You'd probably never guess what I was doing about 24 hours before I went into labor, both times: cleaning the house. Well, technically, before my second child, I was out in the garden, pulling up weeds, but I consider that task in the same category: getting my house in order. There's something about cleaning up and clearing out that has an almost magical way of re-shuffling my thoughts into proper working order, so I can focus on the things that really need my attention. (You know, like getting set for a new baby...!)
Please don't let me give you the wrong impression: There are plenty of times when our house looks like a roving band of toddlers went marauding through it.
And we affectionately refer to our laundry room as "Laundry Mountain."
I'm just saying that when my life gets really, really, REALLY crazy (this week, for example), sometimes the best thing to do (for me, anyway) is put down the paperwork and pick up a sponge.
Because when my to-do lists are overflowing, I need a clean slate somewhere.
I can't think straight when I'm looking around the room and noticing (even with peripheral vision) dirty dishes not loaded into the dishwasher. Or an orphaned sock in the middle of the living room floor. Or the couch's throw pillows thrown everywhere except on the couch. So, that's when I get up and straighten up. Which realigns my mind. Win-win.
It's almost meditative. Cleaning takes me out of my "mind chatter" and into "clean slate" mode. Scrubbing a sink is easier for me than sitting still and humming "ommmmmm" (and I just end up falling asleep on the yoga mat.)
"But Mom," my kids have whined to me on many occasions, "Whyyyyyyyyyyyy do we neeeeeeeeeeed to clean our rooms?"
"Clean house, clear mind," I tell them. Turns out the kids think better, too, when they're not tripping over their own Legos. They're calmer in a clean room. They have room to groove, instead of acting like little bulls in little china shops, knocking over anything and everything in their paths.
If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you already know that I'm a big proponent of evaluating our possessions on a regular basis and figuring out what we aren't using anymore. If you have so much stuff to clean that it's exhausting to even think about it, it's probably high-time to weed it out. Pass it on to somebody who will get good use out of it. That could mean a yard sale, Craig's List, eBay, or Goodwill, but sometimes, it's as easy as putting a "FREE!" sign on it at the curb.
So, if your mind is feeling cluttered, take a look around at the current state of your house. Notice any correlation?
Your turn: Do you ever clean the house to clear your mind? Let's hear it in the comments section below--I'm all ears!
My blogging friend Bethany from Our Journey to Ithaca interviewed me today about minimalism, but if you could see my house (not small) and the things in it (much more than a few), you would hardly call me a minimalist. As I told Bethany, I'm more of a non-consumerist: I've grown to really dislike shopping, mainly because...
My sister and I had to clean out our parents' home to prepare it for sale after they died. Decades of accumulated STUFF to sort, clean, sell, recycle, or (sadly) throw out. It was as if the saying "you can't take it with you" had appeared in neon flashing lights before our very eyes.
I want to lessen my environmental footprint. Buying more stuff isn't green (all of the manufacturing, packaging, and shipping!), and as you might have guessed from this blog, green is a thing I aspire to be.
I have enough. More than enough. And I want to have less of it.
I've found a sense of peace and happiness with my life, just as it is. So, I'm not looking for happiness on a sale rack at the mall.
Which led me to wondering: What are all the reasons we go shopping, anyway? Do any of these sound familiar to you?
1) Do you go shopping for "fun"? Can you switch it out for bicycling, beach-combing, tennis lessons, piano-playing, reading, painting, gardening, swimming, cooking, writing a novel, or my personal favorite--photography? Remember, there are only so many afternoons in your life. Why spend them shopping for capri pants at The Gap?
2) Do you shop when you're feeling blue? Call a really good friend who loves you just as you are. (I suggest Colin Firth.)
3) Do you shop to replace stuff that's broken? Can you fix it yourself? Can it be repaired by someone else? It's kinder to the planet than tossing something broken-but-fixable into the trash.
7) Did you just break up with somebody? Instead of retail therapy, immerse yourself in learning a new language, and pick up a skill you'll use for life. (I used to do this back in my dating years. When I told my friend Chris that I learned a new language every time I broke up with a guy, he said, "Why aren't you up to Sanskrit by now?" What a jokester...)
8) Did you just see an ad for something sexy and beautiful? Don't get sucked in by the empty promises of ads featuring models and actors.
9) Did you just win the lottery? Congrats! Take a trip around the world instead of a trip to the mall. (Experiences over things!)
10)Need an outfit for a big event? When was the last time you cleaned out your closet? Are you sure there's nothing in there that will do?
11) Do you really need that new necklace? Wait a month and see if you still remember it.
12) Is it impossible to control yourself financially with a wallet full of credit cards? Pay with cash. It's amazing how things don't seem like such bargains when you're paying with paper money instead of plastic.
13) Are you shopping for "hobby stuff", such as scrapbooking or sewing materials? Do you honestly have the money, space, dedication, patience, skills, and free time for that hobby?
15) Do you shop to show people that you love them and are thinking about them? Instead of trinkets, would they rather have some dedicated, one-on-one time with you instead? (And if not, why not?)
So, before you head out for some recreational shopping, just ask yourself one question: "Why?"
Your turn: Why do you shop? Let's hear it in the comments section below--I'm all ears!
Notice I didn't say "25 Ways to Simplify Your Life." Why is that? Because even if we crave simplicity, the truth of the matter is that many of the things we put on our daily to-do lists are just making our lives more complicated, busier for the sake of being busy, and less meaningful. Why, in our efforts to streamline, do we so often find ourselves in a tangle? Here are 25 things to consider. Think of it as a simplicity check, a reality check, or just a sanity check!
1) Don't make any appointments during morning or evening rush hours, or during lunch hours. You will be late, frustrated, and idling in traffic. Not a good mix.
2) Stop buying houseplants that are difficult to grow. I've given up on orchids (as pretty as they are), and anything that sheds leaves all over the house. (I'm looking at you, Ficus!) Peace Lilies are the way to go if you don't have a green thumb--they "faint" when they need water and then they bounce right back. Troopers!
3) No citrus trees, unless you live in California, Florida, or southern Europe. Thanks to an issue of O magazine, I thought it would be fun to raise a dwarf lemon tree, lime tree, and mandarin orange tree in our sunny foyer. In the three years since I bought them, we've gotten one meager lemon, two tiny limes, hundreds of sticky bugs called scale insects (gross!), two dead citrus trees, and one tree on the brink of death on our deck. Definitely not fun.
4) Stop running for the telephone whenever it rings. This is why answering machines were invented. Answer calls when it's convenient for you, not just for the caller. That includes cell phone calls. Let it go to voicemail if you're in the middle of something important (and that includes meditating, napping, or eating your lunch).
5) Grow your own cherry tomatoes and basil in summertime. They're effortless and you can add them to lots of easy dishes--salads, pizzas, pastas. (Or just enjoy them on their own, perhaps with a little mozzarella.)
6) Get a dry-erase board and use it daily instead of Post-It notes. It feels good to have a clean slate at the end of the day.
7) Keep your pantry organized by clearly dividing up the soups, pastas, sauces, beans, spices, condiments, and baking items. If you always keep the same things in the same places, you'll be able to take a quick glance to see what's missing when you make your weekly shopping list and avoid winding up with five bags of bread flour that go stale before you can use them.
8) Get your kids to eat the same meals that you're eating. Your house is not a restaurant and you are not a short-order cook. (If you need help here, read Bringing Up Bebe.)
9) Set up online banking for all of your monthly bills. Each Monday, make a note on your calendar to check what's due that week. You'll save on stamps and panicked runs to the post office.
10) Stop subscribing to newspapers. You'll never read all of those bulky sections, and all of those piles of paper just clutter up the house (never mind the tree issue, and the fact that paper recycling takes a LOT of water and energy resources). Get your news online instead, or read the paper at the library.
11) Recycle the junk mail as soon as you get it. Don't dare put it down on a flat surface. It will grow roots there.
12) Don't even open a mail-order catalog. Although the stores will try to convince you otherwise, you don't need anything that they're selling. (You've managed to survive this far without a double-ended spatula, haven't you?)
13) Carry a book with you wherever you go. You'll be less frustrated waiting in long lines and you'll finally get around to reading the books you've been meaning to read. J. K. Rowling once said in an interview that she never believed it when people said they didn't have any time to read, and gave this exact tip.
14) Consolidate your trips. Is the post office on the way to a friend's house? Is the library on the way to the grocery store? Don't make multiple trips in the same direction. Gas is expensive enough as it is.
15) You don't need a souvenir from every place you visit. (Chances are good that the gift shop trinkets were all made in China anyway.) Take pictures instead, or let the memories be the reward. You'll have less stuff to dust.
16) Stop saying "yes" to things that weigh heavily on you. No, you don't need to chair another school committee or run a bake sale this year. Make this "The Year of Saying 'No.'" Tell anyone who asks you to run something, "I'm sorry, but I just won't have the time this year to give it the attention it deserves." (And don't feel guilty about it!)
17) Go through your clothes (and your family's clothes) at the start of each season and clear out the closet. Anything out of season should get donated or stored. You shouldn't have to wade through your winter sweaters to get to a T-shirt when it's 90 degrees outside. When you can see what you already have, you'll stop buying clothes that you really don't need.
18) Limit your time on Facebook to 5-10 minutes in the morning and evening, tops, and don't play Facebook games. I'm just guessing, but on your deathbed, you probably will wish you hadn't played Candy Crush for hours upon hours upon hours upon hours...
19) Don't buy more storage bins. It's like throwing your stuff into a black hole. If your stuff is overflowing, it's time to declutter, donate, and have a yard sale, instead of buying more things to "organize" your stuff.
20) Figure out the bare minimum of makeup you need to feel good--for example, just concealer and eyeliner--and keep one extra set in your car or purse.
22) Keep the hobbies in check. Do you really have the time, room, and patience for scrapbooking?
23) Your kids do not need to have lessons for every sport and every musical instrument known to man. Make sure they have more free time than scheduled activities.
24) Buy plants for your garden and yard that are proven to do well in your regional area and in your particular yard.Bleeding Hearts grow great in the shady parts of our yard. Rhododendons do not.
25) Make space for silence. You don't need wall-to-wall sound throughout your day. Sometimes you just need to hear yourself think. Turn off the background music if it's just white noise, and turn off the TV that's just background noise.
Your turn:How many of these things are you already doing? What else simplifies your life? Let's hear it in the comment section!
Less than two more weeks to sign up for my summer photography online course, "How to Take Better Photos of Nature and the World Around You." This is the last time I'll be offering this e-course until next year.
All digital cameras welcome (any type, including smart phones).
Even if you have a full-time job, you'll be able to take this course at your own pace.
The older I get, the more I realize that I want less stuff, not more. There's a whole category on this blog (there it is, down there on your right!) called "Minimalism & Non-Consumerism" and every time I write one of those posts, I somehow feel lighter and freer. It's as if even thinking about having less stuff is liberating. Following are five posts that explore why less is most definitely more:
As I continue to trip over my kids' toys despite culling the piles regularly, I was awestruck by the Zen-like simplicity of Tricia at Little Eco Footprints--her daughter's well-loved toys fit into three compact suitcases: Why Less Is More
I loved this post from Kaley Ann that demonstrates you do not have to go out and buy a bunch of new stuff to create arts & crafts projects: Trash to Treasures
In this guest post at The Other Side of Complexity, Jen Burns smartly defines the different personality traits that stop us from decluttering our homes--which one fits you? How to Lose Your Clutter without Losing Your Soul
In this post from The Other Side of Ugly, Sheri explores why we try to fill our lives with stuff to create a sense of purpose: The Void Within
In last Friday's "Joyful Reads", I included one of my own early posts and was pleasantly surprised by how many new readers appreciated it. So, in keeping with this week's topic, here's another one you might have missed: How to Free Yourself from the Magical Spell of Catalogs
Here's to a weekend of less spending and more living!
As a photographer, I'm all about focusing. It's strange, though, how hard it is for us to really focus consistently on the things that matter the most. How easy it is for us to get distracted by little things that cloud the Big Picture. The following posts focus on that problem from some different angles--take a look:
Last Wednesday, I wrote about 5 Things to Cut Loose for a Simpler Life and I'm happy to say that I'm still on the simplicity kick! Here are five more things to consider ditching:
1. Plastic bags. Not only are plastic bags a pain in the neck for the planet, but they also have a way of exploding out of your kitchen drawers and closets, building up like a runaway snowball on its way to an avalanche. So, take that gigantic heap of flimsy bags to your local grocery store and put it in their plastic bag recycling bin, buy a few canvas bags, keep them in the front seat of your car, and just say no to the plastic bags for good.
2. Magazines. As somebody who used to be addicted to new magazines, I can tell you with 100% confidence that my life has gotten much easier by just borrowing them from the library. No more dusty stacks spilling all over the floor to contend with, and passing along copies of magazines instead of buying them is like the ride-sharing equivalent of commuting.
3. Coupons. Unless the coupon is for a dollar or more (few are!), skip them altogether. Is it really worth your time, kitchen drawers, and wallet space to cut out coupons for ten cents off? Don't you forget to use them anyway? Just sign up for a savings card at your supermarket and be done with the coupons.
4. Big-box store memberships. If you have the admirable self-control to walk into a store like Costco or Sam's Club and pick up only the 50-lb. bag of cat litter that you went in for, then by all means, keep your membership. It's very green to buy in bulk and cut down on packaging. The problem arises when these stores lure you into buying things you do not need at all, filling up your house like a hoarder on speed. Do you really need a mega-box of stuffing mix? Five hundred pens at once? A gallon of pepper? Simplify your life by buying just a little more than you'll really need until the next shopping trip at the (regular-sized) store. Remember: It's not a bargain if you don't need it.
5. Salon hair color. I used to have my hair lightened at salons, and my goodness, how I wish I could get back all of those two-hour chunks of time that I spent with my hair wrapped in tin foil, looking like an extra from "Lost in Space." Yes, I squeezed in some magazine-reading time in the chair, but now that I'm coloring my hair at home, the whole process is done in less than a half hour--a half hour while I'm doing more important things than reading about who's dating whom in the entertainment world.
Are you 5 for 5 yet? What have you cut out of your life to simplify it?
It's funny how the older I get, the simpler I want my life to be. Shopping was once a fun activity for me--a social outing--and now, I dread it. I want less stuff, not more. That's partly because more stuff generates more work, and partly because one of the greenest things we can do is to stop buying new things.
I'm also trying to cut down on activities that gobble up my time, like sitting in a salon for hours. That feeds into the whole "getting older" thing, too--because I don't want to spend my time (a limited resource) in places that are not adding any true value to my days.
Here are some suggestions for things to cut out of your life if you want to simplify it:
1. Salon manicures. Just think of all the "important" things you could be doing if you weren't shackled to a salon chair, waiting for your nails to dry. Important things like reading a good book, taking a picture of the sky, or cuddling with your pet. Aside from the occasional mani-pedi with my "girly-girl" daughter at home (see above), I rarely wear nail polish. Most brands of nail polish containphthalates--something you especially want to avoid if you are pregnant, nursing, or have kids who use the polish, too. (Another life-simplifier: If you really "need" nail polish, stick with neutrals that match your nails, instead of bright blue, dark red, and other colors that noticeably require touching up after one typing session.)
2.Tiny notes. You know the ones I'm talking about: those little self-adhering papers that are flapping and fluttering all over your house like a fairy-elf parade. If you need to write down reminders to yourself, jot them on a desk calendar that's in plain view of your computer. Or embrace the digital age and upload a system to your iPhone, like Notograph (see article below), which lets you take pictures of what you want to remember without taking up space on your camera roll.
3. Placemats. I can't believe how much easier our clean-up routine got when we decided to forego placemats for our everyday meals in the kitchen. Instead of scrubbing down the placemats and then the table, now we just give a few swipes over the table with a spritzed cloth and we're done. (We still dress up the dining room table for company, though--that's when it becomes part of the fun instead of drudgery.)
4. Newspapers. Transfer the paper subscriptions you absolutely cannot live without (and why is that, by the way?) to an online version, and say goodbye to the stacks upon stacks of newspapers you never got around to reading in the first place. Also say goodbye to dirty "newspaper fingers." (Yuck!)
5. Game systems for the kids. I know this might sound like a radical parenting concept, but if you're about to buy your kids a handheld game system, consider just lending them your smart phone or iPad instead. Load it up with a few educational, non-violent games, and limit the amount of time you let them spend playing tech games so they don't turn into mini-zombies. (We limit our kids' iPad time to under an hour on Saturday and Sunday, and have noticed a real change for the better in their attitudes.) Better yet, take them to the library or the park. Your house will be a more peaceful place, and you'll save a lot of cash by avoiding the game stores altogether.
FINAL DAYS to register for my photography e-course, starting Monday, March 10: "How to Take Better Photos of Nature and the World Around You." The following link has all the details: Learn more and register here. JOIN US! It will be fun!
Back in my advertising days (a curious and dubious profession for somebody who now writes occasionally about non-consumerism), I used to collect my favorite print ads for inspiration, and one of my favorites was from a bank (I don’t remember the name of the bank…so much for the ad’s effectiveness!), in which the headline was “You are the President of Your Life.” I had the headline pinned to my bulletin board. It resonated with me because I felt ruled by my to-do lists, compelled to complete nonsense tasks and busywork--very little of the stuff that actually mattered in the Grand Scheme of Things. But that ad spoke to me because it was about making the important choices, managing time in meaningful ways, and viewing life as a combination of departments to manage.
When one year is ending and a brand-new one is peeking around the corner, I tend to look backward, inward, and then forward--in a sort of "presidential year-in-review" combined with a plan for the future, prospectus-style. What shined in the past year, and what could have used a polish? What did I discover about myself, and what do I hope to accomplish in the year ahead?
In distilling the past year and capturing its essence, I looked through the last twelve months at this blog. These were the recurring themes, the things I learned, the posts that defined who I am and where I want to head:
This was the year I continued my journey of non-consumerism and minimalism, finding new homes for things I didn't need, and spending significantly less on new things. Although Amazon.com won't be happy to hear it (shhhh!), I learned that I made 47 purchases in 2011, 29 purchases in 2012, and 9 (nine!) purchases in 2013. I love that kind of downward spiral!
This was the year I finally defined myself as "A Photographer."
This was the year I realized that I'm not just the President of My Life, but also the Curator of My Life. When you're the Curator of Your Life, you decide...
how much money to squander, and how much money to save.
the stuff you part with, and the stuff you choose to keep.
the positive people to bring closer, and the negative people to cut loose.
how you take care of things, or how you let things go.
the good memories to cherish, and the bad ones to learn from and let flutter away.
In 2014, I hope you, too, will refine your course, polish the edges of your possibilities, and redirect your vision so it aligns with what you really, truly want. Happy Curating!
Your turn: Did you have a defining moment from the past year? Were you happy with your 2013? Please share in the Comments section below. If you are reading this post via email subscription or mobile device, click on the title or go to www.JoyfullyGreen.com from a computer to see the comments and leave one of your own. (Don't forget to click the box for subscribing to comments so you can follow the conversation.)
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Nature photography e-course coming in March 2014! Stay tuned for details!
Well, that's a lofty title, isn't it? However, it speaks to one of my favorite topics at this time of year: Giving meaningful experiences as holiday gifts instead of giving STUFF and all the things that STUFF entails (manufacturing, packaging, shipping, and cluttering up your house, just for starters). Far be it from me to alarm you, but one of our neighbors decked out his yard for Christmas on the weekend before Halloween (he wins the dubious award for the earliest-ever decorations), so for the past few weeks, the holidays have been tip-toeing around inside my head. With two children under age 10, believe me, the holidays are never far off our radar.
I'm just hazarding a guess, but your kids--like our kids--probably don't need a whole slew of new toys for the holidays. Long after they've lost most of their 8,786 Legos (the dog chewing up about 21% of them, another 32% scattered under various couches and beds, and another 17% lost along with the mysteriously vanishing solo socks), they'll still remember the night you took them to see a world-famous musician, which is what we did on Saturday night. We took our children to see virtuoso violinist Itzhak Perlman.
My son, who is 9, has been playing the violin for the past year, so he was particularly excited about the evening. My daughter, who is 6, was hyped-up as well, but mainly because it was a great excuse to wear her favorite dress with the fox on it, along with its matching fox tights.
She had a rather abstract, six-year-old's understanding that this was a Very Important Person we were watching perform, but what really made the concert more fun for her was when I told her to listen carefully to each piece of music and imagine what story the composer and the violinist were trying to tell together. After each piece was over, during the robust applause, she would lean in to say things such as "that song was about a family of bunnies running around in a meadow."
For me, I'll just say that I didn't know any living person could produce such a wide range of exquisite notes on a violin, so effortlessly and expressively, all without any of those strident, screechy sounds reminiscent of stepping on a cat's tail. He played without an orchestra, just a pianist for accompaniment, so we could really focus on the sweetness of the violin. Imagine the following transcendent piece of music (which he played as one of the encores), stripped back to the simple purity of a violin and a piano:
But the best part of the night for me was sitting three rows behind my son (he and my husband had the last two available front-row balcony seats) and watching my little boy witness somebody whom he admires, doing what they (my son and, presumably, Itzhak Perlman) love to do.
We had a similar kind of experience when we went to a Yankees game last year and my son got to meet Derek Jeter, his hero, before the game. After receiving a personally autographed ball from the very tall and very charming Mr. Jeter, who loped off to meet some other adoring fans, my son turned to me and whispered, "Mom, I'm so glad I didn't go through with my plan to pretend to faint!" That's right: He was so nervous and didn't know what he would say if he actually met Derek Jeter, so that had been his plan--to feign fainting. But he didn't "faint", and he did manage to talk coherently to his hero, and now we have this picture below to remember that golden morning of his life. Even without the picture, I don't think he'd ever have forgotten it. Which is more than I can say for the time he received his seventh box of Legos or his thirtieth stuffed animal. Yes, he enjoyed and appreciated them, but they're just not in the same league. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
So, this holiday season, consider thinking outside the box for gifts. Literally. Instead of giving more STUFF, think of an experience you can give to your children, or your significant other, or even yourself--an experience to make you smile on a gloomy day when you don't feel like smiling, a few positively magical hours to look back on with warmth and fondness for years to come. What activity does your child (or your spouse, or your dad) love to do, and who in the world is really good at it? Is there an opportunity for you to bring the two people together within the next year? Yes, these types of experiences tend to be more expensive than your average gift (and I've already suggested ideas for gifts that cost little or nothing--see the linked articles below). But for me, I'd rather give one really great experience than twenty-five gifts of STUFF that will get lost in the back of a closet.
Your turn: Have you ever given or received a really special experience as a gift? Met somebody you've long admired? Please share in the Comments section below. If you are reading this post via email subscription or mobile device, click on the title or go to www.JoyfullyGreen.com from a computer to see the comments and leave one of your own. (Don't forget to click the box for subscribing to comments so you can follow the conversation.)
(c) 2013 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com. All rights reserved. Photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Site licensed by Creative Commons.
Okay, let's just file this True Story under "Over-Indulgent Parents": I know a mom who took her two children on a surprise trip to Disney World, but bought all of their Disney stuffed animals, "mouse ears", and princess costumes before the trip (secretly packing an extra suitcase), because she knew the same toys would be marked up inside the theme park and she didn't want to disappoint the kids by saying "no" to the souvenirs. I know she meant well, but it would seem (to me, anyway) that the plane tickets, the hotel room, the rental car and the gas, three restaurant meals and snacks each day for two parents and two kids, and a week's worth of park admission tickets to Disney World (have you seen those Disney ticket prices lately?) are more than enough of a gift to the kids, without throwing in a suitcase full of souvenirs that were probably all made in China.
Why do we buy souvenirs, anyway? Do we buy them to prove an experience happened, fearful we'll forget it if we don't have physical evidence of the place that we visited? Do we buy them to show off a fabulous vacation to our envious friends? Are we hoping to sprinkle a little of the vacation magic into our "real lives" which are not nearly as relaxing or glamorous as our getaways? Especially in America, where the standard vacation is two weeks off at the start of a job, perhaps we are trying to stave off the hunger for the next vacation by savoring a little taste of the last one? Do we buy souvenirs for the kids just because we want to avoid the whining and begging? (I've found one way to avert this last problem: I tell my kids that the toys live at the store. They don't question it, because what child wants to take someone away from his or her rightful home? Works for me!)
Generally, I am not a fan of giftshops, especially the ones that you have to walk through to exit the tourist attraction (seriously, what evil genius invented those?). However, if you're on the sentimental side like I am, sometimes you really do want to take home a little something special from the trip. (The key word there is "special", so you can skip the plastic snowglobes, nerve-rattling noise-makers, and polyester T-shirts.) Here are a few ideas for greener souvenirs, none of them made in China, and all of them more meaningful:
Keep a trip journal--online or traditional spiral-bound. Even better, have your kids write some entries.
Make a sketch. Or have your kids draw or paint a picture of your family on the trip. Frame it or just hang it with a magnet on the fridge.
Take photos, and lots of them--it's so easy in the digital age to snap away. You can (and should) edit ruthlessly later. Let your kids snap some photos--their viewpoints are priceless. Plus, how else are you going to get pictures of yourself on the vacation?
Free from the beach: The "perfect" stone; some pretty shells; a handful of pure white sand to keep in a recyled glass jar, labeled with the beach it's from.
Ask the waiter if you can have a recipe from the chef (or at least the gist of it) and recreate the dish at home.
Have a "Recollection Night" before you go. See below...
On the final night of our life-changing, two-week trip to Israel last year, my mother-in-law gathered our extended family--all eleven of us--in one of our hotel rooms and passed out a little informal survey, asking things like "What was your favorite meal on the trip?", "What was the most exciting thing you did?", "What did you learn about the country?", and "What was the funniest moment of the vacation?" Truth be told, the idea seemed a little corny at first, but you know what? It was so much fun to go around the circle and collectively remember our thoroughly amazing trip. Mental mementos: They're free, 100% green, perfect for sharing, and best of all, they don't take up any suitcase space!
Your turn: What's your favorite souvenir from a vacation--and was it purchased, created, or found? Are you able to avoid the magnetic pull of the souvenir shop? Please share in the Comments section below. If you are reading this post via email subscription or mobile device, click on the title or go to www.JoyfullyGreen.com from a computer to see the comments and leave one of your own.
Your turn: Is the balance between your work and your personal life out of whack? Or do you keep your priorities in check when it's within your control to do so? Please share in the Comments section below. If you are reading this post via email subscription or mobile device, click on the title or go to www.JoyfullyGreen.com from a computer and you can leave a comment at the original post.
(c) 2013 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com. All rights reserved. Photos and text digitally fingerprinted and protected by MyFreeCopyright.com. Site licensed by Creative Commons.
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