New Year, New You, NO THANKS!

I don't do resolutions. 

If you do - great!  How are they working out for you?  I'd love to hear how you make them work for you.

Me?  I don't think they're healthy.  I feel like people set themselves up for failure with their resolutions.  They get too specific and too ambitious.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I think it's good to be both specific AND ambitious with your goals.

But it's important to also be realistic about what you're capable of and kind to yourself in the process. 

So, a few years ago I stopped doing resolutions.  Instead, I work on a statement of purpose for the year. 

One year my statement of purpose was "Let Go Or Be Dragged."  It was a year I had a lot of stuff from my past, but recent and ancient, that was still hurting me.  I spent all year working on letting go of it, figuring out why I was holding on to it, and, keeping only what was useful.  Some of the things that were painful were useful in that they taught me important lessons, about myself and about the people in my life.

Another year I wanted to learn to be more flexible.  Last year I needed to move forward out of a place, and a job, where I had grown comfortably bored.  In a conversation I had with a coworker he said to me "You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don't Take"  And that became my guiding priciple for 2018. 

I took a lot of risks.  I took a job that was a massive pay increase and an hour long commute, and, lost it.  I took another job shortly after that which was also a massive pay increase and much closer to home.  Both jobs were in my previous profession, and were what I thought I wanted, but... turned out were not at all what I needed. 

And that's where I think people go wrong with Resolutions.  They make resolutions for things they want - not things they need.

Last year I needed a change.  I was bored, and restless, and had lost the spark of passion that sustained me through how hard my previous carreer was.  It took me most of a year to understand that I needed to be done cooking professionally.  I needed a bigger change than a new job could offer me.  So, I took a leap into the unknown.  Because you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. 

I'm still at the very start of this new shot.  So far it's scary, because there's a lot of unknowns but it's also exciting and fulfilling and deeply rewarding. 

My non-resolution for the coming year is to build.  "If You Build It, They Will Come"  I guess is the quote that most accurately encapsulates my hopes for the New Year.  I'm starting a new business, I'm working on helping people get their Poop In a Group in their lives, but, am also working on getting my own Poop in a Group - because no one has it all together, and anyone who tells you that they do is just lying right to your face.

We've been through a lot of rough changes in the past year.  Finacial ups and downs (did I mention I changed jobs multiple times?), moving houses, potty training.  Oy.  I don't know that the Chaos is at an end, but, I'm going to keep moving forward.  I'm going to keep building things up. 

My toddler likes to play with blocks - any kind of blocks, from Lego to Mega to old style wood blocks.  He loves to build towers.  But once they're built he LOVES to knock them down.  We call it the cycle of blocks.  You can't play with the blocks if they're just standing there as a monumunt to that one time you built a tower.  You need those blocks.  And that's true in life too - no matter is ever created or destroyed.  Just redistributed. 

So, in the coming year I will be picking up my blocks and building a whole new tower. 

The Good Kind of Clutter

It is the day after Christmas and my house is wrecked.

Unless you've got a live in maid staff or live in a fairy tale dream land where woodland creatures do the picking up then I'm betting that (even if you have no children) your house is wrecked too.

It's okay for your house to be wrecked right now.  I'm sitting here in my normally pulled together living room and there are toys strewn in every open space in the living room.  Toys and garbage.  No, I mean real actual garbage; there is torn and crumpled wrappign paper, destroyed boxes that toys came in, bits of plastic that tied those toys into packaging, shrink wrap (seriosuly, why is there so much shrink wrap on these toys??), cardboard and... my favorite... a plate with a half-eaten slice of toast from breakfast this morning. 

It's the day after Christmas.  Boxing Day.  The help has the day off... except I am the help.

On Christmas Eve we went to Midnight Mass, and got into bed by 2AM.  Then, yesterday, we had 10 people over for brunch.  So, in addition to the mess in the living room... there's also a stack of dishes as high as an elephant's eye (is that a prhase people use in real life?) and we did run the dishwasher yesterday.

But, today is a do-nothing kind of day in our house.  Which means that today I sit in the mess we made yesterday.  And that's ok.

Offer! 

Until January 5th, 2019 get 50% off on a 1 hour consultation! 

Email us at calmyourclutter18@gmail.com to set up an apointment!