I don't own. So, for less than 4.00 I have a ton of new Thanksgiving recipes to work with for next year.

Tonight is Mah Jongg game night so I am off to scope out the new Bon Apetit magazines to see if there is a fun snacky thing to make and take. I think I will put on my new bunny slippers and sit on the couch and look at the Bon Apetit and enjoy an hour! It's a good day!