Wednesday, November 14, 2012

A New Theme

As promised, some changes are underway, though please don't expect them to be fast or furious.

You may have noticed at the top of your page that I have a much-shortened "mission statement": Musings on managing the stuff of life.

When I was a young girl, there were times when I'd lament to my mother, "I'm bored." She explained (warned) me that someday I would not be bored. In fact, during this season of mothering three and one-year old boys, there's not much I wouldn't give to find myself bored for an afternoon!



While I was driving the other day, I reflected on some of the technological changes that I've seen in my 32 years. (I heard a radio report about seminars for seniors who wanted to text their grandkids and learn to use iPads which started this line of thought.) I remember playing Duck Hunt on the neighbors' Nintendo, which was so much more advanced than our Atari--you know, color and all. Someone handed down their electric typewriter. My family bought our first PC--a Gateway 2000--when I was a freshman in high school. I received my first cell phone right before I got my driver's license; it rang from my Christmas stocking. Then came my own first desktop computer, my laptop, my netbook, etc., etc. It's just amazing, really.

The first clothing that I bought with my own money was purchased in order to fit in. Then it was a uniform for my first job, then career clothing for my first real job. A wedding dress followed, then maternity clothes, then baby clothing, and now I'm buying clothing that fits a woman with a "new" shape, if you know what I mean.


 With life seems to come the accumulation of stuff. Some of it--no, a lot of it--is material possessions, but there are also friendships, memories, ideas, hopes. There are things we need, things we want, things we hate to part with. Things we have no idea we had (more on that at the end).

We have infinitely more choices than men and women in previous generations. Yet, with so many products, devices and amusements available to us, we must work hard to squelch the clutter and reclaim the important and meaningful aspects of life.

So here, in this blog corner, is a place to make conversation about how to manage the stuff and find balance.

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A Do and Don't for Today


Do: Think about subliminal messages. A quote from this article was so pointed that it really got my attention today: "The entire point of broadcast TV is to make you dissatisfied with your life so that you'll buy more stuff."

Don't: A retired couple I worked with during a downsize was going through their attic and figuring out what had to go. Amongst the memorabilia they found a life-sized statue that their son had created in a college art course!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

The Stuff (Almost) No One Tells You About

I think this devotional was written just for me today. Maybe it will encourage you, too.