Living Gently With Good Books

From Sammie:

Living Gently With Good Books

            My granddaughter, Dani, age 8-almost-9, thinks the Friends of the Library Bookstore in our town is a fabulous treasure. I agree. It’s usually a must on our itinerary when she visits me. Many libraries have similar used bookstores where “friends” donate books and the proceeds go to purchase extras for the library.

            So last weekend, we eagerly made our way to the store to see what delicious and wonderful adventures in reading we’d find.

            “How many books can I get?” Dani asked.

            “Well, just start your stack and I’ll tell you when to stop,” I teased. After all, at 50 cents a book, how much harm could we do? I left her in the children’s section to go search out my own finds.

            Dani began her search. Our Friends store is extremely well organized, but, of course, it is not like a chain bookstore. The children’s books are categorized, but they are not necessarily in alphabetical order by author. The just makes the hunt more tantalizing!

            Dani’s stack grew quickly. “Well, I think I’m through,” she said as I returned. Looked like she had about 20 books. What better way could I spend $10? I offered to carry some for her, but she proudly refused. Scooping them up in her arms, we made our way from the children’s section in the back of the store to the checkout desk in the front.

            As we walked, several adults remarked: “Wow! That’s a lot of books!” or “You must be a great reader!” Dani loved all that attention, of course, and to every person who commented, she said, “I looooove books!” or “Reading is my very favorite thing to do!”

            Sure enough, when we got home, she buried her nose in her stack of books and reveled in her purchases for a couple of hours before she got hungry and wanted supper.

            I’ve noticed that most people who want to live simply also treasure books. This opinion is not based on scientific study, but what better way to spend some gentle moments than with a good book?

            Of course, as frugal, simple folks, we want to make the most of our literary dollars. How can we do that?

            *Borrow from the library; and don’t forget your church library;

            *Explore stores like our Friends store; paperbacks are $1, hardbacks $2;

            *Garage sales;

            *Estate sales;

            *Used bookstores;

            *Library discards. Call your library and see what they do with discards.

            *Put out a Facebook or email request to see if any friends have books to lend or give;

            *If you have an e-reader, there are TONS of free books and low-cost books available;

            *Shop the bargain counters of large chain bookstores;

            *If you live in a small town or rural area and these options are not available, make use of the next trip to a larger city by doing a little research to find out where you can find book bargains.

            Don’t let a tight budget keep you from reading!

 

 

DO JUST ONE THING

From Sammie

 

DO JUST ONE THING

            Or as we say in my part of the South – dew jest one thaaannnnnnggggg.

            Moving to a gentle life – simplifying – may be, well, not so simple. It can be downright overwhelming. How many years of life and possessions can you deal with immediately? How many decisions about what’s important and what isn’t can you make and not have a screeching headache?

            Well, the answer is simple. Do just one thing.

            Most of us begin simplifying by dealing with possessions. You may have lived in the same house for years. If so, there are things stuffed in every nook and cranny, right? And maybe there are boxes in the attic – or even worse, still at your parents’ house!

            Start with one part of one room. If you’re not brave enough to face the clothes closet yet, start with a nightstand or dresser. One drawer at a time. Make decisions. Did you even know what was lurking there? Broken stuff, outdated accessories or jewelry, ragged and useless somethings? Momentos that seemed important at the time you attended that concert but now can barely remember – and really don’t care that you don’t remember.

            Each item goes in the trash, the recycle container to donate to the thrift shop, or in a pile to be returned to the drawer – maybe. Keep going, though. You’ve done one drawer; you can do another.

            Can you go through just one thing every day? No? Well, then, set a specific day and do it once a week. I’ll bet my fabric grocery shopping sacks that in no time you’ll love the experience of paring down so much that you’ll be thinking ahead and planning what else can go.

            And that new feeling you’re experiencing? It’s lightness. Unburdensomeness. Less responsibility for keeping, maintaining, and knowing where the dadgum stuff is! And perhaps someone else is enjoying and benefitting from your gifts to the thrift shop. Or if you want to pad the grocery budget this week, take out a free ad, price the stuff to sell, and make a little scratch.

            So you can move on to the next room, and the next. And the neat way what’s left can be folded and placed in the drawer without scrunching to actually close the drawer is a real victory. The feeling of accomplishment is enough to make you blush!

            Tiny steps. Small accomplishments. You’re on your way to gentle living!

 

How Many Tee-shirts Does One Woman Need?

From Sammie:

 How Many Tee-Shirts Does One Woman Need?

Reading the book “7” by Jen Hatmaker was another wake-up call for me as far as possessions are concerned.

I’ve been living simply for many years. I truly reuse, reduce, and recycle anytime I can. I’m quite an avid recycler with stacked bins in my garage for dividing recyclables. I buy from thrift shops, especially for garden projects.

I try not to be a consumer. Don’t buy many clothes and those frequently come from thrift or consignment shops. I repurpose when I can, being the non-creative and non-mechanical person I am. (Now, good friends are snickering as they ask, “And what about those books you bring home by the armload?” I’ll have you know, books are off-limits! Everyone has something that doesn’t count, and in my case, it’s books! SSSSHHHH!)

But Hatmaker takes living simply to a new level. For seven months, she determines to concentrate on one area of her life and reduce what she uses/consumes to 7 specific articles. For instance, on the month she focuses on food, she decides on 7 foods she will eat for the month. On the month she focuses on clothes, she designates 7 pieces of clothing that she will wear for the month. She continues the next months with possessions, media, waste, spending, and stress.

Hatmaker definitely brings up some challenges to our consumer culture. Could we live with seven articles of clothing for a month? (That’s not counting, if I remember correctly, underwear and socks.)

I spend very little on clothes and I know all my friends wish I would go shopping a little more. I have 3-4 things to wear to church each season. Then I have casual pants (usually a pair of black pants, a pair of khakis, and a pair of jeans to be matched with casual knit shirts or tee-shirts for everyday going to the grocery, a meeting, etc. I also have my home scrunge that I wouldn’t wear to the grocery or a meeting, but those pieces are comfy and loose and me. THEN I have two gardening outfits. These are the ones I wear to crawl around inside the flower beds, tote pine straw, water the plants (and me, too), scratch weeds out of the compacted Alabama red clay, etc. etc.  These clothes go straight to the washing machine when I peel them off at the end of the day.

BUT…… I have to admit this: I have other clothes in my closet. Most of them fit. Most of them look just fine. Most of them are in colors I think are complimentary. But most of them have hung there for several – well some for many – years. I mean to wear them. No real reason I never wear them. But I don’t. After all, how many cutesy tee-shirts do you really need? I don’t get around to most of them. And some of these clothes are just on the edge of looking weary. Not really slapdab worn out, but not looking fine, either. So I hang onto them . . . but I don’t wear them.

So my goal this next week is to make the hard decisions. I admired Jen Hatmaker for getting down to 7 pieces of clothing, but I don’t think I’ll do that. I’m not even much a clothes person. Simple really does it for me. But only 7?

The thing is, someone else could use and appreciate these pieces that I just overlook. Someone else might make that cute denim blouse her favorite. Or someone else might have the perfect earrings for that pink sweater that I keep pushing aside.

So that’s my goal this week. Not to reduce to 7 pieces, but to focus on what I do/will wear and share the rest with the folks at the community clothes closet a few miles from my house.

HHHmmmmmmm……. Maybe food next? I’ll have to think about that one.

LVSLOW

From Sammie:


LVSLOW

That's my kind of person -- the one with the license plate that reads, "LVSLOW"! One of my main goals is to learn to live slow (slowly?) -- or perhaps gently -- or more simply.

I sped up to see what kind of person actually pays to have this enticing slogan on his/her license plate. But, wouldn't you know, I couldn't go fast enough to get a glimpse of the driver!

I say I want to live more slowly, but instead I:

* Drive 80 mph in a 70 mph zone;
* Glare at my watch every 10 seconds that the speaker takes more than her allotted 30 minutes;
* Tap my foot impatiently to let everyone in the checkout line know just how perturbed I am by waiting;
* Remember the many mornings my most gentle words to my children were: "Hurry uppppppp! We're late!"
* Don't allow enough time to get to a meeting, which means I arrive out of breath and frantic;
* Fail to plan meals, so I, of course, eat fast food;
* Make an impossible to-do list, setting myself up to fail -- or do a scrubby job on those tasks I do complete;
* Have great intentions for all the cards I'll send, meals I'll prepare for others, visits I'll make, but I'm too busy and too tired to make all that happen.

So, now and then I have to say it -- "Slow down; breathe; smell the roses; live in the moment....."

But, later. Maybe tomorrow. Right now I have to be somewhere -- fast!

By Lucretia

Restructuring our Time

Most people I know struggle with finding time to get everything on their to-do lists done. They run from daylight to long after dark trying to achieve the pleasure of finishing the list. Except that rarely do they accomplish it all.  We’re left with exhaustion, stress, anxiety, frustration, and a sense of guilt that we don’t quite measure up.

In many seasons of my life, especially when the girls were young, this was my story too. Even now that I’m way past the season of active parenting, I can still find myself packing too much into the day and come to the end with not one ounce of energy left for those I love most.

Randy Frazee wrote a very interesting book in 2003, Making Room for Life: Trading Chaotic Lifestyles for Connected Relationships.  In it he encourages his readers to commit to live by the Hebrew Day Planner.  “The pattern of the Hebrew day was taken from creation. After describing the day’s creative work the author of Genesis concluded the section with these words, ‘and there was evening and there was morning - the first (second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth) day.’”

The ancients lived in an agrarian society when work was done in the daylight hours. Work was done from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Six in the evening signaled that it was time for relationships; a good dinner prepared for and eaten with family and neighbors. Then sleep - aah that elusive element many of us are so deprived of. 

Restructuring our time by the Hebrew Day Planner is just one way Bill and I are living more gently with ourselves.  It is helping us live at a more human pace and make room for work, relationships, and sleep. We enjoy preparing dinner together and eating at a more leisurely pace. Many times we have friends over to share dinner and conversation.

Walking together in our neighborhood or taking our books out on the porch is another way we purpose not to “work” into the night. Spending time on the porch or in the neighborhood in the evenings gives us a chance to meet and talk with our neighbors. Something we rarely did when our evenings were consumed with chores and work brought home from the office.

And, yes, we do get to bed earlier than we used to, and that’s a very good thing. When I sleep 8 hours I wake feeling rested and ready for a new day. I can tackle those tasks left undone from the day before with a fresh and more alert mind. It's a win/win situation.

What about you? How are you restructuring time to create sacred space for God, family, friends, and rest?

An Old Message -- Or Is It?

From Sammie:

An Old Message -- Or Is It?

One of my favorite teachings on simplicity from the Bible is the book of Haggai.

Haggai is not a portion of Scripture that we read frequently, but let me refresh your memory on this story. The Jews had been in exile in Babylon for 70 years and were permitted to return to Jerusalem. Some were used to their life of captivity and chose to stay where they were, but some did return home. When they first arrived in Jerusalem, they were enthusiastic about rebuilding the temple, so they built for themselves only minimal housing. Simple lean-tos, nothing fancy, so they could get on to the job of rebuilding the temple, which had been destroyed.

The Samaritans, however, objected to the rebuilding of the temple and they quickly persuaded Cyrus, the ruler, to forbid the Jews from working on the temple. For the next 16 years, no work was done.

In the meantime, the Jews concentrated on building their own homes. I don't know where their wealth came from, but they built magnificent houses from stone and the richest wood. They were eaten up with materialism. Maybe it was because they had suffered in Babylon and now that they were free, they couldn't get enough of showing off and having more and more stuff.

Darius became king and he lifted the ban forbidding work on the temple, but, guess what? The people were so wrapped up in their own over-consumption and extravagant lifestyles that they weren't interested in working on the temple anymore.

This is when God sent the prophet Haggai to speak to His people. "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." (Haggai 1:5-6).

This passage was written more than 2500 years ago, and yet it describes us today.

We plant much and harvest little;
We eat and drink but are not filled;
We earn money and don't know where it goes.

This is true, in part, because we have complicated our lives to the extent that we don't know what is important, or we choose to ignore what is important, in the eyes of God.

Having wealth or having nice things is not the problem. The problem comes when our things or our lifestyles steal our relationship with God. If my possessions demand so much time that I neglect time to study Scripture or to pray, then I will "harvest little." If I work hard to earn money, but I have no peace, then I have worked for nothing.

Perhaps the Prophet Haggai is banging on my door, too. What about you?

Repurposing

From Lucretia

What’s old is new again. . .we are discovering the art of repurposing in our quest for simple and gentle living. Repurposing changes our world on many levels. It unleashes our creativity and provides us with unique items we can gift to others or enjoy ourselves. Repurposing keeps things out of the landfills while giving us a sense of sustainability.

My mother and grandmother were masters of repurposing. They lived up to the ideal of making do with what you have. Jelly jars for drinking were common in our home. Pickle jars became lightening bug catchers and coffee and tea tins were repurposed to contain buttons, clothes pins, and a host of other small items.

My sweet daughter, Lenore has a great eye for repurposing all kinds of things. She has her father’s gift for working with her hands and his patience to carry out very detailed projects. Her latest repurposing effort was to convert an old wooden window she found in her garage into a gift for me. 

We filled the window with photos from our family Christmas trip and a few other happy moments from 2012. Seeing it as I pass through the living room makes me smile because I see a happy family at play and life skills passed to the next generation.

What are you repurposing?