declared 2017 my ‘midlife gap year’—a year off to focus on living life rather than earning a living. A year to pause and ponder before moving onto the second half of my life. I embraced all the ‘r’ words: retreat, reflection, reevaluation, rejuvenation, and restoration. I found the whole experience so worthwhile, my midlife gap year extended to two years. It took that long for my pause to pay off, for me to reemerge—restored, renewed and ready.
Almost a year ago I wrote here that I was going to step away from this space for a month – to focus on home and start the new year with a calm mind and a clear vision.
It seems one month wasn’t enough. This space became one of the many casualties of me ruthlessly clearing the clutter from my schedule. A move that was necessary for me to move even closer to living the life that I aspire to.
We can’t have and do everything – we have to choose. And I chose to focus on home for a while.
The countdown to Christmas has become a festival of chaos and consumption. If you prefer to roll into the festive season feeling calm and connected – rather than overwhelmed and broke – now is a good time to prepare your plan of attack. Here are my three favourite tips for avoiding the chaos and consumerism of Christmas.
White space is a wonderful thing to have in your life. But it isn’t easy to find. You have to create it. And work hard to keep it. Here are some of the tools I use to craft white space into my days.
Butterflies are worth encouraging into your garden. There’s a range of plants you can grow to attract beneficial butterflies.
One of the benefits of simplifying is that my life now has white space. Pockets of time where nothing is scheduled. In graphic design, fail to leave sufficient white space and a worthwhile message can be lost among the clutter. Empty space is equally important in our day-to-day lives.
Shopping can be a bothersome chore. Or it can be a way to contribute to your community. It’s your choice. You can pop into the supermarket, check out via an automatic teller and support a large national company more interested in profit than people. Or you can wander into your local greengrocer, butcher or independent baker and chat to a familiar face and contribute to the viability of small business in your community.
Our children don’t get enough wild time. Their missing out on opportunities to boost their confidence, resilience and creativity. But what can we do? School holidays provide a chance to catch up on wild time. There’s plenty of nature-based adventure playgrounds and school-holiday programs. Little Eco and I recently tried two of them: Treetops Adventure Park and Wildcraft Australia’s Kids Camp.
Rainwater barrels and water tanks are probably what most people think of when wanting to catch and store rainwater for their garden. But there are other easier and far less expensive options. Permaculture practitioner and educator Mark Brown from Purple Pear Farm recently shared a few water collecting ideas with me.
Decluttering possessions can be hard, but as I’ve discovered, it is nothing compared to decluttering your dreams. Our hopes and goals are such a large part of who we are. But they evolve and change.
Just like our homes, our goals can become cluttered. We need to let go of old goals to make space for new dreams to flourish.