Minimizing - Day 2

Dear Josh and Ryan, 

No offense, but you said we’d be doing by now. It’s now Day Two, and your rules say “Planning" ~  To me, planning means writing things down, (as in, on a list). I did my list yesterday. Already I’m confused. On your Day 2  you bought a calendar. And you wrote down step by step what you’d be doing for the next 19 days.

Well I don’t know what I’m doing. And since you didn't spell it out,  I’m going to have to improvise. For now I'm going to make sure things leave this house today and doesn't come back. I personally think your Day Two blog lacks direction, but I’m still committed.  Maybe Day 3 will be better. For today, I shall do something toward the goal, but next time, plese offer suggestions. 

Signed, 
Mini Me 

Since Day 2 of my minimizing journey lacks a North star, I improvised. I did not buy a calendar, (though I love buying calendars; I am this side of needing a sponsor when entering an Office Max, but I'm trying to limit my temptation purchasing this season). But being ever committed, I made (another) list --this one being "other places to offload stuff" ... (preferably for money). Today’s simplifying step: Selling old gold and jewelry.

 Since part of the whole minimizing thing is to get out from under all burdens (including debt), this step, likewise, affords a bit of umph toward the snowball effect as there’s nothing like a little cash to motivate you to do more closet clearing. Between those Gold-for-Cash ads and those street guys and their flippy signs, I was curious, but a little hesitant. (Turns out you could investigate these things for days on end, and you should; they’re each run quite differently. Ditto that on consignment shops. (All I can say is read the fine print!) Today I wound up ridding a junky jewelry drawer of broken necklaces and decades old memories and I have to say, it was invigorating.

 Emotional Me kept thinking "but ...aww...that reminds me of (past, past, past)" ...but Intellectual Me said "Keep clearing Evins... make room for things to come!"

Speaking of which, we now have a barn! After 4 long months we are finally finished (and not a second too soon)! The goat babies love it and it warms my heart to think that this Christmas that they too, like some little pygmy nativity scene, will gather round their own personal manger and fall asleep on the hay.

Meanwhile...This Farm Progress Report

     As my spring gardening season comes to a close (I have only sweet potatoes to pull; a task I've learned from Thurman, you do (first proper sign) before the first frost, which means it's coming)...Meanwhile, the overgrown garden outside my door is metaphor for the overgrown patterns inside my life, home and mind, stemming from books now in full swing, planned projects stepping up their pace, and of course, a barn that is slated to be done before the cold sets in (after all, we have goat babies on the way and some big headed dogs that long to romp in and out of its doors).

      And speaking of doors, the doors were this week's first signs of life (post the posts going in!)...Because we're creating them from scratch, from the same woods we'll be using for the barn's exterior (not purchasing them pre-made), my contractor and lead carpenter savored the task of hunkering down and spending a day sawing and putting the first of many creative elements together...towards the birthing of my new (old)  barn.
     A parallel to my own life, we shared how sometimes the paperwork and busy-ness of business consumes so much from an artist, that the soul longs to get past the technicalities, and throw yourself whole heartedly back into the work you set out to create in the first place. Seems the ultimate challenge for all artists I know, and even those who might not consider themselves artists, but are just that: masters of their craft, be it the accountant with a yin for numbers, that dentist with a gift for gentle, or that doctor with a touch for healing--Artists all in my book...doing that thing God put them on this planet to do. And of course, this would extend to farmers and wood workers alike.)
     With a week full of too much busy-ness and not enough "hands on" my guys were, like me, eager to recalibrate their creative energies by getting back to the tasks that brought us to the dance in the first place (in my case, cookbook layouts; in theirs, barn doors, crafted by hand).
     All in all, a good way to end a perfect week.
     May we never let the details of life override the reasons why we started a business in the first place...(Something I ponder quite often, and have discovered others who run their own shops, struggle with as well.)
     At the end of the day, it's all about creating...It's all about finding your bliss.
     (Here's to the guys whose bliss lies in crafting hand made barn doors~ Are we blessed or what?)