The Best Things In Life Are Free

This picture hung in my mom and dad's house always. I honestly can't remember a time when this picture did not hang in our house.

It reads:
The Best Things in Life Are Free

When we count our many blessings; it isn't hard to see that life's most valued treasures are the treasures that are free.
For it isn't what we own or buy that signifies our wealth.
It's the special gifts that have no price: our family, friends and health.


We've all seen a version of this all over Internet. But . . . How often in our world of uber-consumerism do we think about this seriously?

It's Saturday and of course I have a lot of choices of how to spend my day. Years ago, Saturday meant some kind of shopping trip. Today, I'm trying to figure out all the things I DON'T need and all the things I have right here to not only keep me busy but make my day fun and relaxing.

This little picture hangs in my hallway. I pass it several times a day. Sometimes I notice it and sometimes I don't. For some reason, today I did notice it, hanging quietly, but loudly encouraging me to find ways to not spend money. To spend my day in useful pursuits - reading, sewing (so many projects), knitting (ditto), making some good food, take a walk (it's cold, but a short one would be ok). Any of these things I can accomplish without spending money.

I think we have been so conditioned today that we must buy buy buy - coffee at the coffee house (don't forget your scone or muffin), more food than we need from the mega grocery store, clothes, shoes, stuff and more stuff. We forget that it is possible to find things to do in our homes. That we can pick up books that we have been meaning to read. That we could finish any number of projects that we have started. That we could take a walk. That we could change up our morning routine with yoga and tea instead of coffee and something sugary. Oh and don't forget popping in a DVD (does anyone still own these things besides me) and watching a couple of your favorite movies (while completing a knitting or quilting project) It's like giving yourself a spa day - a no consuming spa day.

Today I have committed to not spending money. I don't write about this for any kind of accolades or to even say that this is something everyone (or even anyone else) should embrace, but believe it or not it is the most empowering thing to do. I am always so amazed at the end of one of these days at how satisfied I feel. I look around at completed things, I am usually amazed at whatever meal I've been able to prepare without going to the store (because we all have lots of stuff in our cupboards), and how relaxed I feel after one of these days.

Happy Saturday, everyone! Enjoy a relaxing day if you can.

HOME SWEET HOME

This week I was reminded of how important a sense of home is, and how much I have strayed from the comfort of one place that I call home.

I'm sure I've written about this before, because I think about it a lot. In 2008, when so many people were losing their homes, I joined their ranks. I was divorced and struggling to hang on to a house that was too big and too expensive for one person. My sons were all grown, two of them were married and my youngest son had just graduated from college. I didn't need the house, but something made me hang on till the bitter end. What happened next has been a little hard to stop. 

I started running. Metaphorically. I moved from one apartment to the next over the next ten years, sometimes only staying a few months (oh yes, I've learned quite a bit about leases and dealing with unhappy landlords). I moved a total of 20 times. It seems unbelievable to write it, but it's true. 

About two years ago on my 60th birthday, I moved into a lovely little cottage in a quite neighborhood that reminds me of the house I was living in, when I first was married, when my boys were young. It is a yellow house (my dad's favorite color) and it's situated on a street that is a semi-circle with exits at both ends of the circle. It has its flaws, like any old house, but I love it.

I've been here for two years, and this week something terrible almost happened - I almost moved again. What the hell! I was preparing to leave behind my garage (what a blessing in bad weather to be able to walk just a few steps into a dry space to load and unload my car), and my laundry room (for five years I lived without a laundry in my apartment - what was I thinking?)

I wasn't thinking. I was running.  

I've been doing a lot of meditating on my blessings and learning to remain calm and stay put. I've been meditating on the joys of knowing what is in every corner, every closet, and not having unpacked boxes. I've been meditating on my garden and making this place work for me. And. Because I spoke up about the things that were making it hard for me to stay here (the giant yard and mowing and caring for it) my landlord stepped up and offered to help.

I've stopped running. I'm staying put. I'm going to embrace stability. I'm going to let go of the pain of losing my house - finally. 

This is my home sweet home. 

Oh . . . and I'm back here on Blogger - a more simple place for me to put down my thoughts.