Category: Awesome Finds!

Mixel is MindFULL

If you had a clean canvas of time in front of you and were looking for creative inspiration, where would you go? This is what I reflected on as I closed my eyes in the sun at the base of Copper Mountain last weekend.

In addition to some small house ideas that I’d like to get done (and I find lots of inspiration on www.houzz.com) and some pending work projects to keep me sharp and productive (of those I can reveal, one of the best retailers, www.basspro.com, continues to care about what their customers think), I now have some personal creative time for the first time in a long time.

One of my intentions for this year is to MindFULLY infuse my blog and to really get back on finding and sharing some creative resources with all of you. We share what we need to learn.

Love that as soon as I decided this, my very creative friend and author, Rena Tobey (author of The Integrity Moment), emailed about the following app.

The app is called Mixel. The article in the New York Times says it is  “aimed at amateurs…allows users to grab images from the web or elsewhere, collage them almost effortlessly and then pass them around, social media style, for appreciation or re-mixing.” Looks fun! Check out the article at  http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/mixel-makes-art-social/

Let’s make 2012 one of our most MindFULLY Creative years. Please share what you find — and any creative ideas that infuse your days. You can email me at robin@themindfullcreative.com. We’ll take your recipes, decorating tips, books/music/movies you recommend, life lessons, MindFULL moments. Over 100 people read the MindFULL Creative every Monday. It’s not a lot, but if everyone sends in one idea, then we will surely share a year of unbridled creative spirit.

The more we share, the more we will have to draw on when the weeks are long and the days are short. The holidays are over, but the spirit can live on.

 

How do you MindFULLY learn about new creative sites and resources? Let us know!

We All Make Misstakes

“We all know we are powerfully influenced by first impressions – rightly or wrongly. For instance, have you ever taken a test, picked an answer, then thought about changing it – but didn’t? …More than 70 years of research on answer changing shows that most answer changes are from wrong to right, and that most people who change their answers on a test improve their score.”

Such was one of many interesting ditties that caught my eye in a terrific book I just finished, Why We Make Mistakes: HOW WE LOOK WITHOUT SEEING, FORGET THINGS IN SECONDS, AND ARE ALL PRETTY SURE WE ARE WAY ABOVE AVERAGE by Joseph T. Hallinan.

As quoted from the back of the book: “We forget our passwords. We pay too much to go the gym. We think we’d be happier if we lived in California (we wouldn’t) and that we should stick with our first answers on tests (we shouldn’t). Why do we make mistakes? And could we do a little better?”

The cover goes on…”In exploring the reasons behind human error – our eyes play tricks on us and our stories change in the retelling – journalist Joseph T. Hallinan uses real-life stories to illuminate findings from such diverse fields as neuroscience, economics and football. He finds that we are all biased in the way we perceive, not only ourselves, but the world around us… This book not only offers valuable advice, such as how to remember where you’ve hidden something important for safekeeping, but also explains why multitasking is a bad idea, why men make errors women don’t, and why most people think San Diego is west of Reno (it’s not).”

I loved it. Not because I think I make a lot of mistakes (and the author explains why I think I this) but because so many of the little observations and details in life can be found in the understanding – and that makes my MindFULL Monday really Mind FULL.

It was a fast read and a delightful illumination of the reasons behind my mistakes. It helped me to clean up my passwords, trust my gut more often and think about asking my daughter to proofread my work (kids are more likely to catch your errors than other adults).

I highly recommend it. Now, where did I put my keys?

 

What have you MindFULLY read and learned recently? Let us know!

 

 

Shhh…

My daughter has a homework assignment that befuddles me. So, what’s new? I could hardly pass school given the work I see her complete and the load she juggles. I don’t remember having so much to do – or having learned as much as she does.

She is currently studying water. There is more to the story than that, but beyond turning it off when I am washing dishes to conserve it, that is all I really know. I do think about it and understand that water is Political Power, but on a topic much deeper, I plead daily ignorance.

That’s why when we headed to the library to get some “print sources” for her research, I wasn’t as helpful as I would have liked to have been. Picking up one of the books, I couldn’t even pronounce the word “hydrostratigraphy”. Not only did it roll off her tongue, she knew what it meant.

Whether it’s what she studies or how she studies, it is new to me.

But what was familiar and still awe-inspiring, was the library. The downtown branch of Denver Public Library is now blocks away from our new home.

What a gem. Designed by architect Michael Graves, the library is adjacent to the Denver Art Museum.  It is truly a work of art.

When she suggested we head to the downtown branch instead of the small branch in the heart of a neighborhood close by, all I could think of was where to park. But as we got closer, street parking was open and we slid right in. Walking a block or two, the building loomed ahead. I felt a rush of excitement.

Once inside, I breathed in quiet. Then I breathed out gratitude; For the books, music, videos, resources, reference librarians, beautiful chairs, bright light and worlds beyond ours that required no more than a card. All free. It’s amazing to think about. And even greater to experience.

I haven’t been to the library in a long time. Now I can’t wait to go back. I guess I am learning something new. My lesson is how to appreciate something right in my own back yard.

Now, that is a lesson I hope to always remember.

When was the last time you went to the library and what did you MindFULLY learn? Let us know!

 

Mother Knows Best

This is a picture of Chloe. Chloe sits in a chair in my mom’s living room – I am often startled by her when I come around the corner. I forget she is there and yet when I remember, I smile. She is an over sized stuffed doll, book in lap and glasses perched high on her nose. I think she has a Spirit.

I was visiting my mom this weekend and spent a lot of time around Chloe. Mom and I sat in the living room, playing with the new iPad I bought her.  It was as if Chloe was learning along with mom – she sat and listened intently to every detail.

It was a gift to be able to give my mom something so modern and to teach her how to use it, so that the distance between us could more easily be bridged. I miss being around her. She is really a smart and funny woman. Kind, generous and always spouting something political that makes my eyes roll, we teach each other.

My mom has always had a lot to say and has usually been ahead of her time. As a kid, she led a crusade to have all the junk food removed from the cafeteria in my elementary school and fed us Tigers Milk bars instead of candy.  She shopped in the natural foods store when it really was a natural foods store and not a Whole Foods store. She wanted to create a curriculum called Life 101 to teach kids the details of living life with money. Now they are every where. As a kid I was embarrassed. As an adult, I am eager to hear what she has to teach.

So this trip, when she told me I could rinse my hair with leftover coffee to tone out the gray, I laughed as usual, but listened. I actually asked for other tips. Then, I wondered if that was what Chloe had in the book in her lap: Tips from Mom.

Wherever they come from, there are some good ones. In the spirit of  Chloe and E (my mom), I pass them along. You can laugh. I do. But give em try and then remember, sometimes mother really does know best.

Coffee Rinse: Take a cup of coffee that’s left over and cool it down. After you shower, go to the sink, bend over and carefully pour the coffee through your hair. Use an old towel to blot it dry (as it will stain). As mom says, “it doesn’t cover it, but it tones it down.”

Coffee Scrub: Mush a few coffee grounds in with your soap and gently scrub your face. It will draw out impurities and bring out a little color in your cheeks. Rinse with cool water.

Lemon Scrub:

1 tsp Honey

1 tsp Lemon Juice

1 TBL Almonds ground or chopped up oatmeal

Zest of a lemon

A little Olive Oil

Mix it up and use as an exfoliate. Rinse with warm water and pat dry.

Lemon Nail Brightener: Soak in lemon juice for 5 minutes. Rinse in warm water

What natural tips did your mom MindFULLY share? Let us know!

Back In Focus

I love MindFULL Mondays. They encourage me to reflect on what fills me up, especially when I can slip into focusing on what drains me down.

Today’s reflection reminds me that I am one lucky person. I have had the good fortune of crossing paths with some incredible people. People who inspire me. People who leave me feeling the better for knowing them. People who leave a colorful mark on my Spirit.

Its important to remember this when I know better and still waste precious time perseverating on something silly, like let’s say…people who can’t return an email in a timely manner or without the words (every time) “sorry it has taken so long, but…” Or…or…or…

How do we change our focus? Change our lens!

And how do we do that? One way is simply in recognizing the g-dwink moments that show up to remind you that they are here.

I had one of those moments last month. Actually, it was my birthday and I was thinking of all of the things I wanted this year to be about. One was to re-learn how to use my camera. Two years ago, I received a beautiful camera from my family. It was meant to replace the two fabulous cameras I had received from one of THE creative muses in my life, K. James Kropp.

“Jim”, as he was known in my younger days, was a Creative Director in my first agency. Friendly, willing to teach, open to possibility and breathtakingly creative, Jim blessed me with his friendship as I moped over to the Account side and really longed to be on the Creative. When we both left the agency, we stayed friends and for years, talked and inspired each other. When I graduated from The Ed School at Harvard, Jim came to Cambridge and gifted me with his two old Canon cameras. One for B&W and one for Color. We walked the city (OK,  I walked and he rollerbladed) and he taught me how to use the cameras. Months later, when I was visiting him in Chicago, with my new eyes I took a series of city shots that rest on my mantel, today.

So, as I thought about learning how to use my (sorta) new camera this year, I sent a hello to my old friend. Of course, as creative sparks often happen with Jim, he told me in his return note about his new book, “Capturing Beauty with Your Camera – 10 Tips To Taking Better Photographs” (www.capturingbeautybooks.com) and sent me a copy as a birthday present. It is delightful. In 10 easy tips, Jim teaches you how to look through a new lense, using the scenery of his cruise on Le Ponant to Sicily and Italy in October, 2009. He fills the pages with pictures and a few simple points that bring clarity and insight to the reader and doer.

I don’t know which has had more of an impact. The fact this man and his book showed up (again) when I was longing for a teacher or the fact that this man and his book showed up when I was longing (again) to change my focus.

It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that they did and so did I. I think you will, too. Even if you aren’t into photography, go online and check out his website, www.capturingbeautybooks.com. Allow him to transport you to far away places. And just maybe, when you return, you too will have a new focus on the moments that matter. And you can delete those that don’t.

 

How do you  MindFULLY change your focus? Let us know!

 

MindFULLY Reading

It’s Labor Day. A funny name, for I think few labor on this day. Nonetheless, it marks the end of summer and beginning of Fall. And the beginning of Fall marks a soon to be Winter.

Having spent the last year in the pursuit of all things outside of myself, I am ready to turn my attention back to my mind. Some days I feel like I am losing it. I think one of the best ways to keep it sharp  is to pick up a good book. Colette would say it is by playing Words With Friends and learning all the two letter words she claims are real, but that is a post for other time. This Fall and Winter, I have committed to reading one Classic per season. However, there are so many. Where to begin? Pondering this notion over our usual glass of wine one evening, Erica shared a Classic Reading List from a friend of hers. I am sure there are many “must-read Classic Reading Lists” out there. But, in the spirit of “pick one and get reading”, I am using this one. I am starting with #26. It has always been on my list.

Maybe something on this list will strike your fancy. On this day of supposed ease, maybe there is an hour embedded for you to put your feet and get started. No matter your choice, may you find inspiration, stimulation and satisfaction. And may the Winter months pass easily with each page turned.

  1. Crime and Punishment – Dostoyevksy
  2. Brother’s Karamazov – Dostoyevsky
  3. Ulysses – Joyce
  4. Native Son – Richard Wright
  5. Passage to India  – E.M. Forester
  6. Of Human Bondage – Maugham
  7. Henderson the Rain God – Bellow
  8. 1984 – Orwell
  9. Animal Farm – George Orwell
  10. The Great Gatsby – Fitzgerald
  11.  Lord of the Flies – Golding
  12.  Lolita – Nabakov
  13.  The Sound and the Fury – Faulkner
  14.  Light in August – Faulkner
  15.  To the Lighthouse – Virginia Wolf
  16.  Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce
  17.  Invisible Man  – Ralph Ellison
  18.  Pride and Prejudice – Austen
  19.  The Catcher in the Rye – Salinger
  20.  To Kill a Mockingbird –  Harper Lee
  21.  One Hundred Years of Solitude – Marquez
  22.   The Grapes of Wrath – Steinbeck
  23.   East of Eden – Steinbeck
  24.  Brave New World – Huxley
  25.  Madame Bovary -Flaubert
  26.  Anna Karenina – Tolstoy
  27.  Slaughterhouse Five – Vonnegut
  28.  In Cold Blood – Capote
  29. The Sun Also Rises – Hemingway
  30.  Sons and Lovers – Lawrence
  31.  The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – McCullers
  32.  Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
  33.  An American Tragedy – Dreiser
  34.  Remembrance of Things Past – Proust
  35.  All the Pretty Horses – McCarthy
  36.   Dune – Herbert
  37.   Stranger in a Strange Land – Heinlein
  38.  Death Comes for the Archbishop – Cather
  39.  My Antonia – Cather
  40.  The Moviegoer – Percy
  41.  Ender’s Game – Card
  42.  The Alexandria Quartet – Durrell
  43.  Angle of Repose – Stegner
  44.  A Room with a View – Forster
  45.  Sun Also Rises  – Hemingway
  46.  The French Lieutenant’s Woman – Fowles
  47.  Native Son – Wright
  48.  Brideshead Revisted – Waugh
  49.  I, Claudius – Graves
  50.  White Noise – Delillo
  51.  Beloved – Morrison
  52.  The Remains of the Day – Ishiguro
  53.  So Long, See You Tomorrow – Maxwell
  54.  The Day of the Locust – West
  55. The Bell Jar – Plath
  56.  Babbitt – Lewis
  57.  Howard’s End – Forster
  58.   One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Kesey
  59.   The Color Purple – Walker
  60.  Of Mice and Men – Steinbeck
  61.   A Farewell to Arms – Hemingway
  62.   On the Road – Kerouac
  63.   The Call of the Wild – London
  64.   All the King’s Men – Warren
  65.   The Jungle – Sinclair
  66.   The Age of Innocence – Wharton
  67.   A Clockwork Orange – Burgess
  68.   A Good Man is hard to Find – O’Connor
  69.   Cat’s Cradle – Vonnegut
  70.   Look Homeward Angel – Wolfe
  71.  This Side of Paradise – Fitzgerald
  72.   Middlemarch – Eliot
  73.   Gone with the Wind
  74.  Catch 22 – Heller
  75.  The Lord of the Rings – Tolkien
  76.  A Clockwork Orange – Burgess
  77.   For Whom the Bell Tolls – Hemingway
  78.   Frankenstein – Shelley
  79.  The Big Sleep – Chandler
  80.  Go Tell it on the Mountain – Baldwin
  81.  Heart of Darkness – Conrad
  82.   Night – Wiesel
  83.   Rabbit Run – Updike
  84.   The Day of the Locust – West
  85.   Goodbye to all that – Graves
  86.   Pride and Prejudice – Austen
  87.  Jane Eyre – Bronte
  88. Wuthering Heights – Bronte
  89. The Stranger – Camus
  90. A Tale of Two Cities – Dickens
  91. A Mill on the Floss – Elliott
  92. The Good Soldier – Ford
  93. Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Hardy
  94. The Scarlett Letter – Hawthorne
  95. The Iliad  – Homer
  96. The Odyssey – Homer
  97. Their Eyes were Watching God – Hurston
  98. Brave New World – Huxley
  99. The Metamorphosis – Kafka
  100. The Woman Warrior – Kingston
  101. Magic Mountain – Mann
  102. Moby Dick – Melville
  103. All Quiet on the Western Front – Remarque
  104. The Crying of Lot 49 – Pynchon
  105. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich – Solzhenitsyn
  106. War and Peace – Tolstoy
  107. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Twain
  108. Candide – Voltaire
  109. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Wilde
  110. Charlotte’s Web – White
  111. The Old Man and the Sea – Hemingway
  112. Schindler’s List – Kenealy
  113. Mrs. Dalloway – Woolf
  114. Jazz – Morrison
  115. Cat’s Cradle – Vonnegut
  116. The Wings of the Dove – James
  117. A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Adam
  118. Naked Lunch – Burroughs
  119. The War of the Words – Wells
  120. The Naked and the Dead – Mailer
  121. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas – Stein
  122. The Wind in the Willows – Grahame
  123. Dead Souls – Gogol
  124. Great Expectations – Dickens
  125. Cry the Beloved Country – Paton
  126. The Man and His Servant – Tolstoy
  127. The Lover – Duras
  128. Ethan Frome – Wharton

 

 What will you MindFULLY choose to read this season? Let us know!

Circle of Life (chocolate cake)

Today was a Circle of Life Day.

I started the morning with a baby naming celebration for twins, born 1 month early, then spent the afternoon at a Memorial Service for Addie’s teacher, Frank, and ended the evening with dinner in the backyard with our cousins from Idaho.

I get it. You’re born. You die. And in-between, you try and spend as much time as you can with people you enjoy.

In honor of this magnificent day,  I baked what I now call my Circle of Life Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake. When folks have babies, I bake one for the family. When I pay a Shiva call (the Jewish ritual for condolence calls), I bring the cake. It’s my dear friend Jill’s recipe. I’ve adopted it and adapted it. I barely follow the instructions anymore. I use what I have in the house (No sour cream? Use plain yogurt. No oil? Butter will do just fine.)

After dinner, we cut large slices and enjoyed every bite. It was our metaphor for taking big bites out of life. That seemed to be the lesson of the day. Whether one is celebrating the beginning journey of life or mourning its’ ending, starting a new chapter as empty nesters or figuring out a next chapter, all we can do is eat up every moment and savor the flavor.

At Frank’s service, they played a photo slide show.  The Vaughan Brothers song – Tick Tock – was the soundtrack. I loved it. I found it on YouTube for you. Perhaps you’d like to bake the Circle of Life cake for your family and friends; pop on this song while you stir the batter. May it become about more than baking a cake. Maybe it become about enjoying a slice of life.

The Vaughan Brothers song – Tick Tock            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLs5REzFvOY&feature=related

 

Circle of Life Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1 package of instant chocolate pudding

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 package of Fudge cake mix

6 oz.  chocolate chips

¾ cup of water

½ sour cream

4 eggs

Mix everything together, fold in chips, pour into greased bundt pan and bake at 350F for 40 minutes. If you really want to impress em’ , mash up any kind of berry, drizzle on plate and over cake.  Easy and DELICIOUS!

How do you MindFULLY celebrate  the Circle of Life? Let us know!

ReCharging

A while ago, my dear friend Erica, shared a website with me – greatwomenseries.com.  The site, created by someone she knows, is billed as  “Uncommon words of wisdom from bestselling authors, artists, athletes, scientists, survivors, healers, and shining spirits.” Heck, who couldn’t use a little wisdom now and then?

The first interview I read was with Beth Hoffman. Not only did I enjoy the interview, but absolutely loved reading the comments other women posted in response. I resonated with much of what they wrote and found the promised wisdom.

For me, the wisdom came from one woman who compared herself to a character in Beth’s book, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. She talked about being a “Loner” vs an “Aloner”. An “Aloner” is a person who gives so deeply that requires much time to regroup and recharge. Finally, a way to understand my own need to spend time by myself without feeling like something is wrong with me! It was like seeing a part of myself that had been out of focus.

I love to be in the world, but over the last 6 months I have had alot of world and not alot of down time. And that is not a good combo for my Spirit. So,  last week, when I put my daughter on the plane for a long weekend in Florida, I headed straight for the 2pm matinee. One of my favorite “down times” is taking myself  to an afternoon movie.  I saw Larry Crown. I didn’t like it and found it an indulgent vehicle for Tom Hanks to set himself up to make out with Julia Roberts. But, I loved sitting in the dark for 2 hours, transported from a world of “must-do”, to a world of “can-do when I want.”

I share the site with you in the hopes that you, too, will find a little wisdom for the day. Maybe there is an interview or a book or a comment that will help you find a piece of yourself. Maybe a piece of  someone you love. Either way, may you simply find a piece of peace. Afterall, isn’t that worth re-charging for?

How do you MindFULLY recharge? Let us know!  

Slow Down

Ever get going really fast and an easy voice inside says, “slow down”? Sometimes I am going so fast that all I can hear is the harder voice that says, “come on…check one more thing off your list.”

Always looking for little things I can do throughout the day, when I travel and when I am up at 2am perseverating over life’s details, I seek simple ways to help me relax. I keep little reminders on the shelf above my computer desk. I have also literally written the words SLOW DOWN on a piece of paper and taped them to the mirror over my bathroom sink. Its not that I am wound up, but I do have a tendency to do a lot of things at the same time or go into “line em up and knock em down” mode as my friend, Ellen, says. I am very productive, but sometimes I can get going too fast and then I crash and burn.

A few weeks I came across the Healthy Living Lounge.  http://www.thehealthylivinglounge.com/  I thought it sounded intriguing and was delighted to find some really helpful articles and tips. Below is one of them. So simple. And yet, so powerful.

 Stop holding your breath!

When you start paying more attention to your breath you may find that you hold your breath more often than you realize. Simply being aware is the perfect first step towards  slowing down your mind and heart rate. It gives you a chance to think clearly and to answer/speak/act from a more thoughtful space.

Slow down… Check it out…

How do you slow down and MindFULLY create a space to think from? Let us know!

The Not So Big House

“Oh my gosh, WHY DID YOU MOVE – you had such a big, beautiful house!” asked an acquaintance in the parking lot of the grocery store last week.  Good question, I thought. It was not such a good week – I was coming to terms with a new move in date, I was overwhelmed with details in several parts of my life and my stamina was waning.

To boot, I had driven by our old house on Monday, and say what I will about it, it had great curb appeal. Our new house will, too. It’s just that we are in full swing, re-model mode and it is hard to see the garden through the weeds.

In spite of my mood, I know we have done the right thing. Years ago, I read the Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live by Sarah Susanka.  TNSBH changes the way people think about the American home…and gives homeowners the language to ask for what they want: a house that values quality over quantity and that emphasizes comfort, beauty and a high level of detail. It really impacted my perspective on how we were living in our house and how I was living in my life (She also wrote The Not So Big Life).

Sarah describes how people have huge houses and barely use their space. We had 3,200 sq ft and two major rooms sat empty – the back study and the front dining room. The front dining room was the only room that got direct sun light (which I crave) as did my study – where I spent the majority of my time. During our 10 years there, we used the rooms in different ways, but in the last few years, things changed and we couldn’t quite get it up to comfort, despite my constant efforts.

Sarah writes of using one’s “formal” living room for entertaining “guests”. When you are first getting to know people, you sit there. If you like them, where does everyone go? The family room or the kitchen. If you don’t, you stay in the “formal” living room. So, in essence, you have now spent a lot of money on a room for people you don’t even like! What if you reframed that all guests were welcomed (that is why they are there in the first place) and you had one room that everyone gathered in – a warm room that was just the right size, used often and was near the kitchen. One friend put a ping pong table in her “formal living room” and turned it into a game room – we sit in the family room, attached to her kitchen or on the patio, amidst an amazing urban oasis.

I liked that idea. There are only 3 of us. And I wanted rooms with sunlight, cozy but big enough to sit with friends and a small back yard that enveloped us with trees and birds. I’m not a yard work person. And while our old house looked great from the front, the back of the house required a lot of work and over looked a parking lot. I hated it. Lucky for me, my husband concurred.

According to David Sanders, my Kabbalah teacher (www.kabbalhexpereince.com), a house isn’t really just a house. It’s a metaphor. It can look good outside, but not be good inside. Or it can put on a good front (curb appeal) but not have any substance inside. Perhaps the basement is cluttered, dark and messy, stuffed full of old boxes and things that could be cleaned out and let go of. Maybe it is perfect and everything is in its’ place and if someone sits on the couch, you freak…

Who are you?  How do you feel? How does your home reflect the state of your life?

As the week progressed, I felt better and by Friday, I made peace and realized that everything happens for a reason. I could see that everyone inside the house was working really hard toward completion and that they were in good spirits doing high quality work. That moving slowly vs rushing to get it all done in a short amount of time was also a metaphor for how I wanted to be. Someone who slowed down and stop over-doing. A person of quality and ease.

On Friday, Chris, our GC, offered to power wash the back patio for us, revealing beautiful stone pavers with pieces of pottery and colored glass embedded in the grout. It sparkled in the sun. Chris is good at revealing/creating homes and making them sparkle. If you live in Denver, and have been thinking of making some home changes, jot down the number for Vintage Homes on the sign in the house picture of last week’s posting (or email me and I’ll give it to you) and give Chris a call. Read Sarah’s book and perhaps you, too, will find ways to make your house, and your life, Not So Big.

Then, think of all the time you’ll have to visit with family and friends. After all, as my dear and wise friend Ellen says, “ Its’ the experiences and moments that make our lives rich. Not the stuff.”

How do you MindFULLY create a not so big home and life? Let us know!