2014

So it's 2014 and it's already half way through January.

Time flies.

I read something recently that kind of stopped me in my tracks. I can't remember the exact phrasing but it was along the lines of; "You can't stop time, you can't go back in time, and you never know when your time is up, but you CAN create more time by choosing how you spend it."

How about that. So true. Sometimes I feel so rushed, hurried, harassed, stressed and overwhelmed - all because I believe I have too much to do and not enough time to do it. This year, I am not going to do as much. All those extra things that are not essential or necessary or enjoyable. The things that don't add value to my days or to my family. That will create more time. And I will consciously choose how to spend it - take control of my happiness, if you like.

I'm going to keep taking photos and keep learning more about how to take great ones. I can see how far I've come in 6 short months, and it's exciting to think about how much more I have to learn.

I'm starting with a personal trainer tomorrow because that's the only way I know to force myself to move.

And I've signed up to A Simple Year - 12 months of guided simplicity. I changed last year. Something flicked in my brain and I don't think the same way anymore. It's not as simple as not wanting as much stuff around me. I genuinely want for less. It's a subtle, but seismic, shift that has infiltrated my life is so many ways.

In 2013 I decided I wanted to focus on four things: getting better at taking photos; choosing happiness; practicing simplicity; and prioritising my health and well-being. It appears I'm not done with those yet.

Happy New Year. I hope your 2014 is breathtaking.

Lines in our story

I read something recently that made my breath catch in my throat.

"Every place we've lived has carved its impression on us. 

And nearly everything we have writes a line of our story."

This whole decluttering / simplifying / slowing down experiment has had a profound impact on me.

I sometimes - morbidly - think about what is going to happen when we're not here anymore. Who is going to have the awful task of going through our stuff and deciding what has meaning and value, what to keep, what to send away? A horrible horrible task for anyone, that can only be made worse by having to sort through a lifetime of possessions that should never have been there in the first place.

But morbidity aside, I'm still on track with paring back. I think the most important thing is that mentally I'm on track. I don't want all this stuff around me. I am  happy to own less. It seems an enormous task, to approach a lifetime of stuf, and it is, but every day I'm removing things that are not needed, wanted, or loved.

The most profound part of this journey for me has been what is going on in my head. I'm owning less. But more importantly, I want less. This quiet whisper is stronger than my frenzied culling. By wanting less, the inflow of stuff has slowed down. Things still come in - I will never be a radical minimalist, nor do I want to be - but only with thought and conscious decision.

The boys turned four recently, and with that, of course, came queries from beloved family about what to buy them as gifts. I was nervous to admit out loud that they didn't need anything new, that we were trying to reduce our stuff, and that we wanted our kids to learn that more presents do not mean more love, that their happiness does absolutely not depend upon a mountain of accumulated stuff.

But you know what? Everyone got it.

The boys received truly thoughtful gifts. Things we'd happily have given them ourselves amidst this journey. An annual pass to the Science Centre, tickets to Underwater World, an amazing world globe, some dress up costumes, and a cubby house perfect for adventures and imagination, built by hand with love by daddy and Grandpa.

This week is an important one for me. I have taken a week of holiday with the sole purpose of decluttering and spring cleaning. It's the first time in my life I have ever done something like this. Taking holidays to clean? Am I mad? Probably.

Collecting memories. Curating possessions. Cherishing only that which has value. I will probably be repeating this  like a crazed woman by Friday.

2012 is the year ...

...to get a few things done!

2011 was busy. Really really busy.Work busy. immie&ollie kept growing, my PR consulting continued, and I launched a brand new national magazine with a friend and now business partner.

In 2012, I want to get some things done for our home that I've been wanting to do for some time:

1. Bedhead! We're getting one. It will be upholstered and beautiful. I'm pinning like crazy to my pinterest board.
2. Bedroom walls. They will be painted. A cloudy / dusky / grey-ish blue. I might even stencil a pattern on the wall behind our bedhead. Lattice? Chevron? Not sure exactly what just yet, but it will be subtle.
3. Dining room. The walls will be overhauled. I can't decide between wallpaper and paint, but we're getting some drama in there.
4. Enrolling the boys in school. I cannot believe we haven't done this. They are nearly 2.5 and we haven't put their names down on a single list. We haven't been able to resolve where we'd like to send them, and because there are two of them, it's quite an expensive endeavour to put their names down at lots of schools. Some charge $450 (that's $900 right there. For ONE school waiting list. Bam! Just like that.) But at this rate we'll be home-schooling them, so we'd better sort it out.
5. The five year plan. I've probably spent the past 5 years coming up with all sorts of dreams for the future. If I'd nailed them down and started working towards them, I'd be well on my way to something now. So, a five year plan will be the start. 

5 projects will do. That's plenty for the year. If I can achieve these things, alongside keeping everyday life ticking over, I will be a happy woman.

My daily happiness project is awesome too. So far, I've enjoyed brewing a pot of tea and drinking it slowly by a window in the rain, hung fairy lights everywhere, worn a full length tutu, had a long luxurious bath with a glass of champagne, had a pedicure, snuggled my babies for way longer than they wanted to be snuggled - similarly, husband, and lots of other tiny little things that I normally wouldn't pay much attention to.