Seasons of Decorations

With Halloween just around the corner, I started thinking about decorations. Although there are many holidays that you can have decorations for, we have three big ones close together over the next 3 months: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I’m certainly no Martha Stewart, but I do love putting out decorations to celebrate these and other occasions. This can create more work, more things to track and figure out what to do with – yet there are ways we can make this easier.

One of the things with decorations is that they spend most of their time in storage. I have some seasonal decorations, and even those are in boxes 9 months out of each year. For holiday decorations it is even more time since we don’t typically leave those out for much more than a month.

To start with, those decorations need a dedicated box or bin just for themselves. It might be tempting to group more than one type together in a box, but this only adds to your work when it is time to use the box: whether to pull out or to put away those decorations. You might need only one, Easter or the 4th of July, often do not exceed one container. On the other hand, Christmas can often fill many containers!

With Christmas and potentially other holidays if you have more than one box for, you can also separate types of decorations together within containers – like the tree ornaments going largely into one container and other décor items into another.

It is helpful to label them or choose color coded bins for storage so you know which box you want when you go to get them and not need to open multiple ones to find the one(s) you are looking for.

Since these decorations spend most of their time in storage, you also need to decide where you will keep them. Ideally you want the space to be relatively easy to access. If you store them in a hard to access area, it’s more likely you’ll procrastinate getting them out or putting them away. Considering that you don’t use them that often, it is tempting for them to get buried amidst other things or stored out of the way in hard to reach areas. If you truly want to use them each year, you need make sure they are relatively easy to get to.

It is also helpful if you decide when you want the decorations to be put out. We often think it’s tacky to have Christmas decorations out before Thanksgiving or after the middle of January – or whatever your thoughts are on this. Figure out for yourself when you would like them to be put out, and then put some time into your schedule to do it. The same thing applies for putting them away – figure out when you want them boxed back up by and schedule time for it. I recommend deciding and putting it into the schedule as a repeating event. That way, even if I’m distracted, my schedule reminds me that it’s time to put out/away the decorations.

The final step is to evaluate whether any of the decorations need to be purged. Unfortunately damages happen, and as you are putting them out or putting them away at the end of the holiday, it is the perfect time to get rid of some that have outlived their purpose.

If you create specific containers for the different holidays, find an out of the way yet still easily accessible place to store those containers, and schedule time for yourself to pull them out and to put them away, and each time cull some items you no longer need — your decorations will perform their duty perfectly – to brighten your home and help you celebrate the holidays in the ways you choose.

Change Your Resolution for the New Year

Tomorrow night we will celebrate by ringing in the New Year. It is typically a time for us to look back at the past year, evaluating the events and choices, and then set some goals for the coming year.

What I find interesting is that we often are inspired to do those same things at other times in our lives, moments that speak deeply to us. These personal moments of retrospection seem to have more power and influence than this externally prescribed time of New Year’s to set resolutions for ourselves.

A friend of mine felt this strongly after she had her first child, it altered her perspective on family, even to the extent that she felt that someone without kids would not understand the transformation she felt. Another friend was sharing that she experienced a similar feeling after she got married. I went through one of my own when I moved back to Wisconsin after 11 years.

The universal process they talked about was reevaluating their lives, their friends; examining the path they were on. They were choosing the values and direction they wanted to take in their lives.

For me, in moving back to the place that had always felt like home, I felt strongly that I was starting over in a way, or at least beginning a new chapter. After settling into my apartment, I wrote letters to various family members, feeling the importance of cherishing the family we are given, even if we do not always relate to them very well. I wanted to try to connect and resolve any issues. In response, I received a touching call from my aunt and we had a beautiful, honest conversation.

Why then do we get sucked into the mass mentality that we need to do this each year at this specific time? Why is it only once a year?

It is not a bad time to look back, to think about the direction you want to take in your life. We all hear about the lack of follow through on New Year’s resolutions. Making goals for yourself and having to think about how you failed is setting yourself up for guilt and disappointment, especially if your goals are aimed at a year’s time.

Therefore, I challenge you to think smaller. Instead of trying to figure out the whole year in advance, think about what you want in the next quarter. Just like with time management issues, keeping the list relatively short, avoiding overwhelming yourself with too many things, and especially to keep it simple.

Set an appointment with yourself to reevaluate things again. Coming back to Wisconsin, a state with distinct seasons that I had missed, I tend to look at things according to the seasons. It is a clear reminder of the passing of time and I use that to inspire introspection and a fresh time for resolutions.

What I despise most is seeing how we end up beating ourselves up for the failures of not achieving the goals we’ve set. Losing hope in ourselves for being able to follow through on our resolutions is the ultimate defeat.

All the more reason that we think smaller and aim for the shorter term. Life is constantly changing, and we can be that much more prepared to adapt to the events and maintain our footing.

What’s my New Year’s goals? I am going to embrace and adapt to what life brings my way. I am going to set small, short term goals and work slowly towards them.

I’d love to hear what your New Year’s goals are!

Appreciate Your Gifts This Christmas… But Don’t Let Them Become Clutter

My husband was teasing me the other day, come Christmas morning I am very methodical. I open a gift, look at it briefly, and am moving on to the next gift. I tend to do this regardless of how much I like it; oohs and aahs rarely come out of me. A friend we were with at the time commented that I was like a child, eager to see everything. On the other hand, I find my husband a bit of a dawdler; he spends what feels like a lot of time on each item. Along the same lines, after all the gifts have been opened, I am eager to get them put away! You can probably guess that my husband is the opposite; he likes to have them out for a while.

It is humorous to me that we are exemplifying the two extremes. Although I have obviously not been the best example, my philosophy is to find a middle ground between these approaches. With Christmas fast approaching, keep control of your home and avoid letting the new gifts become clutter while making sure you take time to appreciate them.

I recommend that you have a bag to gather all the wrapping paper as the gifts are opened. It is convenient to reduce the clutter since there will be all the actual items around, and having the ribbons, paper, and packaging put immediately into a bag will help eliminate additional stuff.

I was raised to write thank you notes, and find it simpler to pile the gifts according to the giver, and after the notes are written, I can begin to put them away. Depending on how eager I am to get things put away or how much I end up procrastinating writing those thank you notes, sometimes I will write out a list of the items based on the piles I’ve made. I have found the idea of recording the gifts for a thank you note as I go to be a distraction from engaging myself in the experience of the day.

In looking for a compromise between my rather perfunctory approach and my husband’s lackadaisical approach, we have arrived at some wonderful compromises. It uses the middle ground concept that I strive for, the balance between putting things away immediately and leaving them strewn about indefinitely.

The resulting compromise varies depending on what type of item. When we get CD’s, we put them all near the stereo where we can be reminded that we want to listen to the new ones. Similarly, the books are gathered together so we know what is new and can grab them, yet are not disappearing into the book collection. If it is clothing or kitchen items, we like to get them washed as soon as possible so that they can be appreciated more promptly.

Some organizers believe that for every item that comes into your home, something else must leave. I cringe at that idea if held that strictly. The concept holds some value, and Christmas can be a time to consider what you could part with since it is a time when you are likely to be acquiring a larger quantity of things. Our houses do not expand with our stuff, so we need to be able to get rid of things!

Consider the idea of removing some old items as you put the new things away. It is a great time to engage your children in deciding on some old toys to give away – they have just gotten all these neat new toys – and in keeping clutter down, teaching them that it is time to make room for the new things. This can apply to yourself as well, since you have new clothes, you could purge some other clothing that is getting older.

Valuing the experiences that this holiday brings would be minimized if we allowed the gifts to create clutter in our homes. Enjoy the gifts and find ways to maximize your pleasure at being so loved.

Expressing Our Love at Christmas

My absolute most favorite memory of Christmas comes from my childhood with my mom. She would make tons of cookies every year. Looking back, I am amazed at how many different kinds of cookies and bars would emerge from the kitchen during Christmas time. It is especially neat since she admittedly does not relish cooking. Most of the cookies she’d made would be arranged on plates, wrapped in plastic, and given away to various people.

The meaning of Christmas is about expressing our love. We use gifts to express some of that love we feel, yet we need to make sure that we do not lose the true intent. It becomes so easy to get sucked into the retail propaganda that we need to find that perfect gift, we need to spend a certain amount of money, or even give a certain quantity of items.

Remind yourself of your most cherished memories; think about what you would want your children to remember when they get older. As lovely as getting a great gift can be, and I have fun memories of waking up to a glorious 10-speed bike with a giant bow in front of the tree, this is not what I remember most fondly. Nor do the happy memories of gifts given warm me more than the wonderful plethora of cookies.

In talking about expressing our love at Christmas and the connection that has with giving and receiving gifts, there are a couple of things to think about and keep in mind while we finish the shopping and wrapping.

One, we have all faced the temptation to get that special gift for a loved one. One memorable occasion when I was a teenager, I wanted to give my mother a Hummel, since she loved them so much. My eyes were bigger than my appetite with that one – and bigger than my meager savings from my allowance. I had high plans to save up $300 so I could get it for her. Somehow, I never did pull that off, yet in looking back at it now, it was just a symbol. It was this thing to express the depth of my love; only it was just a thing.

Two, as I consider the powerful memories of holidays past, one year I received this incredible gift. The cost of it had to be negligible since it was paper and plastic binders, yet it speaks to the power of thoughtfulness of the giver. The gift was of my poems; typed up, titled, with a table of contents and a copyright symbol, presented to me as books. Ah, the teenage fantasies of fame, and regardless how time has changed my perspective, it was truly a wonderful gift.

These stories illustrate how the emotion is the bottom line. I wanted that “perfect” gift because I thought it could communicate how I felt better than I could; yet, the thoughtful gifts are most profound. The heartfelt expression of love has the most meaning, and no amount of money or quantity gathered under the tree can compare to a gift from the heart.

Thinking about the things that speak to you most deeply from your past, those Christmas memories that you would not trade for any gift, can inspire you on how to spend this Christmas and all the ones to come. You’ll realize what you want to create for your family and practice experiencing Christmas for what it is meant to be. When you do, you focus less on the actual items, can stick to your budget, and are less likely to get caught up in the purchases. Like Thanksgiving, it is about the experiences, not in trying to create a perfect day.

What are you going to do to create wonderful memories this year?

The Perfect Holiday… That Wasn’t Perfect

Thanksgiving is the holiday most overwhelmed with volunteers – and it is a time when we think about what we are thankful for and hopefully share that with those we care about. Along with thinking about the things we are thankful for, it is a time that many people try to find ways of giving back. This is the time of year when we think about all the people who are less fortunate than we are, as well as how we might give back some of the blessings we have.

In this season of giving, if you want to find ways to give of yourself, look around your home and find things to give away. You will give yourself freedom from clutter, and help someone else. Let’s take a look at that next week, when I’ll discuss more ways of thinking about your belongings and parting with them. If you’re like me, you won’t have a lot of time to think about the items in your home until after this holiday has passed.

Sometimes we have expectations of ourselves, maybe of others, about how our holidays are supposed to go. People often worry about the details of the meal or the state of the house, imposing the image that everything needs to be perfect, some sort of Donna Reed type holiday. Holidays seem to bring this out even more strongly than at other times. Regardless of what you have planned, make a point to relish the time with your friends and family and the experiences the holidays will bring. After it is all over, that’s what you are going to remember, not whether the turkey was a little dry, or if your house wasn’t perfect.

If we go back to the intent of Thanksgiving, it is all about getting together with those you care about and being thankful for the things you do have. You have a home, food, and loved ones to be grateful for. Those dust bunnies, the chores you didn’t get a chance to do, really are insignificant compared to all this.

Of course, it’s easier said than done to step outside yourself enough to catch yourself from worrying about minor details. Try reversing the situation. When I’m a guest and the hostess can’t stop worrying about getting everything right, I feel sad that the intent of the holiday is lost. And the thing is, if she hadn’t drawn the guests’ attention to the minor details, no one would have even noticed them. Reversing the situation lets you relate to this, and it is a safe wager that your guests are simply grateful to be included and are not aiming to be critical of the details.

With it being less than a day before Turkey Day, take a deep breath and relax. Whether you are responsible for many details, just bringing something, or simply showing up, this is a day to realize all that you have to be thankful for. Challenge yourself to enjoy this day and appreciate all that you do have.