The Call

In the words of Marianne Williamson: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Letting Things Go



Saying "good-by" to a 1930's wardrobe that has been with us almost 30 years. Charlotte painted this when we were going through some difficult times and in transition. She sat it outside on the porch and went at it for days and even said she was painting her emotions out onto that piece of furniture. Goodby little cupboard. Hope you find a happy home where you are appreciated. 


Oh, must not forget the little vintage chest of drawers that we acquired while we were living in Ballard, WA. We had some wonderful times while we were living there in a grand old Craftsman Style home. We could walk 2 blocks and look down on the Pugent Sound.

Feelings?


Maybe what we are feeling right now is what we are supposed to be feeling. We are sad and glad to see some things go. We feel richly blessed that we get to send our treasures off to new homes or even to the garbage with thoughtful contemplation instead of like the fire victims who had it all taken from them overnight and without warning. Our letting go is gentler. Everyone should have their own "estate sale" while there is time. It is a very enlightening experience on so many levels - gladness, sadness, regrets and good riddance.



Monday, December 18, 2017

Morning Thoughts & Ponderings

Good morning,
I do better pondering my thoughts sometimes if I share them with someone else instead of talking to myself so please bear with me this morning. As we get rid of all of our furniture, many family "heirlooms" and just about everything one needs to live in a house, we are looking for the deeper feelings of this process - something that resides below the stress and exhaustion. Up until now that is about all we have felt but we know there must be something going on at a deeper level. We have read about folks feeling freer and lighter but that has not happened for us yet. I think we are staying too busy to feel the deeper feelings - the emotions of what is going on here. We are going to miss the greater blessings of this process if we don't find a way to be present with what we are doing. This whole process is a big deal - a huge transition and we are missing it because we are focusing on getting from here to there - way down the road somewhere. What about today? What about now? But that has been a ongoing challenge - being present because as my sister, Sherry, used to say "Today is the gift" -living in the now so we don't miss it before it's gone. We only get this one shot at today. 

Sometimes we have emotion around a particular item. Yesterday a bedroom wardrobe that we have owned for over 25 years left. I spent hours painting that wardrobe once when we were going through a difficult time. There was a lot of anger and emotion in that paint job LOL. It felt like there should have been a little ceremony or something, but we are too busy to take notice of things like that. I did break down when the hydrangeas left but at least I can go visit them. And I am having difficulty parting with a pair of moccasins that Larry bought for me about 30 years ago with holes starting to show on the underside and on the inside but they haven't gone totally through yet. Oh, did I mention that he just bought me a similar pair. I am more attached to those shoes than many things we are parting with LOL. I think it is because they have been part of my life for so long. 

We have downsized before and are currently living in about 900 square feet, which is pretty small by comparison, but after the first of the year we will move into 190 square feet. It is difficult sorting and deciding what to keep and what not to keep. We have pretty much passed off anything that anyone else wants. Being in our 60's and 70's certainly has a bearing on this process. We are getting rid of more than we would if we were in our 50's. Sometimes it sort of feels like we have already passed away and someone else is going through our "stuff". Actually, thinking about that does help our decision making sometimes. It has been a very interesting and educational process. Since we need the money for this transition we are finding ways to sell most everything we own and we have been blessed because so many items have already left for their new homes. I have tossed out items that we have been hauling around for years and years - items that no one else wants. Now that I think about that, that feels pretty good. I have about 3 more small boxes to go through. One big project was all of the recipes and cookbooks but I am realizing that I will never live long enough to cook all of those recipes. It took two times of going through them but I finally whittled them down to just a few. I have one more pile to go through. I want the meal preparation part of our lives to be simpler and healthier, too. 

Larry will give notice when he pays our rent today. I look around and think "can we get moved, have a couple of sales and have the house and yard all cleaned up in a month?" OMG I hope so but when I look around, I must say I have my doubts..... that is where some of the stress is coming from. All we can do is keep chipping away at our projects and take the time to feel the deeper emotions of this process. I talked to someone a couple of days ago who said they had so much stuff in their motor home they felt buried sometimes and we DON'T want to do that! We want to take our longing for minimalism into our new home with us. We want to live a simpler life on so many levels with more time for just being: reading, fishing, bike rides, canoeing..... I have this image in my mind of sitting in front of the trailer at Klamath Wildlife Area, where our first assignment will be when we hit the road. It's a warm afternoon and I am sitting in front of the Black Rock looking off at the distant hills, smelling newly mowed hay, listening to geese in the distance and maybe a frog or two, an occasional plane flying over and there is time to just sit there and take it all in. Well, now I really do have to get up and finish sorting those recipes.

Sunday, November 05, 2017

Transition - Imagining

It has been a busy few months but now that we finally think we have a storage unit, we will start our journey toward living small - as in a 24 foot travel trailer. This morning we are out in Eagleville, California, which is in the Surprise Valley. We have been ranch sitting since October 23. It has been good to be in a different environment. There hasn't been much we could do here except to make lists of what needs to be done when we get home. I must admit if feels overwhelming - daunting at time. We have to remind ourselves that we can only take this on one step at a time - one project at a time. I continually take myself to a place where I can feel the calmness and peace of living small with a shorter "to do" list and fewer expenses. We are creating a whole new routine - a new way of life with a different flow and rhythm and are still not sure what that looks like? No more working in the garden, no more 900 square feet to clean - just a 24 foot foot travel trailer. Compared to many, 900 square feet of living space would seem small. There is a lot to do to make this transition when we get back home - sorting, packing and moving what we will keep to storage and then having a big "living" estate sale. Looking forward to arriving back home and getting busy with all of our projects and the big purge.

Friday, October 20, 2017

Wow! Our New Home!

Well, this wasn't the plan but since we have had such a hard time finding the Black Rock travel trailer model that we wanted, the schedule got rearranged. We now have a travel trailer sitting in our driveway! It took lots of miracles for this to happen - finding the trailer and then having people work in our behalf. Brian working to make this all happen, Mary Jo working with Brian to figure out what the best deal for us would be, Troy working to get it to Redmond from Idaho so that we could pick it up in time to start over 2 weeks of pet/ranch sits. A special person, Andre, working to get our financing through. And so now our new home is sitting in our drive. Amazing!


Picking up our new home in Redmond, Oregon. It was an exciting morning but during the process found out our dear friend, Carole has passed away that morning.
A quick stop for lunch. Oh my goodness - can this really be ours?!

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Wanderlust

Wedding Day September 5, 1981
Wanderlust: An intense desire for or impulse to wander or travel and see and explore new places.

In 1981 Charlotte and I abandoned a traditional lifestyle with the intent of seeking new and exciting venues in which to experience life together. That involved living off the grid for several years, mining for gold, living with less; less stress, less material things and way less money. In doing so, we have discovered some basic truths for us: “things” do not equate to happiness; stress and time are the cost of needing and having more and finally; “stuff”or things, and the pursuit of material wealth tend to get in the way of being in touch with yourself and others.   
King's Canyon - 
Climb to the top of Morro Rock

That brings me to today’s post: We have put down roots here in Brookings, Oregon for the past five years and we love it here. Brookings will remain our home, however, we have begun to recognize that we are getting stale, boring and uninspired. We miss that excitement of living on the edge, daring to explore new places and experiences and not just taking life for granted. So, in preparation for getting back out there, we are seriously downsizing, striving for a minimalistic lifestyle that will serve us well as we venture forth. With rising rents and expenses we can no longer afford to stay in our little farmhouse so we are making plans to move into a "tiny house" in the form of a 24 foot travel trailer. 

I’ll close with a quote from Henry David Thoreau that we included in our wedding vows, “I went to the woods to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”