Quote

~~~~~~~~~

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.

                                      William Morris

~~~~~~~~~

Frugality is beautiful

~~~~~~~

"Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things."    
                                          Elise Boulding

~~~~~~~

Erik's New Shield

~~~~~~~

Erik has been working and training hard for a big tourney coming up in NH, USA, called "Birka".  He has just finished making a brand new kite shield.  I think it looks pretty cool, so I decided to post it here.  The shield boss is made from the bowl of a broken brass wine glass.

~~~~~

I'm lost...where's the map?

~~~~~~~~~~

“What comes first, the compass or the clock?
Before one can truly manage time (the clock),
it is important to know where you are going,
what your priorities and goals are,
in which direction you are headed (the compass).
Where you are headed is more important than how fast you are going.
Rather than always focusing on what’s urgent,
learn to focus on what is really important.”


–Author unknown


I love this quote, and it identifies one of the major problems I've been having with managing my time.  Until last week, I really had no specific goals.  I've had an vague idea of what I wanted, but didn't have a plan on how to achieve it.  It is as if I wanted to visit a town somewhere but didn't have any idea what it was called, or how to get there.  I would need a good road map and the name of the town in order to reach it.  So I need to write down my goals so I can plan how to acheive them.
 
My goal for today: 
 
~List out the small things that I would like to see changed.
~Talk to my family to plan how we can work together to implement them.
~Try it for a minimum of two weeks and meet again to see if we need to modify the plan.
 
I believe that if we experience success in the small areas, then we'll be able to tackle the larger changes with confidence from our previous successes.

~~~~~~~~~~~

What I am reading...

~~~~~~~~~~~

I've been reading several books to encourage me in my voluntary simplicity and de-cluttering endevours.

"Thrifty" by Marjorie Harris

"Frugal Luxuries: Simple Pleasures to Enhance Your Life and Comfort Your Souls" by Tracey McBride

"Teach Yourself Decluttering" by Bernice Walmsley

 

~~~~~~~~~~~