Author Archives: Beth

A Radical Experiment in Using What I Have

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I’ve been clearing things out pretty much since the week after Christmas. Slowly, just taking time to think about how I want my spaces to look and feel. For the past couple of days I keep hearing my brain tell myself (does this ever happen to you?) “Use what you have.” I can’t even count the number of times I hear myself saying this to myself. Is this inspiration? not sure, but I’m paying attention and thinking about all the ways that this can be applied toward my efforts to SIMPLIFY.

Groceries: I’m no hoarder but there are plenty of things in my freezer and pantry that I can use up before buying ingredients for meals. I don’t have years’ old anything but I can definitely say I have things that I should use. I’m talking entire meals with the exception of maybe the vegetable. I planned my weekly menu this week with this principle in mind and really only picked up a few things at the grocery store this morning. I’ll check in at the end of the week and let you know how this went.

Craft supplies: I have a craft shelf in the basement and my daughters have stores of the things they frequently use in their closet. I’m determined to use what I have before making another run to the craft store. We were going a lot during Advent and that’s fine, but I really want to use what we have. My older dd asked today if we could go to Michael’s because beading supplies are 40% off. This is the tricky part. If I tell her to use what she already has, will she be less inspired? That’s the dilemma when kids and creativity are involved. I’ll see how this goes.

Books: This is my weakness. As a homeschooler, book purchases (leisure and curriculum) are easily justified but not always necessary. I have plenty of books for all of us to use without buying more for the moment. Remembering to “use what I have” applies perfectly to homeschooling books.

I will only add to this that I also am determined to “get rid of what I don’t use”. So, I’ll rephrase my goal “Use what you have and let go of what you don’t use!” That second part has crept in and I think it will help.

Why the Title?

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I’ve always wanted to write a book and I thought this would be a good book title (“A Case for Simple”). The book would be about how making things more simple improves one’s quality of life. Choosing to do less is almost always the better path. I also think this can be applied in many areas of home and family life as well as my interactions in the world. Less is more. There’s truth to that and I intend to prove it.

I also hope that having a blog will make me accountable to live this principle. I’ll let you know. I am fully aware that adding a blog to my already full plate is decidedly LESS SIMPLE, but maybe it doesn’t have to be that way. So, WELCOME!

Blogging: Jumping in With One Foot

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I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a couple of YEARS. I’ve been reluctant for a lot of reasons but have to admit that I can’t put the baby to bed. This nagging to blog won’t leave. So, I decided to start and not really tell anyone-yet. I have a lot of reservations about starting a public web journal but am mainly concerned about how it affects my ability to live my life in real time without living life and thinking…”this would make a great blog post” or worse, creating bloggable life. CREEPY! You know, planning the perfect craft and composing the perfect photo of your child’s hands creating that perfectly bloggable moment of your life. Like I said…..CAREEEEEPY! “NO WIRE HANGERS!” “NO WIRE HANGERS!”

So, I’m entering the fray…sort of. I’m going to post and play around with the settings and see how this affects my life and whether I think it is a good thing for my family or not a good thing.