Being thankful, keeping busy... Roxanne Rustand

I hope this finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe.  I am praying for all of us.  How are you managing these days?   What are you missing the most? Have you found some silver linings during this time of isolation? 

I miss seeing our kids and grandkids.  A lot.  But...we talk on the phone and text, and that will do for now.  I am just so grateful that they are all well, and not for the world would I want to risk that with visiting them. Today, our son and grands came out for a pony ride on Susie. It was so nice to watch-- but we kept our distance!

This morning I was curious about my naivete back at the beginning of 2020, before this all began, and  looked back at my January post here on Sweet Romance Reads. Not a glimmer of awareness about what was to come, though I have been using these goal setting steps to make the best use of my time while we shelter in place.

 I'm filled with anticipation as I look forward to a busy and (I hope)  productive year. 
Have you set any goals for 2020?  I don't mean New Year's resolutions, but concrete goals. A newsletter from a local doctor's office suggested the following:
      1. Make five short-term goals. Write "due dates" for each one 
    on your calendar. Add five more when those are done.
      2. Make five long-term goals.
      3. For each goal, list three action steps that you can take.
      4. Print this list of goals and post it where you can see it every
          day.

Have you been tackling projects large and small while trying to stay at home?   I've been making list after list, cleaning, sorting, discarding, and adding to the items to donate to a local mission or the Salvation Army store. The mountain is growing--reminding me that I should have been better about tackling these tasks all along. If I'd done that, I wouldn't be so eagerly awaiting the day when those places are once again open for donations!

Do you see this experience changing your attitudes and actions even after Covid-19 virus is eventually under control? 

I believe I will treasure time with relatives and friends even more. Be even more grateful for every day we are granted on this earth. But in the meantime, the sun is shining today, the grass turning green. There's a symphony of bird songs all around....and come evening, we'll again hear the lovely chorus of frogs. The renewal of spring is here, and Easter is just a short time away. 

Blessings to you all!
Roxanne Rustand

Be Happier? ~ by Magdalena Scott

Due to interest in my posts concerning minimalism, I thought I’d touch on the subject again this month. (Quick background: in 2012 I became a widow, sold our house and most of our furniture, etc. at a huge auction, and moved into a studio apartment. I went from 3,000-ish square feet to around 500.)

I recently read a blog post listing 21 benefits of owning less. I completely agree with, and relate to, 20 of them, including Less Spending, Less Stress, More Freedom, Easier to Clean. The one that stopped me—and when I clicked the reference link I was still shaking my head—is this one: Be Happier.

Don’t get me wrong. I am happier with less, but I’m not certain this is a realistic guarantee. If I lived alone in our big house as the curator of all our possessions, I’d be miserable. I’m guessing that each time my son and daughter-in-law came to visit, I’d try to foist something off on them.

Another fact to consider is that each of us may have our own definition of minimalism. A bit of guidance I use is this, by William Morris: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”  

Happiness is never guaranteed, but if you’re interested in dabbling without committing, here are some ideas:

• Box stuff up that you don’t love, and see what your place looks like when it’s streamlined. (It’s important to ask yourself What do I want to keep? instead of What do I want to get rid of?)
• Use your favorite dishes, pack the others up for donation (but don’t donate yet), and see if you miss what’s no longer in the cabinet.
• Put your seldom used clothing, shoes, handbags in the back of the closet, or another closet, and experience a smaller wardrobe for a while. (Confession: I still haven’t conquered my wardrobe!)
• If you have grown children whose belongings are still in your home, invite said children to come and pick them up. Perhaps they will, or perhaps those items are just there because nobody’s had the heart to re-home them. (Warning: this work is not for the faint-hearted. It can be quite an emotional drain.)
• Live in a smaller portion of your current home and “try on” small space living. (Hint: Windows help the small space seem larger.)

Owning fewer things and renting a small apartment has set me free to travel (photo above is in San Francisco this month), do the work I love, and donate to charity. I like to help spread the word about this lifestyle, but I know it’s not everyone’s cup—or dozens of cups, with matching saucers—of tea. You get to decide.

Magdalena Scott


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Magdalena is a USA Today Bestselling Author, and writes sweet romance and women's fiction with small town settings. Connect with her and read about her books on her website: www.magdalenascott.com

Recent Release: Book Two in the Serendipity, Indiana series, Emily’s Dreams. Emily Kincaid is recovering from an auto accident, and sheds her past—emotionally and physically—in order to move toward her future. Stories in the Serendipity, Indiana series always have a surprise ending, and I think you’ll love the resolution of the nudging voice Emily hears throughout her journey.

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Sign up for the Sweet Romance Reads newsletter and keep up with Sweet Romance Reads! Scroll down the right side of our blog and enter your email address under Newsletter Signup. 

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Downsizing and Decluttering by Patricia Forsythe

 

Inspired by fellow author Magdalena Scott and links she has provided on minimalist living, I decided to begin purging my closets, cabinets, and drawers of items I don’t use.  It’s time to see what I’m keeping because I just love it and what I’m keeping out of habit.  Habit is very strong and it’s hard to break.

Within a couple of hours, I had emptied almost one hundred hangers of no longer needed items.  Those got donated along with the hangers (so I won’t fill them up again).  I know I also need to sort through my shoes and get rid of some, but that may require oxygen and paramedics. 

My dresser drawers are something I can handle.  I have a dozen or more scarves of all types, neatly folded and ready for use – something that won’t happen because I rarely dress up anymore and, after all, I’ve only got one neck.

I’m sure there must be panty hose in the dresser.  What am I doing with those?  No one in their right mind wears panty hose in Arizona in the summer.  It’s too darned hot.  And knee high stockings?  I know I never bought as many as I seem to own.  Years ago, my sister expressed the opinion that they breed like rabbits inside closed dresser drawers.  I’m afraid to open the drawers for fear they’ll bounce out and create new colonies beneath the bed and behind the bookcase.  I must be brave though, and try to outsmart them.

Books need to go.  I’ve got many I’ll never part with, but also many I’ll never read – books of the ‘wall-banger’- type – ones that were so awful I bounced them off the wall and never finished them.  These can be recognized by the bent pages and, possibly, shoe prints on the cover.  I’m somewhat rabid about having my time and money wasted on a bad book.  I’ve discovered this is a drawback of having an e-reader.  Deleting a badly written book doesn’t have the same emotional satisfaction as throwing it against the wall. 

After all of this cleaning out, I felt strangely lighter, as if I’d shrugged a burden off my shoulders.  Next, I’m going to start on the kitchen.  It will be interesting to see how many cooking utensils I can get rid of, how many coffee mugs and glasses I can give away.  I remember an aunt of mine saying that when she moved from the house where she and my uncle had lived for forty years, she discovered they had nine wine sets – decanters and matching glasses.  She and my uncle never drank wine and she didn’t know where those sets came from.  Possibly, they were on the same uncontrolled breeding program as the knee high stockings.

Wish me luck!