Find a cozy chair, put your feet up, and get a snack, because I’m about to let loose with a huge freaking verbal tantrum. Today’s card pissed me off. Then my bike broke (not tragically, more on that later). I can’t just let this go, it’s been boiling over since I first read the definition. Which is shitty. Also, the entire thing just makes me feel bad, because it’s from a deck we all love.
I want to begin by saying that this is probably totally valid for some people. It just irritates me the way it’s presented. So. There’s that.
“Simplify Your Life ~
Eliminate clutter from your home and work life to balance the flow of activities.
Your energy has become fragmented, and it is time for an adjustment. By drawing this card, you are asked to take drastic measures to simplify your life. This means clearing your home of unnecessary items, canceling subscriptions to extraneous publications, saying no to demands on your time, getting organized, and being more efficient with respect to your schedule.
You may feel that such a project is overwhelming. However, if you take one day a week to whittle down the clutter, you will feel an enormous lifting of weight from you soul. This results in an energy and esteem boost that will enable you to complete the tasks at hand. Your soul and body will thank you for your simpler life.”
I am insulted and furious. It needs to be reworded and reworked before I can even consider looking at it again. The whole “eliminate clutter” bullshit makes me instantly angry. It’s just so fucking inappropriate of her to say that!
Would it be okay for me to go around insisting that EVERYONE take up crochet? Simply because SOME folks find it relaxing and interesting and beneficial does NOT mean that ALL people do. Maybe we can’t physically master the hook movement, or maybe the mental challenge of the instructions are beyond us, or perhaps we just can’t tolerate the feel of those fibers on our skin.
Proclaiming that “de-cluttering” is the answer to a balanced life sends me into a fuming and inflamed rage. Sure I’d love to let go of dust and grime and smudgy windows, but the compounded stress it would cause to me and the entire family if I tried to CLEAN all the damn time is FAR worse than being satisfied with having a less-than pristine showroom life.
Just USING the word “clutter” is asinine. Say that we could all use a bit of tidying up, or suggest some nice feng shui ideas, or any other, more creative and less clichéd (and ignorant!) response would be better than this. Here’s my new version, then I’ll let this go and move on.
Create Balance and Sanctuary
Seek a loving balance in your life, to help with inviting positive energy flow into all activities.
It’s possible that you may be feeling less than serene right now, and the Universe has some gentle ways of helping with that. See what can be set aside for now, look around at what might no longer be necessary at this time. Perhaps a cleaning or re-arranging of personal and work space is called for. Possibly your sleeping area could use a going-over to freshen it up. A new organizational technique or efficiency plan might be called for.
You don’t need to feel overwhelmed or put-upon, we can all use some energizing from time to time. Set aside a few moments every few days to examine where you can best use some clearing or straightening. One day a week practice your new tidiness for another few moments. Small steps will accomplish much and be easily manageable.
Doing what feels right for you in improving your life will help you achieve a lovely satisfied attitude so that you can accomplish more each time you move forward on these new projects. Go at your own pace and don’t let anyone tell you how to progress. When you’ve started seeing the results of your work be sure to congratulate yourself on all that you’ve created and how well you’ve brought a more positive and loving atmosphere into your life. Balance is challenging, but it is also enriching to our bodies and souls.
I’m over this, let’s talk food, and then bike repairs. I took that (below) picture last night about 11:30 or so. Ya know, dinner time.
Needs avocado.
In that (serving) bowl there are the following ingredients:
lettuces (not the ones from our deck though), cilantro (we had some leftover from the chili recipe so I just tossed it in, hey, it’s green), home-made croutons, apples, carrots, raisins, kalamata olives, broccoli, radishes, cucumber, cauliflower, flax, brewer’s yeast, pea pods, garbanzo beans, sundried tomatoes, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds (I’m currently out of almonds), chia seeds, TVP, and celery. With Dan’s dressing. Not as much as it looks like though, just a small few dabs.
(I now eat these types of meal salads with a big spoon. It just makes more sense.)
When we first started “doing” all these salads I began co-mingling my seeds in a jar. Now I add to this mix as we run low. Just a quick sprinkle of the nuts & seed blend, so it sounds like there’s a lot in there, but really, there isn’t. When Han was down she showed me where to get TVP in bulk and now I use it like bacon bits, a very crunchy and delightful addition.
Also, I can’t eat any greenery without a bread product, so the croutons are a perfect solution. This last batch, made for me by my Beloved, are killer good. Did you see our niece’s recipe for them? Go here, she’s adorable. (Her blog is a permanent link under Important Family.)
Tomorrow I’ll talk more about what I’m eating and what I’m not eating, and why. And go find the dressing recipe for you too.
Today’s Deck:
Magical Mermaids and Dolphins Oracle Cards by Doreen Virtue
Bike Report:
one of the gear cables has either snapped (as in severed and broken) or it has slipped out of place (which is what I’m hoping for, then it can be fixed at home, with no cost and no loss of riding time).
No, I was not injured, there was simply a *click* noise as I approached an intersection (Fox Hollow Road, for you local nosy types) that turns into a hill where I go up for the next leg of my journey. Yes, I DO know how to shift now, which is why it was so distressing. I’ve re-incorporated several hilly places into the Route, but with no functioning gear cable, this hindered the last part of my ride. And the getting to MY HOUSE portion. To which I just said, “the hell with it” and we (me and the bike) walked up our street to home.
Sorry about the bike, I hate it when mechanical things go wrong as I am so klutzy at mending that stuff; hope it’s an easy fix.
Have you ever considered making your own cards? I so love the way you beam our messages – and I’m convinced the entire world would benefit from your wisdom.
I hate everyday housework, I’d much rather do someone else’s then I wouldn’t have to see it all collapse at the speed of light. I do love a major clear out – I always hope it will somehow be a useful fix, but I like to choose if/when it happens! I really love the way you re wrote this card.
~
I was wondering when that idea would come back up again……. yes, it’s been mentioned before.
J
3:51 a.m.
4-29-12
(Thank you, more than you know.)
Bah on super-irritating cards & bike break-downs! The original does feel very judgey & should-ing all over the place… your re-write is much better, thank you!
I second londonbetty’s suggestion that you make your own deck! That would be wonderful!
The salad looks & sounds awesome, and so super-healthy!
~
There are reasons for all the ups and downs, it’s just a pain in the ass when the downs seem to fill an entire day. Good thing there’s always tomorrow.
J
9:13 p.m.
4-29-12
Sorry about the bike. : (
Yum, on the salad.
The card was kind of significant for me. I’d been in a bit of a slump and hadn’t done much housework in two weeks. Yesterday I did major work. Yay! It felt so good to collapse on the couch last night with a good book and a glass of wine. Every time I looked up I smiled because my place was so neat. But, then again, I am kind of weird like that. : )
~
Nope, not weird at all. I know lots of folks who feel the same way. And I don’t have a problem with that in the least. I just don’t think it’s any way to run an oracle deck. Very glad that your neatness made you smile.
J
9:19 p.m.
4-29-12
Big hugs! I think the card was trying to espouse one of the principles of Feng Shui … and doing a poor job of it. Basically, the belief behind Feng Shui is that the energy force of the universe (spelled either Chi or Qi, depending on how many points you want in Scrabble) flows around us, and is sped up or gets stagnent in certain spots. If you have stuff in too many unrestrained locales (my desk is a feng shui nightmare) then things don’t flow, and it’s bad for your health, harmony, money, etc … I think the card is trying to tell you to organize your stuff a little in some places because some energy is blocked somewhere; it’s not saying pitch your toys/valuables out the front door. And on that note, I need to go fold and put away thousands of tiny socks and panties.
~
Oh how I remember those piles of tiny garments (and some much more masculine that were not soo tiny)……. covering the couch, for years on end.
J
9:25 p.m.
4-29-12
(Thank you, wonderfully gentle re-working of this message.)
Noting that it was Doreen’s deck, and the only way I can stomach her stuff is with a drastic translation or re-frame, I understand why the card and its definition set you off. Thanks for the re-frame. It fits better.
In the salad yum category, I am learning lots of new greens these days. I have some tender Chinese greens, New Zealand Spinach, and a host of others that I am looking forward to munching on. I will take some photos of the greens patch today and forward them on to you. Love me the crunchies in the salads, too. I am going to suggest that Mrs. Denial make some gluten free croutons for the salad…she made some great stuffing last winter.
I went and listened to my friend Pat play with the bassoon quartet at the Atrium yesterday, and watched a woman with a knitting project sit there, listen to music, and knit. She looked really happy.
Good luck on the bike repairs. I am aiming to get out on our steeds today.
~
Yes yes yes! Share some new lettuces and greenery with us. Both in photographic form and in description. A Down To Earth garden department trip sounds like it needs to be happening for us real soon!
What I forgot to mention about that crouton recipe is that we used super great, very heavy, multi-grain bread and added a sprinkle of my seed mixture to the bowl, for a good vigorous mixing, before it all goes on the baking sheet. Mrs Denial can totally get a gluten-free loaf and make some for you guys. They are seriously delicious.
Knitting is LITERALLY theraputic for my mom, I have no doubt it serves the same purpose for that awesome lady you saw at the music event.
J
9:34 p.m.
4-29-12
Yay! for the rewrite! I hate that ‘get rid of all your stuff and you will be happy’ crap.
The salad sounded good till you started mentioning -nuts-, bleh.
I hope your bike is an easy repair.
(Sooooo sorry about the situation with Em. Be sure to give her extra hugs.)
~
You react to nuts the way I react to onions!
J
9:39 p.m.
4-29-12
(Thank you very much, I absolutely will.)
hmmm, I guess I have mixed feelings on this one. No one will ever in a million years mistake me for a neat-freak, and I just got in a fight with dh last week because the house isn’t as clean/organized as he thinks it should be (I told him I might do something about that when the semester is over, but not before then)(and in his defense, he does his fair share, he’s not trying to dump this in my lap). I do think your re-write is a ton better, and agree with Robin that “clearing clutter = happiness” is insultingly over-simplistic. But on the other hand, I have found it immensely freeing at various times in my life to clear a bunch of crap out of my house. And this card doesn’t seem any more lecture-y to me than the message on many other cards– the seemingly random “coincidence” of drawing this particular card at a particular time might trigger one of those moments of clearing stuff out. so being the nosy bitch that I am, I’m curious why this issue bugs you more than most? is it because it’s become a sort of fad? (which i can understand, I snapped — *almost* politely– at somebody the other day who was going on about being gluten-free, which to me is just the latest in a long line of food fads, apologies in advance to anyone who has found it helpful). hmmm… maybe I’m answering my own question here. Maybe it’s the assumption on the part of the people who say these kinds of things that they can feel free to dump a load of crap lecture on those of us who are happily clutter-inclined (or gluten-immersed).
~
Excellent point about WHY this touched off such a volatile reaction. I’m going to talk about it a bit more I think, it seems to be much deeper than it first appeared. Nice intuitive-ness there.
(Probably a bit of that smug, holier than thou, I-can-afford-to-buy-all-new-shit-so-I-throw-everything-away attitude is what bothers me the most.)
J
9:59 p.m.
4-29-12
oops, I tried to do the fancy strikethrough thing for
load of crapbut it didn’t work.but that time it did. ha.
I desperately want a simpler life; for me, that also means one where I don’t have to spend hours cleaning. My organizer has helped me with the paper. When she comes next weekend, we’ll begin on stuff of which I have more than I need and in some places more than I want.
But clutter differs for different people. My clutter might be someone else’s treasures, and vice versa. And just getting rid of excess stuff doesn’t mean that your life will become easier and more balanced; that just trendy crap to say. Your rewrite was better, even though I AM on a simplicity and de-cluttering program.
FGBVs to Emma for everything she needs.
~
You have no idea how happy I am for you to have your organizer now.
Thank you, she’s been sort of sporadic about reading here lately, but with The Daily Dog starting up again, I know she’ll check in more.
J
10:05 p.m.
4-29-12
What you wrote was nice, although, weirdly enough I didn’t feel judged by the original. Clutter to me doesn’t equate with dirty windows or a not-spotless house. I don’t like a sanitized atmosphere. I don’t have to have every dish washed and put away before I can relax or sleep. I don’t enjoy cleaning and it’s a low priority.
Clutter (disorganized mess: a condition of disorderliness or overcrowding), on the other hand, will get to me after a while. In my personal space, I’ll let things build up for a while and then I’ll go on a slash and burn spree. And I have to say afterwards, I feel lighter.
And, long term, unnecessary things, definitely weigh me down. I have 750 dollars worth of massage equipment taking up space that I need to sell. For some reason, I’ve been procrastinating for some time now. I have no intention of ever doing massage again. It’s more a matter of wanting to be in denial about how little I’m going to get back for that investment. But nonetheless, I’m bothered by the space it takes up and by the fact that someone could be making use of it.
~
It’s fascinating how the same word or phrase has so many different connotations. And how these terms spark different feelings or emotions in each of us.
J
10:11 p.m.
4-29-12
I think this card was perfect! It spurred you into writing a better one and sharing it with the rest of us. It’s done its job
Bummer about the bike though. I was going to ride my bike to the store today, but I’d left it at work.(long story.) Feels wrong not to have it at hand.
And thank you for mentioning how you use TVP. I’d read good things about it, but I don’t feel like doing a lot of work cooking right now.
~
Indeed it has.
We may be out of town near the end of next month, and I’m already missing my bike, too. It does seem wrong.
Oh cool. Well she did show her father how to re-hydrate it for that layered dish she made, but for me, the easiest application of TVP is treating it as a flavoring additive, along with a quick grind of pepper or a dash of salt/non-salt seasoning.
J
10:17 p.m.
4-29-12
In re the card, I ditto Barb. I didn’t find it more “you should do THIS!” than a lot of other cards. So while I like your rewrite, I really think a lot of those decks could be rewritten.
What I would have added is something to address the idea that if we have too much stuff (and ‘too much’ is different for everyone) then we have trouble finding/displaying/keeping tidy etc. the things we really love. And in that sense, dishonor our more valuable possessions. Like… instead of keeping every single thing from Granny’s house when she died, we could pick out a few important items and do something special with them.
Onto more important things… I like your seeds jar idea. Gonna keep that one in mind!
Excellent suggestions. Good points you made about Granny’s treasures.
Let us know how your seed jar goes. I love it when someone comes up with a cool idea and shares it. Surprising when that person is me!