Semi-Retirement

It's all in how you look at things. I started calling us semi-retired. People ask how did you do that? Well, it's easy; I work and my husband doesn't right now and we live in a vacation destination. We just pretend to be on vacation on my off hours and that's how you become semi-retired.

In reality, my husband is out of work. His company didn't have any openings down this way, but we really want to live in Santa Barbara, so he's looking at other opportunities and we are just making things work.

When I was younger I don't think I would have taken this big of a leap of faith.  But I know everything will work out. I'm of the mind that the universe gives you signs and whatever decision you make is the right one.

The actual content count of my bags...

Contents of my purse.

Contents of purse:
Phone, mints, keys, sharpie, 2 nail files, lip gloss, lipstick, sunblock, chapstick, another lip balm, neti stick, ibuprofen, another lip balm, bee sting kit, 2 prescriptions, sudefed, tampon, feminine pads (2), antacid, gum, purse hanger, mirror, measuring tape, 3 hair ties, week of receipts, wallet, extra credit cards, business card holder, Art of Sea Glass business cards, new credit card and paperwork to call it in, kleenex, eye glass case, change 1.87, 2 band aids, journal.

The total count on items in my purse was about 43 things. I didn't count each credit card or the complete contents of my wallet. Ok, really this isn't too bad. This all actually stuff I use. I just recently bought a new purse and had reorganized it. Ok so I got rid of the receipts and a couple of the chapstick things when I put it all back. But this challenge of getting things down to 100 personal items will have to include my purse as 1 item. Just saying...

Contents of my daily tote bag-yes it was scary!

Contents of my tote bag (I carry this to work with me and usually have it in my car at all times):
2 journals, book-A Year of Living Your Yoga, plastic Macy's bag with receipt in it, shoes, socks, umbrella, July and Aug receipts (91 receipts and 4 coupons-my husband made me count them), 2 expired 2 for 1 flight coupons, photo cd, 16 tampons, 12 feminine pads (what was I expecting? This was like a whole box of feminine protection LOL), gum, 2009 calendar (hmmmm-apparently I hadn't looked through the contents for awhile), 2010 calendar, 2 Bart cards, Weight Watchers folder, broken keychain with expired gym card, box of vitamins, new reading glasses that don't work, old reading glasses that don't work very well, kleenex, empty hard eyeglass holder, empty soft eye glass case, IPod, earphones, make-up pouch with toothbrush, mirror, floss, blush, 2 hair ties and emery board, extra medicine bag with allergy pills, 2 Benadryl creams (always expecting an allergic reaction to something!), nail file, antibiotic cream, Dramamine, Airborne, anti-gas pill, floss, 2 Band-Aids, pouch with business cards, giant stack of papers that included: yoga stuff, ideas, sketches, recipes, medical stuff to follow up on, 401k stuff to followup on, eye glass paperwork to get the correct reading glasses, current bills, Sea Glass festival coupons, Lab order for 2011, 2 paperclips, medical receipt, and the best thing I found was this ad (pictured below) about saying goodbye to the paper! LOL

The total count on the contents of my tote bag was at a whopping 233 things. My husband made me count all the pieces of paper and receipts I found. Ok so that was too many things. I obviously hadn't been through my bag in awhile. I did clean it out and got rid of stuff and filed what needed filing. But I didn't recount. Tote bag will have to count as 1 on my list of a 100 things. I am not getting rid of it. It's like my briefcase and survival bag. I need to add water!

This was a very interesting exercise. I plan on continuing on through my house and seeing what else I can eliminate. Not sure I will ever get down to 100 personal things but I know I can get down to 100 categories at least! It's quite an eye-opening exercise. Start with your purse or a junk drawer. Make sure you throw some stuff out!

100 Things

My boss and I went to coffee the other day and she told me about this movement she read about in the New York Times called the 100 things challenge, a grass roots kind of effort. Get your personal belongings down to 100 things. Now I would call my boss a minamalist already and even for her getting her personal belongings down to 100 things would probably be hard but if any one could do it she could. I'm continually stopping her from throwing things out at the office because yes we do need to keep those files for more than a month. My first thought to this movement is: Right! I probably have a hundred things in my purse and tote bag I carry around with me all the time, not to mention what I carry around in my car. We do live in earthquake country you know. You never know when you're going to have to be in survival mode. My purse might just save my life.

The contents of my purse and tote bag I carry with me daily. Yikes!

After pondering the concept for a couple of days it's actually very intriquing and maybe even alluring. Think about how you feel when you stay at a nice hotel. You have your essentials with you; clothes, makeup, phone, maybe a book or magazine. But you love the feeling of that clean crisp hotel room, you just want to stay there forever and go out to eat every night and explore the area you're in. You might not even have a car with you so you have to think of different ways of getting around. You don't have the burden of all this stuff to keep clean and buy and be responsible for.

This concept prompted me to make a list of 100 personal items that were essential to me. What happened when I started making the list was I started making new rules and categories of stuff on my list. My art stuff was a whole category, camera stuff, kitchen stuff was a category, medicine and first aid was a category, personal grooming, furtniture, photo albums, doll collection, my sea glass collection, my art on the wall, all my Giant's clothing counts as one thing, my books, my yoga props...sigh not an easy task.

We are very emotionally attached to our stuff. But what do we really need? As you get older you find you don't need as much. You realize you aren't going to live forever in this physical existence and you just don't need some of this stuff. You start downsizing. I keep finding things I'm just not that attached to anymore. As for those boxes of stuff in the garage that I may someday use in a new place; when I pull them down and look through them, it's either rotted or out of style or I think, "What the heck was I saving this for?"

This 100 thing challenge is an interesting exercise to look at things differently. A way to get that vacation kind of feeling all of the time. Maybe it's a way of pinpointing what your life purpose really is. What is most important in this second half of my life? How do I want to live it? What "things" do I really need to be happy? Do I need things to be happy? How much more money would I have if I lived in a much smaller place?

If we didn't have to house all our stuff, we might be able to spend our time and money on traveling or going to yoga retreats or eating out at nice places. This coming from a photographer, artist, memorablila keeper, antiques hunter and collector of many things. I hate getting rid of stuff. I still have my Barbie's and baby dolls hidden somewhere under the stairs. I still have that full set of 80's mauve and sea foam china we got as a wedding present...hmmmm I think my kids may need some new dishes and my granddaughter may need some new toys. I know I have to clean my purse out. It's a start.

What 100 personal things could you get your stuff down to? Up to the challenge?

Discipline

I was watching the movie "Julie and Julia" the other night and Julie Powell's mother was questioning her on why she would undertake cooking all of Julia Child's recipes and blogging about it when no one was making her do it. Julie Powell said, "It's a discipline." While discussing it with her husband Powell said, "I'll cook my way through the Julia Child cook book and write a blog about it. I'll probably need a deadline otherwise it will be like everything else I do. Let's face it, I never finish anything."

I've been doing yoga and Pilates for a year this Sunday, May 9th and I feel like I've really accomplished something. I didn't have a deadline to meet, but I do need the discipline of going to something on a regular basis to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

What have I accomplished? I lost 23 pounds in the last year. I no longer bring frozen diet lunches to work. I have healthy leftovers from the night before. I started this blog. I'm in a size 8. I have muscle tone. I can actually see my abs. I wouldn't think twice about putting on a bathing suit in public. I learned to kayak. My knees no longer hurt. I feel good. I can do an hour Power Pilates class and then stay for the hour and half yoga class and live to tell about it. Downward Facing Dog is actually a resting pose for me now.

I made a commitment to myself to get healthy. Much in the same way that Julie Powell made a committment to write. In life you have to follow your muse. You have to follow that thing that is whispering in your ear, "this is a good idea." You might not know why at the time but you know you just have to do it. This is inspired action. The good thing about Pilates and yoga is you are never done. I don't have to "finish" anything. It's a part of my life now.