Farm-Raised Checks in on her First-World Resolutions

Resolution #1:  The Great American Apparel Diet

(No buying clothes or items for our home.)

I've been thinking a lot about my relationship to "stuff".  We're prepping for a garage sale this weekend and though we used to be urban-dwelling minimalists, I've found myself absolutely appalled at what we have accumulated in this house over the last five years.  I am so anxious to be free of it all.  I want to literally lighten our load so that I can figuratively lighten my load.  I want to get rid of things so that I don't have to pay so much attention to dusting/storing/managing said things and have more time to live my life.   It's so strange though because I realize that while I'm getting rid of my access (in the form of too many flower vases, kitchen gadgets, pairs of jeans), others would be amazed by the luxury.  Not only do we still have a house full of comfortable, useful items, we now have a garage full of cast-offs.  While some would love our extra coffee maker, I feel chained to it.  I am lucky, privileged and thankful to have this problem.  I just wonder what I should be doing with its enormous tension...
 

We began the purge with our beloved books. 
(Friends--Come over and help yourselves before Saturday!)

 Having said all that, I bought two dresses (one floral for everyday wear and one bright blue for an upcoming wedding) and a pair of shorts (also electric blue) in May.  Apparently I am not strong enough to "just slip into Marshall's to see what they have."  Lesson learned: If I'm serious about keeping this resolution (we're already half-way through 2012!), I must stay away from The Temptress. :-)

Resolution #2: Live and Let Live

(Learn to be at peace with my decisions as well as the decisions of others.)

This continues to be a beautiful revelation every single day.  Case in point: I bought three new items of clothing, broke my resolution, and yet there has been no brooding or fixating or stressing.  Try as we might, nobody's perfect.  Live and let live.         

"The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware..." (Henry Miller)