Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Less is The New More
Catchy, huh? Okay, the annual Hanukkah and Christmas season is upon us, the season my best friend’s mother refers to as the “Annual Festival of greed”. So, take a deep breath. Stop. Look under your bed, in the closet, and don’t forget about the box that we created and labeled: “gifts to give” that you’ve been squirreling away. Then consider this: everyone, everyone, has too much. So truly, less is the new more. Still, it is the season of giving, so what can we give? I’ve decided to give my 7-½ year old son a photo album of the pictures he’s been taking on my camera. He calls it his eye-series: he gets right into your face (really, really into your face) and takes an ultra close-up of your eye. This gift won’t cost too much, or take up too much room, and it will be meaningful. Time is often the greatest gift we can give, so dig out those half-finished knitting projects from the bottom of your closet. It may be quicker to go out and buy something, but then again it might not. Maybe you don’t need to buy as many gifts as you’ve been buying. Talk to the friends you exchange gifts with. Maybe you would rather go out to a fabulous dinner together, or even better, give a joint gift to charity rather than cluttering up each other’s homes.
Remember in Out Of Chaos issue no. 9, when I talked about rules? Try some rules for holiday shopping, for example: only homemade, nothing made in China, only second hand or my favorite: only things that get eaten, melt or otherwise disappear.
So here is to keeping your wallet in your pocket this holiday season, and emptying out those stashes of gifts.
Just say “NO” to gift bags. Don’t give ‘em! If you are on any boards, discourage them from handing them out. And if someone gives you one at a charity event, just leave it- if people stopped taking them it wouldn’t be long until they stopped giving them. Along the same lines- if your dentist gives you a bag of stuff you don’t use- whether because it isn’t the brand you like- or because you just don’t floss- don’t take it, or just take what you use and leave the rest. Help break the cycle!
Gifts to Give: Savior or Slippery Slope
Many people, including me, have an area, or a box where they store ‘gifts to give.’ For me it is a place to store re-giftable items or extra party favors. Some people use it well, they buy a bunch of something they really love to give out as hostess gifts or last minute birthday presents. However, for some people it becomes a receptacle for impulse purchases, over buying and freebies they can’t bear to toss. Then they languish in the box, because they aren’t really hostess-gift type items, and when your good friends have birthdays, it doesn’t seem personal enough to dig into your ‘gifts to give’ box, and the freebies, well, they are too obviously freebies. So be cautious when you are storing up ‘gifts to give’ and make sure you are actually moving your inventory.
TIP: When I get a new insurance policy- usually a month or so before it begins, I stand the current (soon to be old) one up in the file and write on it: “shred 11-15-07” or whatever date the new one begins. Then the first time I open that drawer after the date, I do just that. No need to have a pile of ‘limbo’ on my desk. No need to leave lots of expired insurance policies in my file cabinet eating up my space.