The Joy of De-cluttering

The Joy of Decluttering!

For some the thought of throwing things away sends torment through the essence of their being. For me it is an absolute joy. It might seem weird that I love the feeling I get from throwing things away or giving them to charity. It just gives me  a sense of satisfaction and the feeling that I am ready for new.

I don't know about you but over time my cupboards mysteriously fill up with 'stuff'. That stuff I am convinced I am going to need at some point, not that I have actually remember owning it until I do the de-clutter. That is the point everything seems filled, over filled and not necessary. It just sits there in 'stuffness' being all stuffy.

So today is a de-clutter day. For those that follow me, I am in a phase of completion, in that I have completed 9 books in paperback, kindle and 7 are on audible. I am waiting for the 8th to be released on audible and then all that remains is just one children's book, who I have yet to find the right voice. I know they will turn up at some point, so that is nothing to even consider. So with all that in mind, there are a few things I like to do when I finish things. The first is buy my self a present and my gift for my hard work is a spa day. In addition to that, it is time to clear out to make way for the new. There is something so therapeutic about playing an audio book while you rummage and clear around a cupboard. I know... It is weird. We all have things we like doing and clearing out is one of those for me. The more space then the more potential.

To provide a little insight into my 'I don't need stuff' attitude: just over ten years ago I lived for months out of a suitcase because I worked on cruise ships. I did not have an actual home; instead I floated around the world seizing every opportunity for adventure. What's more I shared a cabin. There was no space for anything other than a suitcase, uniform and a few clothes. What was quite astounding is that you could sit on a toilet and shower simultaneously. That was how confined the space was. It was wonderful living a life with  so little and feeling so free. Anyway, after close to ten years I came back to land and the first thing that shocked me was how far away my bed was from the ceiling. The ship's bunk was tiny, if I sat up suddenly in the night then I would bruise my forehead. I then came to realise how quickly empty space filled up with 'stuff'. For some reason there is a level of unsettledness if a person has space in their home, so we fill it with furniture, vases or other random objects. Also I notice as soon as people have space in their cupboards they pop out and buy something to fill it.

The thing is all this stuff seems to 'snag' on my mentality. What's more, stuff takes time. Think about it and this freaked me out - my friend had over 100 pairs of knickers. Her reasoning was that she did not have to wash them so often. Yet 100 pairs of knickers takes up space and storage and time. I would rather have ten pairs and wash them regularly. The more stuff you have then the more it is either in the way, needing to be washed, moved or wiped. So I figured that the less stuff I have the more time I will have. To some there is no logic in that. So if I had for sets of cutlery I would wash it more regularly than waiting until I ran out of ten...

Anyway the main reason I de-clutter is that it is symbolic. Also while I do menial tasks I give my unconscious time to assemble the next writing works or project that I am to work on. As much as I like to get on with things, this time of cleaning and clearing is a mental process too. The more I clear the more mental space I have...  The less stuff I have snagging my attention then the more I can focus on creativity. The final reason that I do this is that I realised that I was happiest when I had the least. I also realised the happiest people need nothing. So by clearing out and only having what I need, well that is me being happy.

 Anyway, I thought I would share because I called my brother this evening and it turns out that he was doing the very same thing! Weird or just the time of year?

AUDIBLE LINK FOR A SHORT COURSE IN CREATIVE WRITING: http://amzn.com/B01390THLK

21/08/15

 

"An Unexpected Gem"

***I was provided a copy of this audio book for the purpose of a review ***

With the required disclaimer out of the way, let me be brutally honest, I had not expected this little gem. In fact, I had expected my listening would be a bit rough and was fortified by it being less than 2 hours.

The synopsis says the author wrote the book as a takeaway from her evening classes on creative writing. My mental context was ... Community Ed evening classes ...and expected a well intended but kind of amateur product. However, I am interested in adult education, and batter my own nerd head against a giant personal creativity brick wall.

So you have an idea of my mind set... low expectations along with high interest.

Amateur hour it was NOT.

I don't know where the author teaches her class, but Sign Me Up! And bring the narrator. Wow. Two hours of unadulterated, straight up, right on, good learning material delivered by a close friend just sharing the material. The narrator's voice was warm, sincere without any artifact or pompous patronising, and well modulated throughout. The material was mind opening for me, with the right mix of the mechanics of writing exercises, sufficient context that using prompts now makes sense to me, and a sprinkling of the inner heart work of creativity through written material.

This was just what I didn't dare hope for in a how to creative writing listen.

Truly an unexpected gem and a learning and growing experience for me.

A keeper and one I will return to many times as I deconstruct my own wall, one block at a time.

Thank You, Ruby and Thank You, Erin.

 

TO BUY MONEY FARM ON AMAZON.com http://amzn.com/B010F04W9O

· Frode

06/08/15

5 STAR

"M.O.N.E.Y. is bad? This book is not!"

So Money Farm by Ruby Allure was a surprise! When I REALLY did not read things about this book I review for Audiobook Blast, I sometimes get books I don't know something about. BTW: I read 99% about the books I want to review, but this book I can't remember I did that for. Anyways: This was a nice surprise, and I think it is one of those books that is better the second time you read it. No joke! I listen to this twice before I made this! Money Farm makes you thin, and who does not like to hear a book that makes you think? It is an awesome book, that I will recommend to all that likes audiobooks, and really to people that does not!

Helen Lloyd English accent its the topic like a glow and a hand! Her "lady like" voice is so cold, and clear I feel that the author made this book thinking that Helen Lloyd would read it out loud! That is how I feel those two fits together! The 2 times 14 hrs and 6 mins I spend with her never feels boring or uninteresting! I would love to spend it again, and I will because this book I will hear again, and again, even when it is 14 hrs and 6 mins long! That is saying something!

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com

MONEY FARM

· "Incredibly thought provoking..."

What did you like most about Money Farm?

It was an eye opener.

 

What did you like best about this story?

I like the way it made you think about the way normal everyday life is here and now, and the future...

 

Have you listened to any of Helen Lloyd’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Helen Lloyd narrated this fairly long audiobook brilliantly. Although the story content was very intense and thought provoking, her lovely smooth voice was very easy to listen to and I thought it was just perfect, a fascinating book wonderfully narrated.

 

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes it was, although it is too long to do so.

 

Richidiot.com The Love game - post number 3.

Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NE2OGWE

Hello Eva,

I am between calculations at the moment. I thought I would rapid type just a quick elaboration on what I realised about my relationship approach while I was away. It seems I have been seeking out a man for a long-term relationship based on all the things I ‘should’ want. Do I really want them? Where did I get these ‘shoulds’ from? Then I realised that we are all set Hollywood criteria and fairy-tale ‘Happy Ever Afters’. Why? I have a sneaky feeling it is to do with the fact that it controls society. People stay in shyte relationships for economic reasons and fear of being alone. Also women don’t want to be the source of scathing gossip from fat, bitchy women whose husbands gain more pleasure playing with a small train than having passionate intimacy with them. Dark eh? All these comments about single people having something wrong with them. All this bitchiness about how they spend so much time on how they look and what do we see from the other side of the single coin? People who have become complacent of the person they fell in love with. Where there was once passion, now there is child vomit and flannel pyjamas. No wonder they resort to gossip. I hope I never take for-granted any man that I fall passionately in love with.

I came to the conclusion that lust is beautiful because it takes you into the body and drives you towards desire. Why are we made to feel guilty about natural instinct? Passion comes from somewhere – it is life force and there are times when a woman simply needs a bloody good snog and a pair of pectoral perfectus to caress. They will often belong to a younger man who is not nasally hair challenged like the older ones... Some people might say this is a bit ‘cougar’ yet while I was laying on a sun lounger being massaged by a rather attractive young man – it dawned on me. Who said it was right that stinky, hairy men with cash had the right to date young totty because they have wealth? Why do people sneer at women with younger men when those younger men are searching for learning and understanding on how to truly love and honour a woman’s body? Who is there to teach men properly about how to respect and truly pleasure a woman’s body? How many of them actually know it takes around twenty minutes to bring a woman to a heightened sexual state and there we are Boom – a blown out sausage wonder in less than a quarter of that time! Amazing. Someone needs to get porn off the internet and provide proper learning to both sexes about the pleasure of the body rather than diagrams of where to shove a tampon given by a female teacher with a moustashe!

In the meantime, some clever nostril-hair-clad rich old bloke got all the old boys together and got them to ‘cash in’ on the stupid idea of female beauty exchange for old fart finance. ‘Let’s persuade women to tolerate all our dull unfulfilling chatter and arthritis because we can pay for a decent meal. ‘We will set the rules because we pay and they will admire us! It is fair exchange chaps! Tally-ho!’

I thought about the rich idiots I dated who believed they had power over me because they had money. I explained to each of them that I assumed that wealthy men would be of high intelligence and provide great insight. I did not need their money because I have money so there is no power dynamic, so why do I have to play by these shyte rules? I am sure that impressed them.

So I came to the conclusion during the massage that for a woman to truly be herself she must love herself completely and not allow herself to tolerate that which does not make her heart shine and glow. She needs to connect to her true femininity and embody it. I was reading a book about embodying the sacred feminine along with another book about ignoring fairy-tales. It then got me thinking about how we are fed fairy-tales of wealthy princes. Clever isn’t it? Persuasion from the beginning to be saved by a rich prince. If this does not happen then you fail. Earn your love by being beautiful. In the meantime, someone with a persuasive voice advised women ‘you know you can get really nice shoes if you tolerate an old man because he can buy you stuff. Both sides were benefitted – nice shoes in exchange for rancid nostril hair tolerance. And so the dynamic continues – the old financial fart exchange. Both parties know the financial fart exchange stinks but both ignore the smell because money is involved! All these ideals make me go - Grrrr!!!! Rant. Rant. Rant!

 

While I was by the pool, I watched a prunesque old bloke with white chest hair and leopard skin trunks flaunt his bustily-modified girlfriend, who was definitely twenty years his junior. She strutted while he surreptitiously passed wind. He had no control. It was so weird when he was doing breast-stroke in the pool and a trail of bubbles rose to the surface with every kick. The air was filled with the aroma of intestinal sulphur. And she had to put up with that in exchange for cash and body modification. She was his status symbol and he was her income. Errch... I just realised ‘in come’ there we are – there is the fluid financial exchange!

I will send you the LUST list shortly... I have realised something big. It seems that youth is exchanged as a commodity. What a superficial world. Does no one truly know how to love in the deepest sense? What has become of the value of maturity and wisdom? I realise that I am superficial in some ways; although I have been out with people sixteen years my senior and ten years my junior. I love the insight from the ones who were actual gentleman and the advanced conversations. The unfortunate truth is that I am too energetic for them and they often nod off before anything amorous takes place. The younger chaps are fun and full of energy and you can do lots of activities but lack the maturity to provide insight. Where is the happy medium without the baggage? After all of this reading and massaging I realised I like being single and having freedom. This whole dating lark is an adventure really. It provides a great deal of learning about others and myself.

Gracie.

If you wish to purchase on kindle:Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NE2OGWE