Minimalizing my blog

So, I haven't posted in forever and I think what I'm realizing is that I don't want to. I originally started this blog as a separate entity to my "Gwen Hayes" blog because I realize that I might have two very different audiences. I didn't want people who wanted to talk about anti-consumerism to be bombarded with buy links and promo for my authorly self. Well intended, but flawed.

I don't post enough to carry on one blog, much less two. And, in the spirit of removing what isn't working from my life...duh. Crash course here: If it doesn't bring you joy, knock it off. I can't sustain real conversations about letting go if I'm dreading holding on.

The life I am leading is awesome. I am learning to turn away from the things that don't bring me happiness even though our society tells us that they do. I am not "there" yet, but I'm getting closer. My interest in decluttering my closet has brought me to a new awareness of my food choices (go seasonal, go local), my aversion to big corporations, and my yearning for a simpler life. One of the best things in the whole world is being held by my husband. Why do I wait until the end of the day? Why don't I make hugging a bigger priority than errands? Or blogging?

To that end--I am decluttering my digital "have to"s. I may move some of the posts over to my author website, and any further blogging will happen there and not here. So...find me on www.gwenhayes.com if you want.

Be happy people....do the things you enjoy and surround yourself with the people you love. And don't feel guilty if you decide you don't want to blog.

Goodbye Macy's cosmetic counter, hello new skincare regimen

As I pay off each of my credit cards, I have also been closing each account. Less chance of wagon falls if you know what I mean.

One of those accounts was Macy's.
*sigh*

Sometimes, I struggle with letting go of my consumerist identity, and Macy's is a hard one for me. I was big into miracles and hope found in bottles and creams. I've had horrible, horrible skin since I was about thirteen. I had a bad case of chicken pox that bloomed into acne as the pox healed and have had it ever since. I've tried a lot of horrible things that didn't work to save myself and have always, always been sensitive about my face.

As my teen years melded into my 20s and then 30s, I oft times wondered when, exactly, I would stop having breakouts. At 41, I now am side-eyeing menopause, but not exactly holding my breath there either. At any rate, despite my esteem issues, I've had success with marriage, parenting, and career, but I've never stopped wishing for miracle skin.

When my "pure" facewash (those are scare quotes, by the way, upon reading the chemicals considered "pure") ran out, I took the advice of Crunchy Betty and began washing my face with honey.

No, really, you read that correctly. I wash my face with honey. Pure, raw, local when available, honey. I put it in a squeeze bottle (yes the bear shaped one) and use about 1/2 teaspoon or so on my slightly damp face.  Sometimes, I let it sit for a few minutes like a mask. It comes off easily with a warm, wet cloth or I just rinse in the shower. Once a week, I use a Clarisonic face brush to exfoliate. (I don't use it with the soap it comes with anymore of course. In fact, I use it dry and then follow with honey wash.)

My skin is softer, tighter, less red, less inflamed, and kind of glowy. My t-zone is even balancing out. My skin is not magically Angelina Jolie-ified, but I'm convinced that it's much healthier and happier than it was when I had a five step program with harsh chemicals and a credit line for the make-up counter. Most days, I go without any make-up or powder at all--an unheard of occurrence before.

I've recently infused some honey with lavender for my next bottle, not straining the dried buds too well so that they will act as additional exfoliation. I can't wait to try it.

So, there you have it. Honey. Water. Maybe some lavender. 

Homemade Laundry Soap

I've been experimenting....my liquid soap wasn't all that great, but my powdered soap is the BOMB.

Here's what I used:

2 bars Castile soap. (I used one bar of Kirk's regular and one bar of Dr. Bronner's lavender because it smells divine)
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda
(optional: essential oils-10-20 drops. I used lavender and tea trea oil)
That's it. No really.

• Roughly chop the soap and throw it into the food processor. Alternatively, you can grate it, but wow, work.
• add the borax and soda to the soap and  process it until well mixed
• add essential oils if desired and give it another few pulses
• store in airtight container
• Use 1 to 2 tablespoons per load

The clothes don't smell lavender-y after they are dried, but it makes me happy when I smell the soap while loading the machine. 

Non-toxic All Purpose Cleaner recipe

Since I started my move towards minimalism, I knew one of my goals was to eliminate unnecessary and dangerous chemicals from my life for health and environmental reasons. Because I'm trying to want what I have instead of have what I want, I decided that it wouldn't be consistent with my goals to throw away all my cleaners and start from scratch, but instead replace the chemical cleaners and body products with natural options as they run out.

Oh my God does it take forever to use things up when you don't want them anymore.

Anyway, we finally used up a bottle of cleaner, so I replaced it with a homemade concoction today. Here's my brew:

All-Purpose Cleaner
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Borax
1 teaspoon liquid soap*
10 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops rosemary essential oil
5 drops tea tree essential oil
Warm water to fill 32 oz spray bottle
1. Dissolve Borax in vinegar and lemon juice (can be done in bottle, but I used measuring cup)
2. Add soap
3. Add drops
4. Transfer to spray bottle if you didn't use it for mixing
5. Fill rest of bottle with warm water--slowly so it doesn't foam up.
6. Yay, yer done.

The liquid soap I used for this batch was store bought dishwashing liquid because...well, we're still using it up. I intend to use a liquid Castile soap like Dr. Bonners' when we run out. 

I've also been experimenting with homemade lotion and laundry soap, but I haven't perfected my concoctions yet...so stay tuned.

Minimalism opened my eyes

When I started my minimalism journey, my goals were quite different. I wanted to organize my house better. That's it. Sure, in the back of my mind, I have been planning for our goal to spend a few years traveling after my son graduates...but that seemed far away. I just wanted my house to look cleaner.

The easiest way to keep your house clean is to not have as much stuff of course. So, I made a goal one weekend to find 20 things to take to goodwill and throw 20 things away. And if felt so good. I was totally surprised how much better I felt. And then I found a minimalist blog. And then it was on.

By decluttering, I found that I had attached emotion to things. Things are things. They are not made to bear emotional attachment. All of the sudden, so many other aspects of life made more sense to me just by that realization. For instance, once you sever your emotional tie to "things" you realize that everywhere you go, you are bombarded with messages that you NEED MORE THINGS. Not just more, but better. You NEED THE RIGHT THINGS. If you have them, you will be prettier, sexier, more respected, envied, you will be a better parent...this list of what Madison Avenue thinks THINGS can do for you is endless.

And it is totally bogus.

And when you begin to realize how much advertising you are bombarded with daily and how much of it is lies, then you begin to also look at what else you've been suckered into believing. Like...dog food for instance. Why on earth are we feeding our pets commercial brands of food that don't provide optimal nutrition? I've been indoctrinated to know that table scraps are bad and kibble is good. But when I take off my Kool-Aid colored glasses--lo and behold--that kibble is mostly grain, filler, and nasty biproducts. Hello, dogs are carnivores. They don't even have the right digestive system to handle grains. Small amounts, sure. The bulk of their diet? Nope. They'd be better off eating from my table than that bag. (Though I'm not going to do that. I am looking at homemade pet foods.)

But kibble is convenient. Just like McDonalds is convenient. And Lunchables. And canned chili. Convenient doesn't always equal nutritious, does it?

So, I'm giving the side-eye to any business or industry that has a large advertising budget. I'm tired of the constant spinning. I'm learning that I don't need new things as much as I need to know where my food is grown. I'm tired of things I can't pronounce in my food and on my skin. I want my family, including my pets, to have fresh, wholesome food. I want the freedom that comes from not having a credit card payment even though I'm sure Capital One is only looking out for my best interests, right? I want to know my carbon footprint is minimal, even though I'm living a life that is overflowing with quality.

I call this movement "Occupy My Life".

Christmas Day is now a Fiscal Quarter

I was alarmed to find the lighted tree in the Walmart foyer the other day (four days before Halloween) when I ran in for Ibuprofen. But then again, I expect that from Walmart.

I was a little discombobulated to see the lights on the tree trunks downtown two days later. But then again, it's pretty and those lights are decorative, not directly sales related right?

But what happened this morning? It was like the world woke up fueled from the fun size candy bars the night before and decided it is now THE HOLIDAYS. Starbucks started using their holiday cups. I shuffled about six unopened sales flyers into my trash folder. Holiday movies are in the TV Guide starting this week. What the heck is going on?

It's dangerous out there folks. They are hitting hard and fast and if you don't keep your head, before you know it you will finance your Christmas on yet another credit card. It's hard to remember when you're bombarded with messages of  happy-faces-glowing-with-the-spirit-of-the-season-because-they-know-they-are loved-because-someone-spent-a-bunch-of money-they-didn't-have-to-make-them-happy. I'm not joking. That's what those ad agencies are selling. Fake happiness. A manufactured sense of well being fueled by resources you don't have for things you don't need.

I'm pulling out. I'm asking that nobody buy me gifts this year. I'm going to have to tell them soon, though, because obviously it's already in full swing. If I'm on your gift list, take me out for a cup of coffee and spend time with me. Maybe throw an extra few dollars in the red pail when you pass the bell ringer.

I love Christmas. I intend to keep on loving it. I'm going to drink my hot cocoa and watch my holiday movies while I knit. I'm going to bake. I'm going to sing hoaky songs. I'm not giving any of that up. But I'm going to do it in DECEMBER. And I'm going to do mindfully so that I realize and enjoy how lucky and loved I am. I'm going to savor every single drop of the holidays and I'm going to do it without using my credit card once.

This crazy madness has got to stop. If a recession hasn't slowed us down, what will?

I'm no longer easily alarmed

Today, we minimalized the alarm clock right off the nightstand.

Part of my search for serenity has made me begin thinking outside of the conformist box. It's little things now....like using the same kind of glass for drinking wine or milk (I really don't need a stem. The wine police are not going to come for me because I drink out of small tumbler instead of a glass on a pedestal.) or not having an alarm clock next to my bed just because everyone does and that is how things are done. As I break out of the box, I'm finding a lot more freedom and breathing room.

For one thing, it was an eyesore. We try to make our bedroom our haven from the rest of the world. It's a place of rest and relaxation. The clock was not conducive to the ambiance we are going for. It was from the 80s I think...big and brown and loud. For another, waking up to a scary sound while you are slumbering peacefully is a terrible way to begin your day.

My husband naturally gets up early and I've been going that way myself. If we need an alarm, we each have cell phones with that feature. It's not necessary for me to know what time it is when I'm asleep, and if I am worried about it in the middle of the night, I can check my phone.

I've been able to arrange my life so that I don't have to be anywhere at a certain time in the morning. This is not an option for everyone. I know some of you reading this need to get up at O'dark thirty in the morning and rely on an alarm. I've been there. The more I learn about minimalism, though, the more I question the way I've allowed things I don't like to continue to have a place in my life just because they have always been there.

It was just a brown clock sitting on the nightstand, but the first time I noticed it not there, I felt like I'd just taken a deep breath. It was a thing, and inanimate object, but I'd assigned it some value in my life--and not a good one. Truthfully, a week ago I would have said I never even thought about that clock. Now that it's gone, I realize that every time I looked at it, it made me anxious in some way. Was I running behind? Did I have enough time?  Why am lying here awake? Is i too early to get up? Did I sleep too long? Should I feel guilty about that? 

Isn't that crazy? To have so much negative emotion attached to a thing? And crazier still that I didn't even know I felt that way until it was removed.

p.s. My wine tastes the same as it ever did. There may be some people more sophisticated than I am who notice a difference, but it's okay if I am not the same as they are.