START SUBTRACTING… |

Quote

Came across this quote today, and really thought about how it applies to my life. For me the message was SIMPLIFY! “Start Subtracting”, get rid of the junk that is taking up space, both physically and mentally.

In a couple of weeks I will celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary and my 55th birthday, I really wanted to have a celebration/party of some sort, but as I began to plan it started to feel like a heavy weight was hanging over me. Some of my dearest friends were going to be traveling on the date I selected so that was a bummer. I received an invitation from another friend for a birthday party dinner cruise on the same day. My guest list was growing and getting a bit out of control, since it was going to be a birthday/anniversary celebration, there are so many that have touched our lives that I wanted to include, so my little house party was becoming an “event”. My day to day life right now is pretty crazy, with all the driving I’m doing taking my son to all of his obligations, I had no time to properly plan anything, so I made the decision not to have a grand celebration and I feel great. I have no idea what I am going to do, other than it will be something simple, meaningful and intimate.

Normally this time of year I make my rounds to all the mid summer sales scoring deeply discounted treats, perhaps I’m maturing or I’m questioning how much stuff does one person need, but for some reason the desire is not there. A few months ago I downloaded this app Stylebook, basically it is a closet organizer that keeps track of your “stuff”. You take pics of your items and put them in categories etc., by doing this I discovered how much stuff I have accumulated and that I need nada, matter of fact I have been getting rid of stuff and focusing on my lifestyle and what really serves me…photographer most days, and for shoots I wear black, and of course I need my workout clothes, jeans, and I love dresses for when I go out and pretty shoes, the rest I don’t need anymore. I have not worked in an office environment in over 5 years, so why do I have suits and work pumps taking up space? Why do I have things from 20 + years ago? Why do I have shoes that hurt, life is to short to walk around in shoes that cause pain.

Gigi

Once good thing about driving all over southern Cali everyday, is I am able to go to the gym in between appointments, perhaps I will “subtract” a few pounds, which is always good. I find the older I get, working out is not an option, and the mental peace I get from my yoga practice is priceless. I am able to clear my mind, subtracting distracting thoughts and focusing on the future, working on my goals, personal and professional.

The next area I need to attack is being “connected” 24/7. Start having “time outs” from my i phone, i pad, laptop, kindle, fitbit, i pod, facebook, instagram, pinterest, and any other devices I may have forgot–so much time. The mystery of being unavailable is gone…I remember the days of a “dial” phone, and no call waiting and only a couple of area codes and how can we ever forget the “busy” signal? Yes, time to unplug a bit.

So think about subtracting “junk” from your life, once you start it is not that difficult, the letting go is so empowering!