Reverb Ten Day Eleven - 11 Things

I'm participating in Reverb 10, a fantastic month-long initiative for reflection. Here I will be responding to one prompt every day.

December 11 – 11 Things
What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life?

1. Blogger - I love blogging, {and communicating with you!} but dealing with this site is becoming quite a pain. My technical issues with blogger are all small, but as I'm now spending so much time here I figure I either need to learn more about blogger so I can use it better or find another site entirely. (Don't worry, I'll let you know if I change sites!) {and if you use another site or have bought your own, please lend me a little advice!}

2. My blackberry - i "need" it for work (or at least that's what my boss told me) but I'm ready to give it the boot. I've become one of those people who check (and sometimes even respond to!) work emails in the evenings and on weekends. As I write this my blackberry is sitting right next to me on the couch. This really has to stop, and next year I'm going to focus on being fully present at home when i am home.

3. Facebook - Facebook has actually really enhanced my life in a lot of ways, either through reconnecting with old friends or getting to know new ones. But as I mentioned above, being constantly connected to technology is really starting to take its toll on my life. For the month of December I am doing a 'facebook fast', and I'm enjoying my time without the social network. When I start using facebook again in the new year, I'm going to be more mindful of how I use the site, how much time I should allow for different activities, and who my virtual friends are.

{time out! i just realized that so far all of my items have to do with technology. i've got to explore this theme in more depth i think....}

4. Snarky people - this is a tough one, and one i've already been working on for awhile. i try to surround myself with positive people - people who aren't going to shoot me and others down. I've been working on not gossiping, and like to be around people who try to avoid dragging people down.

*disclaimer - we can all be negative at times. I know I certainly am. I'm not saying I cut out my friends who have bad days/months. I'm saying that I don't like being around people who relish in the negative and emphasize others' bad points. I've got some friends who are realists/are sarcastic/have a dry sense of humor, and I love them to bits!!

5. Clean laundry on the bed - I want to let everyone out there know that Tom is the most patient human on earth. I use our guest bed to store all of my clean unfolded laundry. It goes directly from the dryer to the top of that bed and stays there until I wear it, and Tom is probably ready to have a conniption. I probably don't even blame him. Its a bad habit. Its got to go.

6. My commute - Enough said. i need to either a) move b) start working from home a day or two a week or c) change jobs. I am tired of getting up at 5am every morning so I can drive into town before 6:30am rush hour. I'm going to work on this in 2011.

7. Tension - I'm about as flexible as your average 2x4, and for several years I've been meaning to start yoga or something equally as noble. Even if I don't make it to a yoga class every Sunday, I'd still like to work on stretching my muscles. Goal: touch toes without bending knees by year's end. You may think I'm exaggerating. I'm not. Running my marathon was difficult mostly because I could feel my muscles tightening at the idea of a breaking into a full stride. Oh the shame.....

8. Piles of clutter...... This isn't one I would have put here myself, but as I'm writing this Tom insists I add it. So yes, I'll try to remove piles of clutter from my life (and his) in 2011. Sometimes the people closest to us have a better idea of how we can improve than we do. When I asked him what I need to get rid of, he said 'piles of clutter' without batting an eye or taking his attention away from the movie we're watching right now.

9. Mounds-o-items - When I moved from California to Georgia on Memorial Day weekend in May of 2007, I packed my car. If it didn't fit into my car, it didn't make the cut. Whatever fit in my little 4-door Kia Spectra drove with me across the country. San Diego to El Paso to Lafayette to Atlanta. {Home to Cheap Hotel to Cheap Hotel to New Home.} Three days on the road to a new land, and then car unpacked into unfamiliar apartment with unfamiliar roommate. And now? All of my stuff wouldn't even fit into an SUV. I have suddenly accumulated stuff. Things. Material Objects. I know that I can't live my life by keeping everything down to an area equal to the size of a Kia Spectra, but attempting to do so certainly couldn't hurt......

10. Writers Block - I really really wanted to do National Novel Writing Month this month. And I didn't. Because I was afraid I didn't have anything important to say. I'm proud of myself for starting this blog and for writing in it semi-regularly, but I want to push myself more and get rid of my restraint when it comes to writing. Putting some effort into the development of my writer self would really make my year, and I'll try to do just that in 2011.

11. Soap. In 2011, I vow to use the things that I think are too beautiful to touch. I will drink the good wine, steep the fancy tea, use the smelly soap, and wear my nicest jewelry to the grocery store. I will keep nothing packaged or behind glass simply because it is too nice for the occasion. I will make sure that the 'right occasion' occurs in the right now, and I will not wait until tomorrow to unwrap the expensive chocolate. I will get rid of my nice things, and I will relish in doing so.

How will getting rid of these 11 things change my life?

I want to simplify the physical aspect of my life (things, objects, belongings).

I want to add to the emotional/mental aspects of my life (more writing, more stretching, more meditating)


I hope that this simplification and addition will equal an ability to be more, do more, live more, give more. For these eleven things that I get rid of, I know that I will gain so many more.