Cat's Meow

This moment ~ Painting

2012-01-27T12:31:00.001-08:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. -Soulemama

Red Makes Her Heart Sing

2012-01-24T08:43:00.000-08:00

The beautiful oak bed is now glossy, bright, marmalade RED.

She loves it. I love it too, but I did feel a bang of guilt when I covered the wood with shiny paint. I sanded the lacquer only lightly, thinking that it would be easier then to strip the paint later if we, or someone else, should wish to do so.

I still can't believe we bought this handmade bed for only 60 euros. It sure is appreciated over here.

I sewed sheets, a duvet and and a duvet cover from vintage fabrics. Then we stuck rest of the animal stickers to the wall and she played it's her neighborhood forest.

So it was goodbye bare bones -bedroom, hello friendly forest animals and red marmalade bed.

One day we will have a bedroom to ourselves, but now we share with her, and we compromise, because it's her bedroom too.
I will not try to box her stuff into a corner and make it invisible, I will not box her in.

I've been a bit sick, and sometimes when you get scared about what is going to happen, it helps you to see things so very clearly.

You want to read more books to your baby, you want to laugh with her more. You want to paint something red because she wishes it oh, so much.

This moment ~ Watching

2012-01-19T12:33:00.000-08:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. -Soulemama

The Overspent Societies

2012-01-16T09:23:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading a very good book, "The Overspent American" by Juliet B. Schor.
But most of it applies to other consumerist cultures too. And even though it was published in 1999, it's still relevant today. Sadly.

I'm going to share a few of the best excerpts from the book.

"Through the strong personal connections people come to feel toward products, our possessions become, in the words of Russell Belk, our 'extended' selves. 'That we are what we have is perhaps the most basic and powerful fact of consumer behavior.' One consumer survey found that nearly half of car owners saw their car as a reflection of who they are either 'a lot' or 'some'.

In fact, the identity-consumption relationship is a two-way street. Who we are not only affects what we buy. What we buy also affects who we become. "

"There is a new game in town -individuality. In the words of one advertising magazine, ' Lifestyle advertising is about differentiating oneself from the Joneses, not as in previous decades, keeping up with them.' In the so-called new middle (and upper-middle) classes, individuality and differentation are essential. Why? Because mass-produced goods are too homogenous, too common. Everybody has them. This makes them incapable of conferring distinction. These groups prefer items with a customized dimension.

The irony of the 'new differentation' is that it too has become common. Upmarket tastes, just like downmarket ones, are predictable. Even the really differentiated symbol, like the Caribbean island you get to first, the newest high-performance sport, or art clothing, is just the latest status item. While most people experience these tastes as just being themselves, they are actually being a lot like everyone else."

"Between seeing and buying lies the inner world of desire. Recent literature has focused on fantasy, imagination, and vicarious experiences as key aspects of modern consumer behavior. Spending fantasies are prevalent, indeed commonplace. People anticipate, they daydream, and they plan their participation in the 'enchanted domain' of consumer culture"

"We had to really examine where all of our money was going. And I would submit to you that most of it was the little stuff that added up over a period of time."

"Denial also helps us navigate the moral conflicts associated with consumption. Most of our cherished religious and ethical teachings condemn excessive spending, but we don't really know what that means.
As our salaries and creature comforts expand, many of us keep alive our youthful fantasies of doing humanitarian work, continuing the inner dialogue between God and Mammon. Not looking too hard helps keep that inner conflict tolerable. "

~~
What do you think?
I think that I am too darn particular in what I like. Creating the "perfect home" or "perfect wardrobe" that is "perfectly me" is so stressful and soul-sucking that I'd rather go for the bare necessities -kind of life.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-04T05:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the silence- we have been away from home and feeling unwell. I just want to write a quick post and share a few pictures and thoughts, post Christmas :)

Our home is feeling a bit *full* at the moment with the Christmas tree, the teepee and the rather large vintage doll bed Indiana got for Christmas :) (I didn't bother to ask for measurements when I bought it on-line, I was actually only worried that it might be tiny, hehe!!) But no worries, it fits all her stuffies now!

Otherwise there was a really small pile of gifts, and quite a few went straight to the attic because she didn't want them. I will keep them for later or we will donate them to children who would otherwise have no toys. There was a set of Playmobil, a set of Duplo Lego, and a wooden three-layer puzzle (from me) that she didn't want. She just said that she wants to give it to some other child. Go figure. Also last week at my sister's house her nieces would have given her some old Duplo animals because they have so much, some of them from my husband's childhood, but she refused them. My husband and I were trying to persuade her to take them, but to no avail, haha!

Where I'm getting at is that I did not feel offended at the slightest when she honestly informed me that she didn't like the puzzle I had bought her (and I thought it was so cute, a tree house with animals). It made me laugh a little at how peculiar she is with stuff.

If you got unwanted or unneeded gifts, remember that the love is in the act of giving a gift and not the actual physical object. You are free to make another act of love and donate the gift you do not need to someone who does. It's not honoring the original giver if you grudgingly hold on to the thing you don't really want or have a place for.

Giving away a gift doesn't mean you are rejecting the person who gave it. Don't give material stuff such importance and power.

Be thankful for the love and the gesture, and then think about where the gift might serve a real purpose and make someone happy.

I hope to write more soon, but now I'm off to a friend's opening..

Happy, simple, peaceful, joyful, blesses year 2012 to you dear readers!

Happy Christmas

2011-12-25T03:53:00.000-08:00

I heart wood -Non-toxic Food safe Beeswax Polish recipe

2011-12-21T07:56:00.001-08:00

I just couldn't help it, I have to share this. I've been thinking about making my own food safe wood polish/ conditioner /water sealant for some time and today I finally made my first batch. It's very simple, you will need some beeswax and oil like olive oil, walnut oil, jojoba oil (which is actually a liquid wax!).. I used olive oil because that's what was available in my kitchen. It's also a lot cheaper than Jojoba oil!

For one cup or 2,5 dl of beeswax polish you need

2 dl or 4/5 cup of oil and
0,5 dl or 1/5 cup of grated or chopped beeswax.

It's easy to measure if you put 2 dl of oil in a measuring jug and then add beeswax bits so that it reaches the 2,5 dl/ 1 cup mark. I used a 65 gram piece of wax -it just happened to be exactly 0,5 dl.

Melt them together in a double boiler (place the bowl on top of a kettle with boiling water in it). It will take a while to melt. Don't leave it alone, and be careful, it becomes extremely hot. You can add essential oils for scent if you like, but the polish has a naturally wonderful sweet honey scent to it.

Stir frequently while cooling so it doesn't separate. Scoop into a clean jar.

To use, simply rub all over the wood. Let it sit to sink in and harden and finish off by wiping off any excess with a rag. The wood will get slightly darker with a silky, lustrous sheen and you will get soft hands as a bonus!

You can use this on kitchen utensils, chopping boards, wooden toys, furniture.. and I think it would make a great gift for anyone with natural wooden things in their home.

I <3 wood.

To Pray With The Heart

2011-12-20T02:59:00.000-08:00

“To pray with the heart, we must hurt. Just as when we hit our hand or some other part of our body, our mind is gathered to the point we are hurting, so also for the mind to gather in the heart, the heart must hurt.”

- Elder Paisius

In both good and bad, if we are honest and open, our heart is full of feeling. It swells with joy so that it is about to burst, and it shrinks in shame, painfully aware of our sins, and it cries out of and gratitude for mercy and forgiveness. It feels warm and tender from love, and it pulsates in hope and faith.

And our mind is there, hand in hand with the heart, and we know all of this is true.

Happy, peaceful, blessed Christmas time to you my dear friends. Slow down now and just enjoy this time.

I will keep writing,
From my soul to your soul.

Define necessity

2011-12-18T13:15:00.000-08:00

These are shocking, but often we need to be shocked out of our complacency.

This is our second year of only giving gifts to children, and giving charity donations in the name of adults who we would otherwise be buying something. They don't need it, we don't need it. I feel so much better coming home from our Christmas celebration without huge piles of stuff I have to figure out what to do with. It's such a waste.

When I get tempted to buy something expensive and unnecessary for myself, I need to be shocked out of my desire. I need to remember that the cute throw pillow costs some persons month's or two months' salary.

Do I still really want it? I sure as heck don't need it.

Almost anything we need can be bought secondhand. We found Indiana a handmade solid oak extendable bed for 60 euros. You could get secondhand solid pine Ikea beds for next to nothing. (In retrospect we should have just bought one of those, because now I have to paint the beautiful oak BRIGHT RED, because I've promised so...)

You could furnish a whole home with second hand furniture. You could clothe a baby with stuff just from my neighborhood emmaus charity shop.

We all just have too much already. So what is a necessity?

A secure home, not large.

Food, not macrobiotic or low carbohydrate or low fat or low sugar -just any available food, with enough variety to cover our nutritional needs.

Clothing, not fashionable or expressive of our individuality but to keep us warm and covered.

Hygiene products, not diamond dust and caviar creams, lash perms and anti-frizz serums, just plain soap and some toothpaste will do. And deodorant please.

Some basic furniture to cook food with and sleep in.

I know I so often go beyond what is a necessity. I can justify it if it's either a secondhand purchase, a fair trade product or supporting an artisan. But just barely.

Because wanting and buying is not good for my soul.

I confess I spent way too much time looking for Indiana's bed, and then I just thought, "This is ridiculous. It's just a bed. Get something cheap, durable and close by for easy pick up."

And I did. And Indiana was thrilled with it.
And given the amount of children's beds already out there I don't think anyone would need to buy a new one in a hundred years.

~This moment~ Her Own Bed

2011-12-16T10:57:00.000-08:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. -Soulemama

How the party went

2011-12-12T11:38:00.002-08:00

Well, it went well! It's already been over a week, so I thought it was time to give you a peek :)

There were 16 adults and 5 children and one baby, I think. A few people couldn't make it. I had an open invitation from 1 to 6 PM and hoped everyone wouldn't come at the same time. It worked out perfectly, my husband's side of the family and my Godmother came first and just about the same time they were leaving, my family came, and then a little later some friends.

I know Indiana was happy with the bouquet of roses, handmade angel decoration, and handmade stick horse that she got as a gift. She was happy with the cat shaped reflector and a pack of Hello Kitty tissues, and everything else. She got some Legos and a rider and saddle and braces for her Sleisch horses that we play with. She got a very sweet children's bible we have been reading at night and a great animal book with photographs and information and sounds of 100 animals. We have been listening and reading it a lot. And she got a fun craft book!

She was happy with the cake that could be described as a minor disaster, if one was really self-conscious about such things ;) and the balloons -which are still around and great fun for her a week later.

She was happy that everything was cow's milk and gluten free so for once she could eat anything she wanted.

I was happy with the coffee maker we borrowed from our upstairs neighbor.
It was okay to wash a few plates and mugs in between guests, and it was okay that the mugs didn't match.

The seating turned out to be just enough, with the floor pillows and desk chairs. Indiana's desk made a great coffee table!
It was never too crowded. In retrospect I think I should have invited half of the guests at 1 o'clock and the other half at 3 o'clock, but it worked out this time anyway. But then maybe my family would get to talk to my husband's family for once :)

I think the most important thing was to be excited about her birthday and the preparations, and not stress about things being perfect.

This is our home, this is the way we live.
It was her party, and she loved it!

~This moment~ Party preparations

2011-12-09T08:27:00.000-08:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. -Soulemama

This Moment - My Indian Girl, Birthday Girl

2011-12-02T04:57:00.000-08:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. -Amanda Soule

Simple Christmas decorating

2011-12-01T07:48:00.001-08:00

I like Christmas time. I like the candles and preparations, baking and making. I love the gathering of family. I do not like crowded shops or storing boxes of decorations for over 11 months of the year. I'm not big on decorating anyway.

Besides Christmas tree baubles (which you will undoubtedly get to see later), our decorations consist of these snowball lights and a knit stocking I got for last Christmas, because Indiana was old enough to enjoy them and we had no decorations at all. We never used to decorate before. We don't spend the Christmas at home so there was never much point. A couple of candles and some hot "glögi" was all that was needed to feel like Christmas :)

Our other decorations include the craft Indiana makes at the play group, a candle and an elf so far, but there will be more I'm sure, and the traditional gingerbread cookies we made, put in a large glass jar, and some fruit in a red enamel bowl. I may pick some pine cones and make a garland or something, if I get inspired!

Oh and a funny thing about the stocking- there was something in it this morning for Indi but she said she wants to give it away. We then agreed that the elf shouldn't put more stuff in there for her (we talk about Santa and the elves but we say it's a story, not real).
The stocking is a decoration now and she can play with it. Maybe there will be something for her in the morning of Christmas eve. In Europe we open the presents on Christmas eve.

I do have fond memories of our own childhood Christmases. Putting up the same wooden Nativity scene every year, which mom and dad had brought from a trip to Israel. My sister now puts it up every year. We always decorated with the same ornaments, some of them from my grandfather's childhood. My sister also has those now, and they are lovingly placed in their tree every year.

I think that children love those traditions, they make them feel warm and fuzzy and safe. I think it's a crying shame decorating with new, fashionable bling every year. Not to mention incredibly wasteful and in my mind against the spirit of Christmas.

So pick a few special things to decorate with and make a tradition of having a simple, meaningful Christmas.

Minimalist, frugal family living -Guest Post-

2011-11-30T02:56:00.000-08:00

This is a guest post written by one of my lovely readers, Valhalla, telling the story of how they became minimalists and how she was able to quite her job to stay home with her children. I love her joyfulness and how she sees frugality and even getting out of debt as a fun challenge. Here's Valhalla's story:

I'll try to tell how I came to living my life as I do now.

Two years ago, I was pregnant and on maternity leave. I don't like sitting still, so I decided to organise our entire attic. We moved to this house 4 months earlier and all the stuff we no longer needed, we had put there because maybe some day we would use it, repair it, sell it or make a friend happy with it. We had also just bought a new house which had costed a lot of money.

I started reading blogs about living frugally, about organising and saving. I also started my own blog, just to have some kind of focus for myself. I discovered the blogs of miss minimalist, everydayminimalist, zenhabits, becomingminimalist ect. That was a real eye opener for me. the key is not to organise your stuff, but just get rid of most of it and keep the bare essentials so there is nothing to left to organise ;)

Without ever looking back, I started to get rid of books, decorations, lamps, furniture, childrens toys (especially everything plastic), clothes, make up in colours I'd never wear, dvd's, kitchen stuff and so on. I decided that it had been a waste of money to buy these items in the first place. Getting rid of it would clear my head, my house and by donating the good stuff, other people would not have to buy these items new.

After a while, our whole garage was full with boxes full of stuff. I can remember some of the stuff I donated, but not much. I have never missed a single item. Useless crap kept on coming out of our house, even though I always thought we did not have that much compared to other people. And the weirdest thing is that after a few months after the first purging session , I looked with different eyes at our remaining stuff and started getting rid of more things. And every single item tossed out, gave me more space, in my head and in my house.

I wanted to keep my life as simple as possible and started applying it to many other areas. I moved our tv to the -now empty- attic. I haven't missed it a single moment.
I wanted to use ecological beauty products only, but they are very expensive. So I only use a bar of soap and almond oil and it works perfectly. I use five items of make up and because I do not buy stuff which I do not uae anyway, it is not that expensive at all. It's even cheaper than buying a new lipstick every time you fancy one and buy it because it costs 'nothing'.

For me, living frugally, minimalistic and trying to be good, or less bad, for the planet, go hand in hand.

So. We had moved to our new house, but had not sold our 'old' house. When we finally sold it last year, we made 25000 euro's less profit, than the bank calculated. This amount we had to pay out of our own pockets to the bank (some boring mortgage-financial story)

Instead of sticking our heads in the sand, we deceided we wanted to get rid of this debt as soon as possible. What I have learnt is that you can cut back on almost everything in your life by simpliying and asking yourself: do I really need it? Is it usefull? Has there been done harm to the environment or to other people to create this?

To get some extra money, I sold more of our stuff. Checked insurances we had, and cancelled them or found cheaper ones. Looked for secondhand childrens clothes and bought as-new clothes for 'nothing'. Made my own laundry detergent. Grew my own veggies in the backyard. Made home-made gifts for people for their birthday. Instead of buying fruit, me and the kids picked blackberries or 'stole' apples that had fallen from the trees. It is fun and exciting for the kids. And free!

It really opens new doors, being on a tight budget. You can almost make everything yourself. You'll love your favourite jeans you have repaired yourself more than the new ones you buy in the store. Google it, there is a manual for making practically anything yourself on the internet. I now often think: I was sooo stupid to pay for that in a shop! You can also trade stuff with others, because if you give things, you'll often receive things back you need. Cosmic attraction or something ;)

Last summer, I realised we had a life insurance which we could commute (don't know if this is the word I need). With this money, we could pay off the rest of our debt, so were out of debt within a year. I really never thought this could be possible!
Living like this became a way of living for me. I think it helps to see it as a challenge and not as some kind of punishment or something unfair when you are in debt, even if it is not your own fault. There is always a way to solve your problems.

A few weeks ago, I quit my job. Ever since our son was born I wanted to stay home for our kids but I couldn't because of our financial situation. I tried to enjoy as much time with them as I could but I constantly felt like doing two things not so well, instead of one thing very well. For my employer, I can be replaced by almost everyone, but for my kids, I'm irreplaceable. So I chose for them.

I'll keep working a few hours to have a little extra money and follow a course to become a budget counselor. I want to help people budgetting and organising their finances and help them overcome their debts. We will temporarily live on a very small budget but I do not care. I know what we need, and that is not much. We have everything we need. We are happy :) I recently read a quote which said: I'd rather have my life full of 'oh well's, then 'what if's''. You can only regret things you did not do, if you do where your heart lies.

In the beginning of 2012, we are going to try to sell our house (times are tough, but we definitely won't sell it if we do not try) and emigrate to Norway.
The coolest thing is that all our stuff (expect the car ;) will fit in a normal van. Being able to pack your stuff in a van and go where ever you want is for me freedom as freedom should be. Just as being able to say: "I Quit!" to your boss. Because you know you can do it.

I'll never want to back to owning stuff that finally will own me. And I never want to be owned again by a bank. Or a boss.

Thanks Valhalla!
Happy advent time everyone!

Roses budding in November, minimalist kids, attachment parenting, traveling light and big changes

2011-11-25T03:45:00.000-08:00

The snow is making us wait for itself. There have been a few crisp days with frost and some ice to break, but also some rosebushes starting to bloom!

Our recent trip to Berlin went well, except for some homesickness and toddlery tantrums. We only had two regular sized backpacks with us, one for mine and Indiana's stuff and one for my husband's. Plus a stroller. Those days of over-packing are so over for me! I hate lugging around heavy suitcases. I had one tunic top that I didn't wear, and Indiana actually had three pants and three tops she didn't wear, because there were no accidents, so even we had so little, we still had plenty! At the airport we got asked: "Is this all you have?" and one clerk even had to come around to our side and see that we really had nothing else. If we didn't have the stroller we wouldn't have needed to check any luggage.

Berlin was cold and grey, but it was nice to visit our friends. The kids played together and we went to the Zoo. There was no pressure to go sightseeing, do any "cool" stuff or find time for shopping. Freedom!

Then on to a funny story about what just happened today. I went to the city with Indiana to buy a birthday present for my oldest niece. She wished for canvases for painting. In the same floor with the shop was this very nice toy store, with all kinds of lovely plush animals. On a whim I walked in -totally against my own advice of never going into stores just to look.
Because you know, one of my weak spots is beautiful, quality toys. Anyway, there we were, and I picked up in my hand this plush baby deer, white spots, big doe eyes and all.

And then Indiana said:

"Mom, let's go home!"

I laughed and replied: "Yes, let's go! Or would you like to go have some blood orange sherbet?"

She sure did and I gave the shop guy a sheepish smile. In my heart I was really happy.
If she isn't wanting something all the time, it's much easier for me to know when she really wants something. And it's okay for a child to want toys sometimes, and it's okay for the parents to sometimes buy them :) But sometimes it's the parent who want to give gifts, more than the child wants to receive them. They just really want our time and attention.
So I was glad for the reminder that experiences, imagination, joy and ice cream are all more important than stuff. Even if it's really nice stuff.

But she does want something though.

She wants her own bed!
I had told her that she can start sleeping in her own bed when she wants to, but she can also stay in our bed as long as she want to.

But instead of saying that she wants to sleep in her own bed, she has been talking about wanting her own hiding place, that she wants to be in peace there. I finally decided to find out what she is talking about and asked her a couple of questions. That's when I found out she wants her own bed. She even had a cute plan about how we should place it so that it's "above" our bed where our heads are.

So now I'm trying to find her a lovely second hand bed and then get natural bedding.

Indiana also started her play group, 3 hours twice a week. After the Berlin trip I was worried that it would be a total disaster, and I was fully prepared to stay there with her the first day. Because she always stays close by me, or sits in my lap. Because she was 2 years and 4 months when she let my dad hold her for the first time, and started making contact with extended family. Before that she pretty much freaked if anyone would look at her. And she had never been in anyone else's care before besides me and my husband.

It's an understatement to say that she is a sensitive child.

I did have a feeling though that she might, just MIGHT surprise me, like she sometimes does. And boy, did she ever surprise me! She didn't cry at all, but happily walked after the teacher and left me standing there.

But you know, attachment parenting just makes sense. We have gone with our natural instincts of letting her be clingy and needy. And when she has been ready, after stocking up on closeness and being small and dependent, she has let the world in a bit more, taken a step away from us and toward independence, and it has all happened so that she will be stronger and more secure for it, gaining confidence, secure in the knowledge that there is no rush, that we will always be there for her, that she has choices over her own life. We set certain rules and make judgement calls (rules and boundaries are an important form of love, after all), but she is not a powerless throw bag.

Gifts - A rule and a reason

2011-11-14T06:44:00.000-08:00

So, we are soon celebrating Indiana's third birthday, and it's the first time she gets the concept, is waiting for it, knows there will be a party with cake and gifts. Though I think she would be perfectly happy with one or two gifts and a simple cake.

She also says there has to be music and dancing at parties. It will be tight I tell you :)

Right after her birthday will be advent time and then Christmas of course.

Gift giving and receiving is probably given some serious thought in all minimalist and simple living families, especially the ones with kids.

We do not want to deprive our children, we love them and want to give them some nice things. At the same time we don't want our (small) home run over with toys. Many of us appreciate having fewer, but better quality toys. Natural non-toxic materials, ethical manufacture, fair trade if possible, or even second hand.

We also don't want to make these important events celebrations of consumerism, nor do we want to teach our kids consumerist values. The ones whose children are small yet, want to be careful in setting expectations. If we carelessly give a lot of gifts now, thinking it's okay since they don't have so much yet, they will come to think of it as a norm, and it will be harder to change that later.

So what are we to do?

In the 365lessthings blog co-writer Cindy told about her rule for gift giving, and the reasoning behind it. It was so simple: Each child gets three gifts (from the parents) because that's how many Jesus got when He was born. There you have it, a rule and a reason. I love it.

We are of course not in charge of the gift giving of other family members and relatives and friends. When asked, we encourage experience gifts and consumable gifts -tickets to the circus, watercolor paper, you know. I asked my dad to get a subscription to this nice children's magazine as a Christmas gift. It comes once a month so it will be like many gifts over the year. Books are always nice gifts since we read a lot.

We usually give adults charity gifts, and I think we will start giving Indiana one too (outside of the three she gets for herself).

I don't yet know whether this bunny girl will be for her birthday or Christmas. She is made from a felted sweater and she has a wardrobe of vintage doll clothes. Indiana has liked dressing and undressing her toys since she was very young, so I think she will like this gift!

I love that I can give her something special that is completely handmade and vintage. No resources were wasted in making this toy.

I am also going to try asking her, in between the birthday and Christmas, whether she would want to donate something of hers she no longer plays with. If she says no, it's okay.

I was recently asked about whether we have a theme for Indiana's birthday party. Umm.. balloons? Cake? It made me laugh. I'm not saying we won't ever have a "theme party" for her, it may be fun when she is older, if she wants to, but she is only just getting the idea of a birthday party and I think just that is plenty of excitement for her. Some people have a "disco" birthday for their two-year old, but it's not for us :)

How do you deal with the gift giving?

Love, Cambodia

2011-11-13T10:30:00.001-08:00

There is so much beauty in the world. It's all around us, and it has nothing to do with possessions, status, fame, power or money. It has nothing to do with how busy we are, how much work we get done, what latest hippest gadget we have, what perfectly disheveled bohemian (sporty/ adventurous/ rock'n'roll/ intellectual) look we sport or whether our home would be eligible for a magazine feature. In fact, the beauty in this world has nothing to do with the decorating we do in our homes or to ourselves.

The joy of choosing less

2011-11-13T03:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Father's day!
We have spent our day at home, making tiny pizzas and baking a tangerine cake -with tangerines from our own little tree no less! We also made Indi-cat's birthday invitation (top image).

Today I want to encourage anyone struggling on their way to a simpler life. I want to tell you that is so worth it. From the serene, low maintenance home to the more esoteric benefits for your soul.

Day to day, I find joy in the intentionally limited choices I give myself. I never have to think about what to wear anymore, I wear what is clean in my closet. Everything there is almost equal favorites. Everything goes together, is simple, and makes me feel comfortable.

Our home at it's messiest is just fifteen minutes from presentable. Indiana is allowed to play freely with almost everything.

Piles of unneeded stuff are not lurking in the closets or the attic, weighing on my mind. The thought of moving is not a nightmare. I feel a lightness.

Yet I want to be even simpler. I still succumb to the siren call of novelty, or think that more of a good thing would be even better. We all know what a fake novelty is, disappearing in a blink of an eye after it's caught the poor victim. Then the seeker of novelty will have to begin the search all over again. And if we are completely honest, aren't many of us actually addicted to the search itself, looking for things to covet?

And isn't there more value in having six mugs that you use all the time, than having twenty-six if you only use six 99.5% of the time and the rest just serve to make your cupboards crowded?

With each new purchase I have to think about whether it will complicate my life or enhance it. Will it enhance anyone's life in any way during it's life span beginning from harvesting raw materials and manufacture?
Will it do harm?

Choosing less will allow you to have more time, more serenity, more space, more quality, more peace of mind. It will allow you to make ethical choices, work less, spend more time with your loved ones, and less time coveting, buying, finding place for, cleaning, maintaining, and eventually selling or otherwise discarding STUFF. You can give more, read more, sleep more. You can stop feeling sorry for yourself, feeling envious of others who seem to have more, because you choose to have less.

You know a secret. Being content with enough makes you happy, not the next new purchase.

You are in control. You want to have a small home, non-designer second hand furniture, travel more in your own home country rather than abroad. You want a wardrobe of basics that let people see you, and not how well you follow trends, how cool you are or how much money you have.

You feel happy, because slowly, slowly the grasping greedy hands of materialism will have to let go of their hold on you, because you stand your ground, you ride the wave and come through and don't give in. Sometimes you stumble and fall and have regrets, and it's okay too. Get up and see that the world is what it is, and is not: It is not the truth.

This moment ~ Helping hand

2011-11-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Amanda Soule

Don't forfeit your soul

2011-11-10T11:52:00.001-08:00

How much we do wrong by ourselves

How much we stifle the cries of our consciousness,
pretending not to hear,
attempting to make them go away for good
hardening our hearts

Always wanting more
never satisfied
Chasing after happiness
seemingly just around the corner
-We just need this one more thing!

We are chasing our own tails

Forfeiting our souls

Hanging ourselves on the material world
forgetting that the most valuable thing we own
is indeed our soul

At my sister's house

2011-11-09T05:17:00.001-08:00

We always love our visits to my sister's house and Indiana is asking when can we go again.

I love how the children's art is proudly displayed all over the house :)
Their home is brimming with life and creativity. They are not minimalists by any means, but I do not think that minimalism should ever come in the way of living. Children have the right to express their creative selves, play and make a mess. They have a right to be seen and heard in their home. We have to respect their stuff and their right to keep some weird crap if they think it's neat :)

What we can do is encourage them to clean up after themselves and take care of their stuff. If it's important to them, they should take care of it.

The same goes for us, of course.

Planning a birthday party in a small home

2011-11-07T10:06:00.001-08:00

I'm pondering the one and only negative aspect of living small, which is the difficulty of throwing parties.

We are not big party people, and we usually only ever have a few guests at a time.
We don't hold birthday parties for ourselves, but now we have a daughter, and even though we don't have big families or huge amounts of friends we want to invite, the "short" guest list still comes to 25 people (including kids). We have seating for ten. We don't have a coffee table or end tables or lots of places to put down the cake platter and coffee cup. (In fact, we only have a handful of coffee cups, but those can easily be borrowed.)

My father kindly offered to have the party at his house, so we may go that way, though Indiana is now saying she wants to have it at home. That would mean having two separate parties, one for family and relatives and one for Godparents and friends, then we may just make it.

This is still a very minor issue, given that we only want to have 25 people over once a year :)

So there are two options:

a) Have the party somewhere else
b) Keep the guest list short and have two separate parties, or at least invite the guests to arrive at different times.

Also, borrow needed cups and plates and possibly some extra seats. Fashion coffee tables from cloth-covered cardboard boxes. Have kids sit on floor pillows. Just make sure the elderly and pregnant folks get a proper place to sit down!

In any case, don't stress about being crowded, there are worse issues than that.
Have a cozy party!

This moment ~ Easy Reading: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

2011-10-28T11:54:00.001-07:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Amanda Soule

Charity, money and love

2011-10-18T02:55:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from Cambodia, from the orphanage I volunteered at. I still think about these kids years later. Some of them I got to know better than others. There were a lot of children and I didn't spend time with all of them. About 60% of the children were handicapped or HIV positive.

Kosal was a tiny baby with a Down syndrome, and he was born without a rectum (his bowel came through his tummy, that's why his diaper cloth always covered his tummy). He was such a happy, smiling, adorable child. He's the one in the crib with pink checkered sheets. Another boy I spent a lot of time with was 2 years old then, Sophal, I'm not exactly sure what was wrong with him, he only had one eye and he didn't see very well. He also had some scarring in his head and he limped. He would cry a lot and bang his head to the floor. After I started spending time with Sophal, he stopped the head banging. Some of the kids wouldn't cry, I guess they were beyond that already.

The second time I saw him he was closer to five years old. He is the one with the plushie duck. He liked sounds a lot as he couldn't see so well. He also loved swinging and I took him swinging every day.

My heart breaks for these kids. And the ones living in the huge dumpster outside Phnom Penh, collecting trash for a living. The young girls forced to slavery and prostitution.

When I was in Cambodia, the organization I worked with was setting up a shelter for girls rescued from prostitution. Yes, it's real. They were young girls, all of them already had contracted sexually transmitted diseases and at least one had HIV. It was so hard to comprehend what they had gone through. International Justice Mission does some pretty dangerous rescue missions in an effort to free these girls. It's one of my chosen charities, as I've seen these kind of rescues really happen. It's not something out of a movie, it's real life.

Some of the children in these pictures had passed away when I went back to Cambodia two years later. Kosal was in the hospital. Sophal was there, lying in a wooden crib without a mattress like a little prisoner. It felt as if he recognized and remembered me. Every time I went there he would immediately get up and raise his hands so that I would pick him up and away from the crib and we would go out and swing and play. He didn't talk, but when I tickled him and said "kuti kuti" as we say in Finnish, he repeated it after me. So I'm thinking that perhaps he would have learned to talk if someone just talked to him. He would cry a little and protest when I had to take him back. And it killed me every time.

But it's better to have a lot of love for a little while than never any at all, right?

The pain I feel for the kids is almost too much to bear when I think about it. And how little I was able to do for them.
It really makes me want to move there and just volunteer at an orphanage and hold the babies who never get held and play with the kids who no one plays with, and take the time to walk a child who is handicapped and will only learn to walk if someone walks with her first. (I witnessed one handicapped girl learn to walk and it was amazing.)

I've been thinking about letting Indiana take part in choosing a charity to donate to each month. I think she needs to know about giving, and sometimes choosing to go without something in order to be able to give. She is yet very small, but she understands so much and already knows about donating stuff to charity. So from now on I'll involve her more.

In the comments of my last post Heini mentioned the quote from Mother Theresa, which goes something like " As long as there is hunger in the world, I will go barefoot".

I was inspired to search for more Mother Theresa quotes and I picked some of my favorites for this post.

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."

"Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God - the rest will be given."

"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."

“We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.”

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”

"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls."

“In the West we have a tendency to be profit-oriented, where everything is measured according to the results and we get caught up in being more and more active to generate results. In the East -- especially in India -- I find that people are more content to just be, to just sit around under a banyan tree for half a day chatting to each other. We Westerners would probably call that wasting time. But there is value to it. Being with someone, listening without a clock and without anticipation of results, teaches us about love. The success of love is in the loving -- it is not in the result of loving. ”

“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”

Could I say it better? I shouldn't think so.
We can all start right here and now, smile to our kids and our husband or wife, be gentle, offer some help. Be content with what we have. Give what we can. Not worry about money -it ultimately comes from God anyway. So surely we can afford to give from what we have.

Have Faith. Say a prayer.

Why do we feel entitled to take more than our share?

2011-10-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

Is it because we can not comprehend, somehow, that the actions of every single person matter? That the people living in extreme poverty on the other side of the world are REAL. They have hopes and dreams and desires. They suffer and hope and despair. They feel the cold and hunger. The mothers' hearts break as they hold their dying children.

Maybe we like to forget, because this reality is too uncomfortable, and shines such a bright light on ourselves, blatantly uncovering our selfishness?

There is enough in the world to cover everyone's basic needs but not to cater for some people's greed.

I struggle with this. I feel guilty of spending money carelessly, or on something luxurious, if I think how much that money could do in another person's life. The money I can spend to buy one birthday present would feed a family for a month.

Yet there are those things to consider I wrote about in my last post. Cheap stuff is rarely ethical. Buying second-hand is a great, guilt free and cheap option. Buying fair trade is not cheap but does help to provide a a fair income for someone out there.

Walking into a store can be so disheartening. Shelves upon shelves, rows upon rows, of STUFF. Stuff that someone made with their hands, spent all their waking hours making it, and still didn't earn enough to live on. They suffered from poisonous gases and ruined water supply.

Does it really help if a few people opt out and choose not to buy it? If most of the western world is participating in this selfish act of consuming without thinking, it can be easy to just go along.

Jim Merkel's book Radical simplicity talks about voluntarily reducing ones income to allow others to have more. How much money we make is also directly tied to how big our ecological footprint is. You can trade some of your income for more free time. Unfortunately it's not always an easy option as employers may not be thrilled about it. In Finland parents who have small children up until the end of second grade (age 8-9) have a legal right to work less.

Sometimes I think that the right thing to do would be to just spend money on food and necessities and donate the rest.
Then I think that I am always so dramatic and go over one end or the other, and the key is finding a balance.

Work toward spending less, spending ethically, and donating more. Make an effort to raise my daughter to be a conscious consumer and generous giver.

Find more free stuff to enjoy, experiences instead of stuff, like walking in the woods to see a telescope, or seeing animals, and always the beach.

Then forgive myself for having wants and selfish desires and pray for strength to slowly overcome them.

Because it's not about deprivation, it's about voluntarily giving up things, about desiring to be free from the clutches of materialism more than desiring that shiny new thing.

It's about joyfully going without.

It's not about how others choose to life their life, but about living according to one's own values, gracefully, humbly, thankfully and with mercy towards others as well as ourselves.

This moment ~ Autumn sunshine at the beach

2011-10-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Amanda Soule

The Pros and Cons of Expensive Stuff

2011-10-13T07:55:00.001-07:00

I decided to write a more practical post for a change. It's the Buy nothing month, and I want to write about buying stuff :)

When you want to live a minimalist lifestyle or live simply and frugally, you will become more aware of every purchase you make, and be more aware of the whys and why nots - to buy or not to buy? Do I really need this? Should I go for the cheaper version or the expensive one? Which one is more simple, frugal, minimalist, ethical and ecological?

I'll say this first: Buying cheap is not a virtue.

Not if it's done at the cost of other people, animals, and nature.

But expensive doesn't automatically mean much better.
Many fancy or trendy high-end brands have no mention of their ethical stance whatsoever.

In my experience, paying extra just for the brand name, for the fact that it's a designer something-something, is never wise. Not that I've never done it myself.

These days I avoid clothing that has very visible branding because the companies should then be paying ME for advertising for them, and I stay away from most anything that is "iconic" (read "ubiquitous")because it feels so unimaginative. It makes me uncomfortable to have a designer "thing" that is super recognizable.

The cons of expensive stuff also include having to worry about ruining or losing or growing -physically or mentally- out of expensive stuff.

Some expensive stuff devalues the second you walk (or drive) out of the shop. The feeling of newness is gone almost as soon. (And thus we return for more new stuff.) You can buy a fur coat that cost well over a thousand euros new, for 40 euros at a thrift shop.

But paying a higher price for ethically made, ecological, fair trade, and just plain lasting quality is always worth it in my book.

I'll give you some examples from our own home.

Exhibit A: The Bed (Yes the bed, I love our bed. But no picture of the bed this time, sorry :))

When we got our memory foam mattresses as a wedding gift they were so comfortable. A few years later they had lost the "memory" and become limp sponges which sucked me in and killed my back. Then I read that they off-gas toxic chemicals. Of course- they are made with petrochemicals and toxic crap. I wanted to get a completely natural bed, but not a futon. I think a thick regular old cheapo foam mattress would have been kind enough to my back, but I really wanted to get a natural bed. There are exactly two companies to choose from here, and we chose the one that seemed to be of better quality and had better warranties, and was cheaper. Still it was the most expensive thing we have in our home. I really love how my back ache was cured, I love the way it feels, I love the soft dense fabric and the woolly goodness and horse hair filling. I justified the cost by calculating that a monthly visit to my massage therapist for ten years would cost more than the bed. And the bed has a lifetime guarantee and we are not likely to ever need to buy another bed for ourselves.

Then my brother's cat peed on the bed. Twice. (The first effort landed on the bunched-up duvet only.) My husband found instructions on how to clean cat pee and get rid of the stench with household peroxide, vinegar and baking soda. I tried it and was thankful to see it worked and we are left with a very faint stain and no stink, and luckily only in the pillow top and not the actual mattress.

But the moral of the story is that life happens, accidents happens. If you can't handle cat peeing on your expensive stuff, then don't buy expensive stuff.

If there is a high risk of a cat peeing on your expensive stuff, consider long and hard before getting said expensive stuff :)

Also, take good care of your expensive stuff. (Note to self - wool mattress cover would be great in case any cat or toddler might have a pee-related accident. Though it was no accident with the cat. Twice. Need I say more?
Will look into the woolly mattress cover. Though Indiana already wears wool "panties" on top of her diaper at night so there is no leaking.)

Exhibit B: My office chair.

I hate ugly office furniture. I hate the plastic chairs. And when they get old and broken they can't be fixed. They look uglier and uglier until you can't stand them anymore and they are taken to the dumpster.

My (expensive) office chair looks adorable, is made with reclaimed oak in Denmark, is sturdy and comfortable, the upholstery is made in a way that is very easy to replace and I will never need another office chair. In fact it will outlive me by two hundred years.
And it's one of my favorite pieces of furniture ever.

Definitely worth it to me, all things considered.

Exhibit C: Indiana's snowsuit

Last fall I bought a brand name snowsuit that was like new, for 70 euros at a fleamarket. SEVENTY euros for a second-hand snowsuit?? Crazy, right?
Well, it was super warm and light and waterproof and the fit was perfect for her long-legged body. In the spring it still had only minimal wear and I put it in an internet auction and it sold for 80 euros, I kid you not. So we got to use this awesome snowsuit and we got 10 euros for it too! (These sell for 159 euros when new.) I would love to know how many kids does this snowsuit go through before wearing out? Definitely more ecological -and actually much cheaper- than buying a new 70 euro snowsuit that nobody will want after one or two winters.

Sometimes expensive isn't even expensive, if you get it second hand.

I used to be terrible with money and I still am somewhat terrible but I'm learning to be better, and intentional minimalist simple living really helps there. I sometimes feel a bit envious of the naturally frugal. I need to work on it.

Save money and nature by NOT buying stuff.
Save money and nature by buying second hand.
Try making stuff, it's really satisfying. And your creations will be so unique. And there is a touch of love in the hand made.

Then spend money on good, lasting stuff that makes your life a little easier and nicer (but doesn't make someone else's life miserable).

I will buy some fabric at the thrift shop for practically nothing. Then I will splurge on Belgian linen fabric to sew us some new flat bottom sheets. (We have two, which is quite risky sleeping in the same bed with a toddler. And one of the sheets is too small and needs to be re-purposed. So we need two new sheets so that we'll have three.)

I will skip a few take-away lattes and buy fair trade dark roast coffee and brew it on my french press.

I will sew most of Indiana's clothes and buy her really good winter boots and fair trade toys as gifts.

I will sew my husband a bunch of new boxer shorts to replace some disintegrating ones, and then buy him cool organic fair trade pants.

You get the idea.

I'm probably leaving out some super important points for and against expensive stuff.. If you can think of anything please share in the comments :) I need to go sleep in my wonderful bed, cat pee and all, next to my wonderful fairy girl, who can't wait for snow. She has an expensive second-hand snowsuit ready for her.

Oh, and final disclaimer: I am

truly
deeply
eternally grateful

for the fact that I'm even in the position to consider the pros and cons of expensive stuff. I know some people have to scramble for just something, anything.
And I want part of my effort to live more frugally to be so that I can give more to others.

I'm spoiled and privileged and don't I know it.

Foraging

2011-10-11T09:16:00.001-07:00

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One of the most satisfying, simple things is to forage food. Right now there are still mushrooms to be picked in our vast forests, and rowan (mountain ash) berries abound. I wish we had more room to store preserves! Indiana loves rosehips and has been eating them by the handful from the bushes.. And I love rosehip jam.

I went mushroom picking yesterday at the in-laws' house and picked a couple of big bucketfuls (over 20 liters) of funnel chanterelles. It was like a scavenger hunt, and these delicacies were my golden prize, hiding in the moss. (In the pictures you see less than half of them, I shared them with mother-in-law and sister-in-law.)

I rarely cook with recipes, and tonight I also winged it, and got lucky. Our dinner was so delicious there were no leftovers. I have to remember what I put in it! I have ten bags of funnel chantarelles in the freezer now. And our tiny freezer is unfortunately full already.

I also picked some pieces of wood from the firewood pile and lying about in the forest. I'm trying to find pieces with spalting -the black decay marks. The decaying stops when the wood dries and it's left with beautiful marks. I want to make some wooden things. I think I should start with some simple blocks :)

And then I just walked in the rainy woods, and marveled at how glad and light it made my heart feel and how the forest floor was so welcoming to my feet.

Birthdays and animal days and other simple joyful things I love right now

2011-10-05T05:26:00.000-07:00

Moss, such a vivid green, and mushrooms and piles of fallen leaves. Raking. Still picking up moss from my hair and cardigan the day after. Simple one-pot or one-skillet meals. (Hello omelets!)

The fact that my husband is on vacation for two months and we can all go to the zoo in the middle of a Tuesday to celebrate Animal day. That there are wondrous creatures like lynxes and bears. That according to a quiz at the zoo I'm a Lynx. How fitting, since it's the only wild cat species making it's home here, up here.

Old toys, handmade toys. Old favorite books. Knitting woolly things and touching wooden things. Warm blankets, sunshine in her hair, seeing her dance around in a handmade dress. My husband at the sewing machine, fixing his jeans :D

Linen fabric. Linen sheets, linen towels! Good coffee and lots of crunchy, juicy sweet apples. A good camera I'm borrowing. Taking pictures.

Words.

I participated in this game by Waddler (the fair trade children's clothing company) where you have to come up with a (sensible) sentence with only words starting with the letter W -the sentence with he most words wins. Though it didn't say whether the same word only counts once :) I tried to use as many different ones as possible, whew!

"When wee wild wolves walz wistfully, withdrawing warm willowy womb, we walk westbound whistling wordlessly within winding wintery woods where whirly wind won't win with witty, willful witchery, which woeful, weary wayfarers welcome whenever water's wide wingspan wanes without warning, wasting weak, wilting wanderers witnessing wrath, whereas we will wisely weld worldly wires with wonderfully wieldy work, withstanding wanton wishes, worshiping wholeheartedly, whimsical waddlers winking while wading within wet waves weightlessly, without worry."

It makes perfect sense, right? Right?

One day at a time - make your life your art

2011-09-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

I stop every day to take in all that I have been given. I cherish her holding my hand still. I stop to snuggle and breath in her scent. To look at the soft peach fuzz on her upper lip.
I wrap myself in the crisp, yet so wonderfully warm autumn air we have been blessed with, and the grey sea still welling up and down the shore. Inside me hope and trust well up. I know I am being carried.
It is enough simply being me.
The long winter doesn't scare me now, it's deeply rooted in me and I know it makes me appreciate the summer so much more. The four seasons serve me well, to keep me alert, waiting and excited.

My temporary urge to run away to somewhere as far as possible has been tamed. My family is here. Indiana's family is here. Her roots, my roots are here. In this place with cold, cold, dark winters. So much snow it will bury your house and you will think the weak spring sun can not possibly ever conquer it all.

I am undecided about what to do concerning my art.

But I do know one thing.

The very best and most important art anyone can create is to live a beautiful, meaningful life.

See this video and you will see a glimpse of why I love this Northern place so:

http://vimeo.com/flatlightfilms/aurora

This moment ~ To a birthday party, with chocolate cake

2011-09-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Amanda Soule

While she had cereal I contemplated sewing.

2011-09-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

I hadn't sewn for two weeks. I had plans though. Oh don't I always!
Today my dear dear husband went with Indiana to her grandparents' house again. I spent four hours de-cluttering digital photos. I barely made a dent, I tell you! We have five million thousand photos. I'm trying to be better about deleting the bad ones immediately...

The rest of the evening I spent sewing a gorgeous organic cotton flannel dress from the fabric in the last photo. It turned out quite big, I hope she can wear it with rolled sleeves and I can take in the hem a little.

I always want to do so much on my days alone, that I don't want to waste time eating. Let alone cooking anything! When I'm really starving, I scarf down something quickly. Today I had kale rolls I made from scratch yesterday. It took nearly three hours of cooking and peeling and chopping and (rocking) and rolling. Talk about slow food! They are delicious though with lingonberry jam. Quite the traditional Finnish thing too.

Well, I hope you all have a splendid sunshiny week!

The quiet beauty of a small life

2011-09-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

There is something very beautiful about a simple life, lived well, with compassion, humility and gratitude.

The mother who spends her life taking care of her handicapped child.

The grocery store cashier who never fails to be friendly and helpful beyond what is expected of her.

The monk or a hermit who lives in solitude, simple work and prayer.

A lot of us have big dreams and ambitions and we strive and compete and feel like failures and get bitter at the unfairness if we don't "succeed". Even the ones who have their heart set out on helping others, want to move to the other side of the world and do some grand humanitarian work (I sometimes dream about this too). If that's not possible, we settle to doing nothing and just suffer the silent nag deep in our souls, commanding us to do more.

What if we first open our eyes and take a look at the world right in front of our noses. How can we help lift another person's load just a little bit? How can we serve God right here where we are planted at this moment?

I think that we should always start close to home. First take care of your own children and beloved and family, and your relationship with your Creator. Then look around your community and see if there is something you can do, do you have time to give, some special talent or something material?

I have been to far away places twice in my life to do voluntary work, and it was a great adventure and eye opening for sure, but I think that it's much harder actually to put in the effort and find the time to do some less exciting voluntary work here at home. I'm looking into what I could do when I have a little bit of time soon when Indiana goes to a play group two mornings a week. I'm thinking about volunteering at our neighborhood charity thrift shop.

If I sound like I have all the answers, I apologize. I am actually in a crisis of sorts concerning my life and my work, but that is a topic for a whole another post.

This moment ~ washing dishes

2011-09-23T11:41:00.001-07:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Amanda Soule

Teflon smeflon -sometimes the good old ways really are best!

2011-09-19T00:11:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed how there are so many innovations that are supposed to make our lives better, easier, more efficient, and so on, but they really only serve to make it more complicated and wasteful in the end?

Exhibit A, the teflon pots and pans.
They emit toxic fumes, they scratch easily, and you need to replace them often or you will eat teflon peal with you meal. And when they get a bit scratched they start to stick. The last time I replaced my teflon frying pan I decided to try a ceramic coated one. It worked fine in the beginning but started to stick very soon. Then I saw an old cast iron frying pan and dutch oven at my dad's storage when we cleaned it this summer. I first took the frying pan and decided to try it out. I was quite pleasantly surprised! It was as non-stick as any new teflon pan. It also cleaned easily. Now I also have the dutch oven, replacing and old kettle which for some reason burns my food. ( I swear it's the kettle, not me!)
They are heavy, but they look so lovely, make cooking a more pleasant experience, and best of all: they last forever!

So I urge you to never to buy a "non-stick" pan again. A well-seasoned cast iron really is non stick. And you will never need to buy another pan or skillet again. Heck, these can be used for generations.

Exhibit B, memory foam mattresses.
We got Tempurpedic mattresses as a wedding gift. We loved them. It felt weightless to lie on them. They supposedly had a 15 or 20 year warranty.
About four years after getting them my back got really messed up. It was after I gave birth to Indiana, so I just thought the pregnancy ruined my back. I went to an excellent massage therapist which helped some, but the problems continued and at some point I realized my back was always the worst in the morning, and it was painful to sleep..
Yup, it was the bed. It had lost the "memory" ability in just a few years and gone completely limp and soft. It took me a long time to realize this, because I had bought into the advertising as these being so healthy and good for you, and having a long warranty time. (Which, by the way, doesn't cover the softening of the bed, which is considered to be a quality of the bed, not a fault.) I did some digging and read that 61 different chemicals (including stuff like formaldehyde) are being emitted to the air as the toxic chemicals used in making the memory foam off-gas from the mattresses.
And the environmental load of these things makes me cringe. I'm still a bit upset that we had them. That my baby slept on one for two years. I decided to go the completely opposite way and we bought mattresses that are made with natural materials and have a life-time guarantee.

There are just so many examples.
Real solid wood furniture also lasts for hundreds of years. Particle board off-gasses toxic chemicals and starts to look shabby and is discarded in ten years.

Wool blankets and clothing are superbly warm, repel dirt and naturally self-cleanse (it's the reaction of wool's lanolin with the oxygen in the air, in case you didn't know) and wick away moisture, keeping you dry and comfy. Wool can absorb up to 40% of it's own weight of moisture and still feel dry and warm to touch!

I am not against progress and innovation, but so often it seems the progress is backward, and only serves in making people buy more stuff. Just because something is the latest craze and advertised as being the answer to everything, it's not necessarily true in the least bit.

Sometimes the time tested is best -like wool socks and rubber boots for autumn, or old children's books and wooden rocking horses.

Buy nothing new month

2011-09-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

Could you buy nothing new in October?

The challenge is simple, buy nothing new for a month. You can buy second hand or trade or swap or make yourself.

Even though it's not October yet, today I made two pairs of leggings and a tunic from knit fabric and they turned out nice. And Indiana really likes the Fox dress. I try to use mostly second-hand, vintage and organic/ fair trade fabrics. I want to start making most of Indiana's clothes myself and just buy shoes and rain / snow gear.

I have limited sewing time at the moment, as it's pretty impossible to get anything done with my little imp "helping". Often on Mondays I have "me-time".
Today I

drank too much coffee

after which I was pretty frenetic the rest of the day -

and I cleared out our summer clothes and put away Indiana's too small shoes and clothes and enjoyed the resulting sense of order

brought bigger shoes down from the attic, a flea market find from last spring

decided that two pairs of winter shoes is enough for her and that I would keep our entrance from being over flown with her shoes, cute as they may be

and then I sewed for three hours.

It was pretty much perfect way to spend my day alone.

This moment ~ painting in new mama-made dress

2011-09-08T22:54:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Amanda Soule

Thrift shopping the smart (minimalist) way

2011-09-05T12:47:00.000-07:00

We all need to buy something occasionally. Most of us want to buy something occasionally. Thrift shops and flea markets are great places for finding anything you might ever want or need. They are full of charming vintage linens and kitchen wares and practically new (or new!) clothing. Toys, books, furniture, crafting supplies, appliances, it's all there. By buying used things we are helping to preserve our precious nature, we are saving our own money, teaching our children good habits, and if we shop at charity thrift shops, our money is going to good causes.

But there lies a danger in thrift shopping. It's so cheap! It's one of a kind, if I don't buy it now I'll never find one like it again! Oh, and it's so cheap!

And stuff accumulates. You become suffocated by your adorable quirky vintage treasures, and your closets bulge with "almost perfect" clothes, that you never wear because... well, you rather wear the perfect ones.

I propose thinking about thrift shopping as if you are renting stuff. You choose what you think is great, you pay a small price, you take the thing home and you enjoy it for as long as you like. When you don't enjoy it anymore and you notice it has become more clutter than treasure, YOU TAKE IT BACK. You have paid a small price as rent for having the use of the item, and you don't have to feel like you have wasted your money or made a mistake once you decide you no longer need or want the thing.

Still, it's always good to really stop and think about what you are going to buy. Do you need it? Do you really, really want it? It's so much easier not to buy in the first place, than to buy stuff you end up de-cluttering a few months later.

Another wake-up call

2011-09-03T00:28:00.000-07:00

Here.
It makes me sick to my stomach to think that this could happen. It's just crazy. We all have to just CONSUME LESS and spend LESS ENERGY. It's just so easy to let your life revolve around your own belly button and choose to ignore how our actions affect the rest of the world. How every purchase we make is a vote for the kind of world we want to live in.

Simple sanctuary

2011-09-02T23:30:00.001-07:00

When I enter our bedroom, it always feels like a - s i g h.

You live with kids, and your home resembles the pictures of my last post more often than not.
Or you have a messy partner, or maybe you are just beginning de-cluttering and simplifying your life and have a long way to go.

Clear out even just one space and make it your simple sanctuary that you always keep clear. It helps to have a space where your eyes and soul can rest without your attention being pulled a million ways by lots of objects, pictures and colors.

Our bedroom decor -or lack thereof- is the kind that elicits responses like "where is all your stuff?" or probably secret questions of "are you really poor?"

Wait, what?
It's a bedroom. There's a bed. There are pillows and duvets. What more is needed?
Dressers, nightstands and "access chairs" ie. clutter collectors are just in a way. Our bedroom is relatively large given the size of the apartment, and there is this empty floor space that we use to hang our laundry to dry. When there are no laundry racks, I get to enjoy the empty spot.

There is no art on the walls, but I want to hang a simple wooden cross above the bed one day. Perhaps we can make one ourselves.

The bedroom is an obvious spot for the simple sanctuary, and I highly recommend that everyone make their bedroom a calm, enjoyable place. Your simple sanctuary could also be the bathroom, sometimes the only place where a mother of a small baby can spend a few minutes alone taking a shower or bath!) or just a small nook in the living room with your favorite arm chair for reading or knitting.

Start with one spot, see how good it feels and how it becomes your favorite place in your home, and let the serenity expand. You will find out that your tolerance for the occasional mess (or chaos, as it may be) grows and everyone in your home will benefit.

One rainy day at a minimalist home (with children.)

2011-09-01T02:46:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you just have to make a mess.
Eat pop corn in the living room, peel bagfuls of apples, cook jam and bake a pie.
Get soaked in the rain. Take out every single toy. Paint with watercolors. And worry about cleaning it all up later.

The purpose of minimalist lifestyle for me is to accommodate more living. Being stressed about always maintaining perfect order and neatness with gleaming white and chrome surfaces is not part of it.
But even the worst mess can be cleaned and order restored in under half an hour.
That's the beauty of minimalism.

Bittersweet August

2011-08-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

I'm enjoying the queen months, August that is. What is left of it.
The lush, ripe nature. Picking apples. And other home grown stuff. Dark velvety nights and trying to soak in as much summer as we can. Last warm days at the beach. Trying on winter woollies for size.

Feeding a one-eyed horse.

Visiting a monastery which used to be a barn and eating traditional Russian soup made by the monks. Going to sauna and watching Indiana run around naked in the grass.

My birthday.

Sewing for Indiana from a pattern my mom has drawn, with a fabric remnant I found in her sewing cupboard. Patterns from which she made clothes for us when we were kids.

Thinking of sewing more clothes for Indiana. I made that red dotty jersey dress without a pattern and it can't stand closer inspection.
She has started to want to wear things that don't have to go over the head.

And pockets are always preferred, naturally.

If joy comes along, let it stay-

2011-08-29T09:22:00.000-07:00

If sorrow comes along, let it go away!

From a children's song.

We go to the amusement park once a year. I think it's more special that way, rather than go many times every summer.

The last pictures are from our very own neighborhood amusement park this morning.
We can have a lot of fun at home too.

This moment ~ first time riding

2011-08-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Amanda Soule

Thrift shopping

2011-08-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

We went shopping.
I bought a handmade (and hand sewn!) quilt. For two summers I'd been thinking that a picnic / beach blanket would be nice. I didn't want to go look for one as a large towel could be -and was- used in a pinch but today I came across this one at a charity thrift shop, I loved it and it cost four euros. And it's hand sewn, did I mention that? Imagine someone stitching all those hexagons together!!

We also bought handmade vintage duvet covers. They are yellow. They are worn soft. We can wear them out and then they will make doll sheets or rags or something. We didn't NEED them as we have two sets of bed linens and two sets is enough. Perhaps I felt like getting a splash of color in our bedroom. Perhaps it was the cottage style I felt attracted to. Here most summer cottages are decked out with vintage outcasts, all the stuff not good enough for the main dwelling. Except those magazine perfect "second homes" of course.

Anyway, if I get sick of their yellow floweriness, I can always donate them back to the thrift shop for someone else to find and enjoy for a while:)

We also visited recycling center's shop. They even have a "free" section. I took one free purple shirt for Indiana, and bought a stripy shirt and blue sweatpants.

And when we start using craft materials I will definitely shop at the recycling center. Their craft section is so nice and well organized, like any other craft shop!

I have been too lazy at thrift shopping lately, mostly because I haven't wanted to drag Indiana to lots of shops. But I want Indiana to be more familiar with thrift shops than retail stores! And it was okay with her for a while, she would play with the toys and touch things curiously and ask what they were. Sometimes I didn't know what they were. So much stuff!

Yet it doesn't give me the same nauseous feeling that going into "regular" shops gives me.
You know the feeling -that there is too much stuff, I shouldn't be there and it's all wrong.

Simply being me

2011-08-24T04:18:00.000-07:00

I stopped dyeing my hair over a year ago. It was long, brushing my waist. I cut it this summer to get rid of almost all the dyed hair and annoying layers and chemical damage. I cut it myself and it took only a few minutes.

I'm letting it grow back, though I'm enjoying how easy this short hair is. Not that long hair is necessarily a lot of work either. I'm a wash-and-go person either way. There is never any curlers, straighteners, blow dryers, mousses, waxes, sprays or gels involved.

It is very freeing to not have to feel guilty about the dye chemicals down the drain and on my body, animal testing and general waste. Not to mention giving my daughter the message that natural is not good enough and we should always strive or pretend to be something different than we are. Or think we have to express our true selves through external factors like hair color, eye color, skin color, clothes, possessions. Having a natural non-descript hair color does not make me mousy or boring.
It's very important to me to show my daughter an example of acceptance and love toward oneself.

I also love not having to worry about roots showing or the color turning out too dark or too red or whatever.

I am free to take long trips without the annoying knowledge that my hair will look crappy a few weeks in..

It's lovely to see more and more of my natural color and how shiny and soft and healthy it is.

I wash with natural handmade soap -face and body. I use natural shampoos and conditioners and lately I've started using shampoo bars, because I hate the plastic bottles.

I use minimal make-up. Often it's just a dab of concealer under my eyes and some tinted shea butter balm on my lips and cheeks. I also have a mineral powder foundation and a smoky bronze eye liner if I want to make more of an effort. That's it.

My vanity is not worth the trouble and grief using a lot of chemical cosmetics causes myself, the earth and it's other occupants.
Oh, and it saves a lot of money too.

Where does your heart lie?

2011-08-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

How and what do you spend your money on?
How and who do you spend your time with?
Are the values you claim to have aligned with your actions, or at odds with them?

What you put importance in is where your heart lies.
Where you heart lies, is who you are.

At the wilderness cabin

2011-08-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

I went to a wilderness cabin with Indiana, my dad and brother and his fiance. It was lovely. The cabin was small and I kept sizing it up -wondering if it was big enough to actually live in. The main cabin was about 300 sf, consisting of small kitchen nook, living/dining area, very small bedroom and a sleeping loft. There was an additional tiny building which was just one room, less than 100 sf. There was an outhouse and a sauna building as well. All together it was probably 500sf, and felt like enough of space. Everything was built with logs as is customary here.

The forest and lake were so peaceful. We saw a swan couple with six young ones. We swam naked in the cool waters and watched sunset and didn't want to get out until we got too cold and then we went to the traditional sauna warmed by burning wood. There was only a hose with cold water and we heat the water over the hot stones.

I have to admit that living like this in the winter would be tough and I would want to have an indoor toilet plus a warm shower :)

I loved to get out of the city, and Indiana was such a great little traveler. We did see some sights, nothing that could be considered kid stuff, but she was interested in a gothic style church we visited, and a pottery studio, and a medieval castle.

She played with things like bits of hay, and we had some books and a drawing pad with pens. No need to bring tons of toys, the ones we brought she didn't play with at all.

In the evening we called daddy on the phone, and snuggled in our tiny sleeping cabin. I felt so close to her, it was lovely.

Minimalist quote of the month

2011-08-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

All I can tell you is that I, personally, as an individual, was deeply unsatisfied with the way things were. I spent far too much of my time dusting my crap, arranging my crap, painting my crap, finding more crap I needed to go with my other crap, and suffering under the illusion that I would feel fulfilled and satisfied and happy just as soon as my life looked like something out of a Pottery Barn catalog and I were wearing the right pair of ballet flats and the most whimsical brooch.

We’re always saying life is short, but honestly, if you stop staring at paint chips and shopping for throw pillows and arranging vases, if you have so little clothing (let alone accessories like scarves, necklaces, or earrings, of which I own none) that choosing an outfit is hardly an artistic endeavor, you would be surprised at how much time you have and how absolutely terrifying it can feel to have nowhere to put that energy.

You become almost the only particularly notable thing you own, and experimenting with rearranging a bookshelf into a rainbow pattern, it turns out, is far easier than experimenting with rearranging oneself. Where does one even begin?

From this blog: The Trephine

Hoard less, Give more

2011-08-06T02:09:00.000-07:00

I am sure all of you are aware of the crisis in Africa. The worst famine in 20 years.
Please buy less crap and donate the money to provide food, water cleaning tablets etc. to the suffering children. It's a matter of life and death.

I cannot help but imagine how I would feel if I was in that situation with my own child. How heart breaking to watch you children die and be unable to feed them.

Go to www.unicef.org for more information.
Finnish people, donate here: http://www.unicef.fi/afrikan-sarven-katastrofi-2011

Minimalism is a tool for a better life. Not just for you, but for the whole world.

Minimalist approach to exercise

2011-08-03T08:00:00.001-07:00

The best exercise is going places and doing stuff.

At our farther-away home beach -a nice walk away from our house

Walking with uncle

I have a very relaxed attitude toward exercise. Ideally, it should mostly be a part of living. Like walking to places, running and playing with your kids, swimming in the sea, riding horses, doing housework. Then sometimes I feel like I just want to go out by myself for walking and running a bit, or do body weight exercise for a bit, or just stretch.

Ever so often I have thought "I'd love to able to run". (Then, how strange this thought is. When did I ever stop being able to run??)

I love the idea of it. I love how simple and natural it is. Just look at children, they run all the time. In fact, they may complain that they are too tired to walk back home from the park, then suddenly something sparks their imagination and off they go running like the wind :)

I love how you don't need any equipment, memberships or schedules. You can do it anywhere, any time.

A few weeks ago I felt like moving my body and getting some fresh air. I decided to go for a walk by the shore of our home island. I climbed some rocks, jumped down - and suddenly I just started running. It felt good! There was no pressure to run fast, or run far or for long.

And I was surprised that Yes, I can run.
I mean, run for more than it takes to catch a bus.

I thought I'd be in worse shape because the only exercise I have done regularly since Indiana was born is walking. So I really do believe walking is great exercise, and not inferior to running in any way. Some people have bad knees or something else that makes it hard for them to run.

It helps me to just think I was going out for a walk, and then I'd suddenly WANT to run. And I just run for the time that I feel like doing it, then stop and continue walking. I absolutely refuse to run with a goal in mind.

Another thing I've always liked is body weight exercises, aka "prison workouts".
I find gyms a bit weird and uncomfortable and going to one seems like so much trouble. At home, it's possible to just do 15 minutes or a half an hour of body weight exercises, all you need is yourself. (Or heck, just tell yourself 5 minutes, if that will help you get going!)

It's much easier to talk myself into doing 15 minutes of exercise followed by some nice deep stretching, than to actually take the time to go somewhere for it, in which case it would not make sense to work out for such a short time,in which case you might not end up going at all.. At least this was the case for me too often.

These days it's possible to get streaming exercise videos from the internet, that you can use anywhere you have access to internet.

You can even do live ballet classes with internet connection and skype.

But at the very simplest, exercise means getting out of the door and putting one foot in front of the other. Or claiming a bit of floor space for push ups and splits.

When you just can't gather the will power to do it, put on some music and dance with you kid.

Remember that moving your body is fun!

Small, ethical wardrobe for mom and child

2011-08-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

My boots, cardigans and jackets in the hallway:

Some of the tunics I wear all the time (in the cooler weather):

*I'm editing this post because I decided to share photos of my actual wardrobe. I think it's more interesting and helpful. (I hope.)*

I was recently asked to write more about my minimal wardrobe. It seems to be the issue that a lot of women have the most trouble with.

My rule of thumb is to have enough clothing for one laundry cycle, and a few extras.
Living in an extreme four season climate, I have to have more variety, and more different kinds of shoes and outerwear. Still, I like things that I can wear many different ways, and for many purposes. I keep my color palette limited to neutrals and shades of blue, purple and red for colors, so that everything mixes together. I think this is well illustrated in the pictures above!

What your ideal wardrobe consists of has a lot to do with the kind of life you lead. My wardrobe is very casual, as I'm a mommy and a painter. It doesn't make sense for me to own suits and stiff jackets and cocktail dresses.

I like stretchy pieces so I can move freely, sit on the floor, climb, whatever. I like very basic things, but appreciate an interesting detail (like the empire waist and buttons in the purple tunic, or the slit neckline in the black tunic. I like natural fabrics and favor linen, organic cotton, and ethical wool.

As I was searching for ethical sportswear, I recently came across Untouchedworld, which is a New Zealand based ethical clothing company that makes simple sporty clothing out of organic cotton and machine washable merino.

The clothes are good for active lifestyle, but not obvious "sport clothing" which makes them versatile as you can wear them as regular clothing as well. Gossypium is one of the best rated Fair Trade, organic clothing companies for sporty / lounge clothes. I like People Tree for "dressier" things -which in my vocabulary is anything not made with jersey! Everything absolutely has to be (machine)washable, I don't do dry-clean only clothing. I also don't iron anything ever. I only have a few non-jersey pieces which are jeans and a few quirky blouses.

I advocate the same principles for kids' wardrobes as well. Things are just much more manageable when there is less stuff in Indiana's closet as well. Besides, kids are like adults in that they tend to choose to wear the same favorites over and over, no matter how big the selection is. Solid colors are best because you can pretty much throw any of them together, whereas two completely different patterned pieces might not work so well together.

So, what exactly is in our closets?

I have (for cooler seasons):

1 pair of jeans (dark, organic denim)
3 pairs of sport /lounge / casual pants in stretchy fabric (also for sleeping and exercise)
2 pairs of leggings (cotton and merino)
6 tunics/casual dresses (linen mix jersey, linen knit)
10 long sleeve tops in linen and cotton jersey (also for sleeping and exercise)
1 black sweater
3 cardigans

5 bras
socks (~12 pairs)
undies (~12 pairs)

For summer:

1 pair of ankle length (or capri when cuffed) jeans
1 jumpsuits (purple)
2 dresses
8 sleeveless tops (also for sleeping and exercise)
4 capri leggings and cropped sweatpants (also for sleeping and exercise)
1 hooded sweatshirt
1 black linen knit cardigan
4 "nicer" blouses (organic cotton, linen), that can be also layered over long sleeve tees in the winter for when I want more "flair"

A lot of the pieces work all year round.

In addition to my basic wardrobe I have two black jackets, Gore-tex jacket and pants, light hooded trench type jacket, wool peacoat, and a winter coat. I have two pairs of boots (for all seasons except summer), Gore-tex running shoes, a pair of summer sandals and a pair of high heels (that hardly ever get worn!) so five pairs of shoes in total.

I have a black cocktail dress and a long gown that hardly ever get worn either, but when you need them, you need them :) I have two scarves, a woolly hat and two pairs of gloves. Last winter I only had one pair of leather gloves and I realized I needed water proof ones, and a couple of weeks ago cleaning my dad's storage I found my old pair of hardly used snowboarding gloves, which I took and I think they'll work great next winter for making snow balls and such.

Oh, and I have a pair of riding pants and a set of painting clothes at my studio:D

So here's the rest as a list:

2 black jackets (3/4 sleeve classic and a stretchy avantgarde one)
1 light weight hooded trench
1 Gore-tex jacket
1 Gore-tex pants
1 Navy wool peacoat
1 winter coat

2 scarves
1 woolly hat
2 pairs of gloves (leather and waterproof)

2 pairs of boots
1 pair of Gore-tex running shoes
1 pair of summer sandals
1 pair of high heels

1 cocktail dress (black silk)
1 long gown

1 pair riding pants
1 set of clothes for painting

So, for some people this is very little, for some people it's a lot. For me it's just right for the life I'm living now. I could make do with less, but I like to have SOME variety and the fact that I don't have to stress about running out of clean pants (which was a slight problem this summer, but I should be okay now). I also like to wash full loads of laundry. Also this way, if a piece wears out completely, I don't have a wardrobe crisis. I don't have to run out and buy something new immediately, I can wait for a sale or until I find a piece I really like. Having a minimal wardrobe, it's essential to actually like and wear everything. That being said, I may have a piece or two in there to donate..

Indiana mostly wears comfy jersey clothing too. She has a selection of

leggings and sweatpants (around 10 pieces in total),
cord overalls,
a summer jumpsuit,
a couple of pairs of tights,
8 pairs of socks,
about 10 long sleeve tees and
5 short sleeve tees,
hooded sweatshirt,
a couple of dresses,
wool knit pants
and sweater
and a cardigan, plus
outerwear and
shoes for different seasons.

Indiana wearing s shirt from People Tree (it's more like a dress for now but 6this way she will be able to wear it for longer.)

When I buy new for her, I look for organic cotton and Fair Trade or at least companies with some ethical policy. People Tree has a small selection of cute children's clothing as well, and Waddler has amazing knits from Bolivia. Expensive, but super cozy and fair - helping to provide (sometimes the only) income to Bolivian families.

It's of course smart (both economically and ethically) to buy second hand for kids and accept and give hand-me downs if you have friends or relatives who have children.
I tend to buy bigger sizes and the clothes will fit a bit loose at first, then be just right, and finally they may be a bit snug, but with jersey pieces it doesn't matter. Leggings are always kept to wear as capri leggings later!

Hand made clothing is extra special, if you are crafty and have the time, or have someone close to you who can sew or knit for your pumpkin:)
If you buy mostly second hand, you can then spend a little more and buy Fair Trade, organic clothing when you buy something new.

Having a small wardrobe has many perks.

The laundry is never overflowing, you have to keep up with it.
You only have things in your closet that you actually want to wear so dressing is easy.
Everything goes together so dressing is easy.
You don't have an endless amount of choices so -you guess it - dressing is easy.
You actually wear things out and can replace them with new stuff without feeling guilty.
You stop caring about trends when you know what works for you and what you actually like to wear.
For us it's comfortable, fair, good quality, versatile clothing that is functional and allows us to lead our lives without thinking about it too much!

And after you have pared down your wardrobe to the essentials, my number one tip to keeping it that way:
Limit your exposure to advertisements. Be it catalogues, fashion magazines or tv, just avoid it. Also, don't go into shops unless you are there to buy something specific you need.
Make it a rule to only buy something new after you get rid of one or two old pieces.

Always remember to ask: "Where did this piece come from and what is the true cost to environment, workers, my finances, my sanity?" You may find that pair of new jeans is not so tempting after all.

You are not your clothes.

Absolutely Wonderful

2011-07-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

I was sitting with Indiana, watching her eat cereal before bed time. I looked at her peachy cheeks and soft fuzz on her upper lip and suddenly I just asked her: "Do you know that you are absolutely wonderful, do you know that?"
And she answered matter-of-factly :"Yee-es." All the while munching on her corn flakes.

And I thought to myself: This is how you know you are successful as a mother. Raising a child who knows that she is absolutely loved and lovable, absolutely wonderful. That she is capable and secure. Always wanted.

Tabernacles in Heaven

2011-05-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

Given that I'm a non-conformist, minimalist, environmentalist, artist and aspiring raw-foodist, you might think that I'm also a yoga-practicing Zen Buddhist or a New Age hippie... But I'm not.

I recently came across a blog called The Ascetic Struggle. There is a Christian quote for every day and I picked three that I really liked to share with you.

“We build houses that we may have a habitation; not that we may make an ambitious display. What is beyond our wants, is superfluous and useless. Put on a sandal which is larger than your foot - you will not endure it ; for it is a hindrance to the step. Thus also a house larger than necessity requires, is an impediment to your progress towards heaven. Do you wish to build large and splendid houses? I forbid it not ; but let it be not upon the earth! Build thyself tabernacles in heaven, and such that thou mayest be able to receive others; — tabernacles that shall never be dissolved!”

- Saint John Chrysostom

"Always think that you are accursed, poor, needy, blind and naked without God, that God is everything to you: He is your righteousness, your sanctificution, your riches, your raiment, your life, your breath—everything."

- Saint John of Kronstadt

“I trust that, by God’s grace, I am being saved.” Not “I am saved” but “I am being saved”. Salvation, as I’ve said, is a process, not a single event, but an ongoing journey, a pilgrimage that is only completed at the moment of death.

- Metropolitan Kallistos Ware of Diokleia

Miss you, Mom!

2011-05-07T23:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a little over three years since mom went to heaven.
Around this time three years ago I was grieving her so much, and also I was newly pregnant with Indiana, becoming a mother myself.

It still hurts me that mom didn't get to see Indiana, and that she didn't get to see me as a mother. I imagine how our relationship would have changed, how we would have gotten even closer.

I'm sometimes a little angry that she isn't here. As a grandparent she was in a league of her own. She loved kids (and worked with them) and she was always sitting on the floor playing with them, and doing crafts with them, knitting and sewing clothes for them. My sister's children were the light of her life.

I miss chatting with her, being enthusiastic about projects with her, and I wish that she was here to spend time with Indiana, to love her, and to help me out sometimes. Mom loved to do things with her hands, like I do, and she was always there to help out in any renovation projects or moving or things like that.

The time since her unexpected death at age 59, and since becoming a mother, my life has changed radically. I'm ever more appreciative of what family I have left.(The year I lost mom, my three remaining granparents also passed away.)

I will speak my mind about what I think is important, and it's family, you guys. It's other people. Spending time with them, and loving them, and caring about them. It's being honest and forgiving to yourself and others, and getting closer to God.

Go tell your mom you love her (if you are lucky enough to still have her here with you)!

Leave Something for Others. (It's Earth Day!)

2011-04-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Have you done this test already? http://myfootprint.org
It approximates your ecological footprint.
You can also play with the test to see which changes make the biggest difference in your footprint.

Things that have a big impact:
-Live in a small home
-Eat lower on the food chain -vegetarian or mostly vegetarian
-Drive less and fly less
-Buy less
-Buy local, organic, and second-hand, be it food, clothes, furniture or housing

There are also lots of other, small ways to reduce your footprint. Some of them are only applicable if you live in a house with a possibility to grow vegetables, burn wood for heat etc. Turning off lights and electrical appliances, line drying clothes, taking shorter showers and recycling conscientiously help too.

Our housing footprint is minimal as we live now in a small apartment in inner city. We use a car once a week on average. Most of our furniture is second-hand, we rarely eat meat (we are not vegetarians and will eat meat when it is offered somewhere else, I don't want to be picky if there is no medical reason to do so), we line dry our laundry, and I've stopped shopping for unnecessary things. We buy organic whenever there is a choice. I think these are the biggest factors in our small footprint.

I just read Jim Merkel's "Radical simplicity" and I highly recommend it for some eye opening facts! It made me realize that YES, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. If you lower your footprint you are actually leaving more of Earth to be used by someone else, and to be left untouched and wild.

It also shows that at a lower, sustainable consumption level it is still possible to travel sometimes. Maybe we don't need to travel once or twice a year to as far away as possible. Maybe we could travel closer by on most years, and take a special bigger trip every few years. If traveling and seeing the world is important to you, it's not absolutely necessary to give it up altogether. Work on reducing your footprint in all areas and choose to travel less, opting for vacations closer by most years.

Try out the test and see how you do!

Tiny homes

2011-04-19T02:18:00.000-07:00

There is still some ice floating in the sea. Some snow remains on the ground and the wind can be bitter cold. But oh, how I've been waiting for this day!
IT'S BEACH SEASON!

Today I'm so happy to live here, by the beach, in our little home. I will never again sacrifice location for size in choosing where to live. I've realized that it's possible to live anywhere we want if we choose to live in very small homes.

Since moving back to our old apartment and actually starting to feel like we have LOTS OF SPACE, I became intrigued about people who choose small, their reasons for going against the grain of what is expected, and how small can you actually go? Small is cozy and cute, but what are the other reasons?

Obviously one reason is money, or lack of it. But there are people who could afford bigger and just choose not to. Without a large mortgage and up-keep costs they can choose to work less, start their own business,or retire early. So, smaller home means more freedom to choose what to do in your life.

Smaller is ecological, and a lot of people are becoming aware of their ecological footprint. If everyone lived like the westerners, we would need four Earths to provide us with enough resources. Smaller house equals smaller footprint.

Time is another factor. Living in a tiny home means that you can't buy lots of stuff either, enforcing minimalism, simple living and anti-consumerism. There is less to clean and maintain, thus more time to do whatever. Also, building a small home is much faster than building a huge mansion.

Some single people choose to live in under 100sf (10 m2), but families obviously need a little bit more space. How small could you go? I think that for the three of us a minimum of around 400 sf would be needed, and I would not want to go over 800 sf of total space. In small homes you can build a loft area for sleeping which will free actual floor space (and doesn't count towards the square footage). If you live in a place with a yard or direct access to some nature, it makes it easier to live in a small home. When I was single I lived in apartments ranging from 180 to 300 sf. If I had a sleeping loft and a yard or direct access to nature I could see myself living alone in 100 sf, and 200 sf would certainly be enough.

A lot of people think that children need lots of space. In reality, kids love tiny, cozy nooks. Small feels safe to them. Of course, they also love to run around, but they can mostly do that outside, and perhaps you can clear out space in the living room when they want to dance or do gymnastics or something else requiring more space.

Light, easily movable and multi-functional furniture (and not too much of it) works best for small spaces. It's easy to move it to the side for extra play space, or doing a project, or arrange it for having people over. Otherwise, reduce, reduce, reduce! I bet you could be happy with one-fourth of the stuff you have now! I bet you could be even happier than you are now! Could you live in a much smaller place, perhaps have your home paid for in full (or at least much sooner)and live on much less money?

First picture from Arvesund (The Hermit Cabin), others from our beach this morning

Overwhelming abundance

2011-04-01T13:39:00.001-07:00

I haven't knitted anything in ages. I've been giving away bags of gorgeous yarn, and I just donated the last box of my very best yarn.I happened to read that my neighborhood charity shop was collecting yarn to give to immigrant women in the receiving center to knit warm things for their kids. Many of them don't have anything resembling adequate winter clothing when they arrive here. So I imagined how they would enjoy these beautiful soft yarns and lovingly make socks and hats for their babies and I no longer wanted to hold on to it, waiting for the day I would finally, perhaps, make something out of them. I kept one work in progress and the yarn of which my mom was going to knit a cardigan for me (but she never finished it), beautiful smoky blue alpaca.

As soon as that box of yarn was out of my attic, I felt a desire to start knitting. I started making a hat for Indiana, and I plan to make a cardigan and maybe pants as well for next winter.

In releasing stuff that I was going to use someday, I also released my creative energy to do something TODAY. I suddenly didn't have to choose, I didn't have all those options, that pile of stuff just WAITING, looming over my head. And in the same instant it was just so easy to pick it up and start doing it.

This is the same phenomenon that people with crammed-full wardrobes are facing. They constantly feel like they have nothing to wear, even though they probably have hundreds of items in their closet. It's all just too much to choose from. it gets overwhelming.

If one has three pairs of pants and ten tops and two dresses, getting dressed is suddenly simplified. It takes me two seconds to pick out clothes to wear any given day, and everything goes together so it doesn't matter what is clean and what is in the laundry.

The paralyzing effect of too much happens to a lot of children when they have too many toys, they just can't concentrate on playing with anything and end up throwing things around and jumping on the couch instead.

A lot of choices complicate things. Choices demand our attention and even if they are tiny insignificant decisions, they add up and stress us out.

And personally I feel like huge stashes of things clog up my home. I don't need ten years' worth of yarn. I don't need two years' worth of shampoo or canned beans. I can just get what I need when I need it. I don't need a lot of things, but most of all I don't need the oppression of false abundance.

Home tour

2011-03-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

I took a bunch of pictures of our home today. You are not seeing everything- The bathroom has a crappy lighting so I left that for another time. My husband's desk in the living room is still waiting for some organizing :) so I didn't want to take pictures of the piles.
I moved my desk from under the window and put a mattress there for Indiana. It makes the living room a tiny bit more crowded. The bedroom has nothing in it except the bed and the same kind of shelving we have in the living room. But since our bathroom is too small to line dry laundry in, it means we have to do it either in the living room or the bedroom. Well, the bedroom has plenty of space, plus it's closer to the washing machine, and our shared closet is in there, so it's the best place to dry the laundry in. When we are not drying laundry, we can enjoy the empty space.

But I also wanted to show you that we do have stuff -our home is not cold and empty and without personal touches. That's not what minimalism is to me at all. There is the wall rug my grandma and grandpa made for our wedding (we took our vows standing on it) which hangs in the hall way. The only piece of art we have hung is a pastel painting inherited from the said grandparents. As is the antique telephone. But from these three objects the rug is the only thing that has true sentimental value for me and I would never get rid of it. The piece of art and the telephone are very nice but they were not made for me specifically by my grandparents, with their own little hands, you know :)

The toys displayed are for playing, but Indiana isn't really playing so much with them at the moment. There is a waldorf-doll made by my mom, another doll made by my grandmother (the same one), monkey and elephant made by me.. The vintage tin piano gets played a lot, it's quite fun. There is a shelf of old books, some belonged to my mom and were also my favorites, and I'm keeping them for Indiana.

Indina's little plywood desk was made by my dad for her second birthday. The green rococo sofa has also been in the family since forever.

I don't plan on making any changes, other than probably taking off the wallpaper in the bedroom and painting the wall off-white. Oh, and we have the crystal chandelier (yup, inherited from the same grandma... and believe me, my siblings got a bunch of stuff too, and my aunt was PUSHING this stuff to us and I actually resisted really well.. they had a lot of stuff hehe) that needs to be hung in the bedroom. We only put one lamp in the middle of it and it creates very cool shadows in the ceiling and walls! But I feel like the chandelier is enough frou-frou for one room and the wallpaper should go. It's a bit dingy anyway and the flock collects dust.

I'm completely happy with an eclectic hodge-podge of furniture, as long as it's in mostly neutral colors and limited in quantity! For colors I gravitate toward blues and greens -if you don't count white and grey and natural tones. I prefer simple and modest, really - I find the Shakers inspirational for example.

As you can see, we still have stuff. But everything is useful or we think it's extremely cool or lovable or gorgeous. I haven't kept everything that is nice or neat, just the very best. I have no trouble donating a design vase or a vintage jar or a collectible book or whatever, if it doesn't have special meaning and make me smile, or if I have a duplicate or similar item already. Our shelves were bought new (a gift) but almost everything else is second hand, including the rag rugs, which I adore.. They look great and make me feel homey, and they can be thrown in the washing machine.

I should also mention, that for a couple with a young child to be living in a 600 square foot (56m2) one-bedroom home is not really unusual here. Home sizes are generally smaller in Europe than in the U.S.. In recent years new homes have gotten bigger here too, but not quite as humongous. In Helsinki and immediate surroundings people are used to living smaller, because homes are much more expensive than in the rest of the country. Though I think most people with similar living conditions to us dream of having a bigger place. As I did too. We are supposed to want a bigger home, whatever size our current home is. What about just being happy with what we have for a change?

Minimalism and personality

2011-03-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

I wonder if there is a connection?
I'm an introvert. I don't like my attention being pulled outward by lots of objects, pictures, pattern, colors. A calm, austere place leaves room for inner engagement.

With children, it seems also that the intuitive, imaginative introverts are quite happy playing with a tube of toothpaste or a stick or something. They seem less attached to material things, and less interested in lots of toys. They may, in fact, engage in more play for longer periods of time, if there are only a few things to play with.

Our extroverted world seems to have trouble understanding introverted people. Children are encouraged and pushed to play with others, take part in things, be open and smiley to strangers. Being shy and sensitive is something that children are expected to grow out of. We are also supposed to like having lots of things. As adults we are supposed to be out-going, handle small talk, be able to give presentations and like social engagements. We should brag about our many hobbies and being busy all the time.

But what if you are a Mary Sit-and-do-nothing? You can spend days alone, reading, sleeping, doing craft, house work, painting, writing.. You are fulfilled from the inside and don't get easily bored. The outside world is nice in small doses. But you might not be able to function well on a schedule, with a lot of people around you, with pressure.

Minimalism seems to make some people apprehensive. Like you have to be a weirdo if you don't want lots of things. If you LIKE living small and wearing the same clothes week after week. It might be that they feel like their own lifestyle choices are being critiqued. But it might just be that empty walls and lack of stuff makes them uncomfortable. There is nothing outward to make you feel engaged and pulled into, so you are faced with your inner self.

Room for living

2011-03-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

As per request, I'm going to show pictures from our home. Here is our living room. On one side is Indiana's stuff, her desk and chair and the shelves holding toys and books. There are some clothes stored in there as well, and some of the cubbies are empty. In addition to this she has a rocking horse, a doll house and a doll pram. On the other end, next to the balcony, is a sofa which is is the most impractical thing in our home because it's mainly used if we have guests over (only because it's not the most comfortable thing to lounge in, not because we fear stains or anything!) and two small 50's arm chairs as well as a bean bag I made with linen fabric. In between the ends of the room are our desks, one on each side. I didn't take pictures of them yet.

We don't have a tv, but we have a movie/data projector. This room is our combined play room, home office and "living" room. The focus is on our daily activities, which are playing and drawing, reading, using the computers and just hanging out. I've never really liked coffee tables, they seem like a huge waste of space in the middle of the living room and one would probably only be a clutter magnet and in the way when Indiana runs around. The lounging side of the living room seats a few people and we rarely have many people over at once. And we like to sit on the floor too. In a small home the focus should be on the people actually living there, not the potential visitors. We could actually do with even less seating.

I don't like the black&white, cold, stark type of minimalism. I like little stuff, but things that create a homey, soft look. It's also child (and animal) friendly to have this kind of natural, slightly worn in look with a mishmash of furniture and bed made with rumpled linen sheets!

Getting rid of the non-essentials really creates room for living. With a calm, orderly home I feel more serene and peaceful and joyful. I can fully concentrate on playing or even doing housework because I don't have the weight of all the clutter hanging over me and pulling my attention to every which way. I don't get distressed about making a mess because I know it will be fast and easy to clean up. And I definitely notice that order is easier to maintain when there is less stuff. There is room for living and loving and laughing, not to mention time, since I don't have to spend hours on house work.

So, if you are living in a small place, even with kids, the most important thing is to reduce, and then reduce again. And again. THEN organize what you have left over. Starting out with buying more storage furniture and containers may seem like the answer but it's not. Organized clutter is still clutter, and I've noticed that stuff tends to sneak out of their designated places and create random piles everywhere. Go figure! So if you have little stuff, there will never be big piles, as naturally follows! Also, if the storage closets are too full, the often used items tend to not get put back in after use, because it's too difficult. Clean out the closets so there is plenty of empty space for your actual needed, used and loved things! You can just open the closet or cabinet door and plop the item back in there without playing tetris and dropping five things on the floor first.
Open up space by rendering useless some bulky storage furniture (like we did with my husband's wardrobe and three chests of drawers) and perhaps that "accent" chair that nobody ever sits in. Then you can start NOT wanting a big house.

I know I love it when people show their minimalist spaces for inspiration, so I will keep showing ours. Just talking about it is good and well, but a few pictures as examples will probably help out visualizing how we make it work.

Back to Small and Loving it!

2011-03-14T00:13:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit quiet lately as far as my blog goes. Long story short:
I'd been feeling like we oughta get a bigger apartment. You know, 600 square feet (56 m2) one bedroom apartment just CAN'T be enough for us three, right? So we finally found a new place that was 1000 sq ft (92 m2) and had all these niceties like a sauna, two bathrooms, a walk-in-closet, a big terrace AND a glassed balcony. The view from this two-story penthouse was awesome. We moved there and it was very spacious and had so much storage space that we had empty closets. But I felt uncomfortable and missed our old neighborhood. It wasn't far away so we ended up going there a lot with Indiana. And I thought about or old place right next to the beach and community playground and how there was nature and the community was lively and active. Our apartment building from the 50's was small and typical of the area (an island connected to the mainland by bridges) and as was common to the earlier decades there is a lot of green spaces in between the buildings. The whole island was practically our backyard. It took two minutes to get to the beach which had a playground for kids and a cafe that was open from spring to autumn. I even missed our old apartment, which wasn't in such a great condition, and certainly didn't have a lot of closets and modern features like a large bathroom.

So we moved back. We decided to reduce our stuff further. When we lived here previously my husband had a separate wardrobe in the living room, and we also had three chests of drawers (half empty or empty by the time we moved out) that we got rid of when we moved because the new place had ample storage. When we moved back here in the old place we didn't replace any of the storage furniture. My husband has half of the bedroom closet and I share the other half with Indiana. I also keep the linens and some other things in there. I'd brought my old desk from my studio to use as a computer station so that we both had our own (we frequently use our computers at the same time), and now we had room in the living room for two desks. Funnily, the living room in this small apartment is actually bigger than in the big apartment! It feels very spacious.

I really looked at things, trying to see what we REALLY used and which things are only there because "they should be" or because they look sort of nice. My husband especially wanted to get rid of things that are not essential furniture but are still too large to fit in the standard moving boxes, like wall mirrors or lamps or whatever. Those are the most annoying things to move. We also decided not to keep things in case we need them for our next home. This building is still going to have the water pipe/plumbing renovation in a couple of years and we will have to move out, at least for a few months. So I don't know if we will still come back to this place, or try to find a two-bedroom in this same part of town, the island that I love! In any case, we are not keeping the stuff waiting around for it!!!

When packing, a friend was kind enough to come keep me company and help out. It took us three hours to pack all our things. With furniture, it took three trips with a small van, and then my husband had to go a couple of times with our car to get miscellaneous left-over stuff. Yet when we had moved, we still found stuff to get rid of.

I find that we really have enough space. We will probably co-sleep for a few more years, and if we limit the amount of toys coming in and promptly declutter outgrown or unloved toys so that the whole place is not overrun by them, we should not need a second bedroom soon. We could even just move our bed to the living room and perhaps separate the sleeping area a little, and give the bedroom to Indiana, if it wasn't for the noisy computers. We don't want to sleep next to their humming.

I was a little bit embarrassed about going back and forth. Then an acquaintance said: "Wow, I admire you for being so brave! I feel like in our culture it's not okay to change your mind, to say that you made a wrong choice." I liked that. Why is it so horrible and embarrassing to just say, I made a mistake. I tried this and didn't like it and I'm going back.

Pictures from Indiana's desk corner. More pictures from our small home soon..

Realizations to help me achieve a minimalist life

2011-03-13T23:30:00.001-07:00

-No need to own a car in the city. We bike, walk and use public transport, as well as borrow a car when we need it.

-I don't have to keep a library at my home. That's what public libraries are for.

- No need for cd's and DVD's anymore, everything can be digitally stored.

-No need for TV (haven't had one for years), if we want to watch something it can be done via the computer. We don't really watch anything now, but I think my daughter might enjoy some children's programs when she gets older.)

-No need for "fancy" tableware. Our simple white ones work for all occasions. They are also durable and easy to replace.

-No need for big coffee machine, we make our coffee French style on the stove top.

-NOT replacing my former stuffed wardrobe after I got rid of everything that was too small or I just wasn't going to wear anymore. (Realization: I don't need to express my personality through clothes. )

-Clothes for the life I actually lead, which is a stay at home mom and a painter. So comfortable clothing, weather proof clothing, easy to care for clothing is the way to go.

-One in, one out rule with my wardrobe.

-Replace items as they wear out, not buy more "for future".

-Not buying is more satisfying than buying. Staying out of the shops, not reading magazines and not watching tv make it easier to not shop. Out of sight, out of mind.

-It's okay to have empty shelves. They are nice.

-Be very strict with decorations. Only the very best can stay.

-Organic and free range food when possible. I don't cook or eat meat at home but will eat it if I am a guest at someone else's home. I don't want to make a big fuss about eating this or that.

-Start teaching my daughter that it's not necessary to "own" everything, it's good to lend and borrow and let go.

-My most important work is to take care of my daughter. The rest is unimportant. I do it for my enjoyment, when I have the time.

- I am calmer and happier when there is minimal stuff cluttering my home. Less stuff to get misplaced, be in the way when cleaning, to clean and organize (and move when that time comes).

- It is a consumer society we live in, but the people are not the consumers. They are being consumed by their possessions and the want for more.

-Living with children means some clutter, their toys and things they pull out from cabinets to play with end up strewn across the home. But if there is no useless junk, and everything has a place, it will only take a few minutes to straighten up. I will have to have some tolerance for the belongings of other family members (even if I don't always see what value the things have).

A day to myself

2011-03-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

I dropped my camera lense open at the beach and the sand broke it.. so I haven't been able to take pictures. We'll get a new one soon and I'll be posting more!

Indiana left with her dad to grandparents' house for the day. As much as I love and adore my beautiful daughter, I really can use some alone-time. I've been feeling tired and a little blah.

I have a custom order for a tomboy elephant girl like this, but I have a whole month to finish so I don't think I'll be doing it today. Or going to my studio to paint either.

I will clean up here a bit and perhaps declutter some.. I'm reading Francine Jay's (from missminimalist.com) new book " the joy of less" and I highly recommend it, so far it might be the best book on decluttering and minimalism I've read. I like that it has both aspects - I have read books on decluttering that left out the awesome benefits of simplifying and minimalist living in general, and I've read books on simple living that concentrated completely on the philosophical and religious aspects and I really want both :) Her book is funny and thorough and totally inspiring.

I'm really quite happy with how far we have come, but there is always some little stuff to consider.

I may also just take a long nap, and I'm asking a friend to go see a movie with me! WHOA, a MOVIE! In a THEATER! I cannot believe that I haven't stepped inside a movie theater in 20 months, ever since Indiana was born. It's time. Now if I could choose what to see.

So: Cleaning, decluttering, reading, some internet time, and a movie?
I better get started!!!

Best rugs

2011-03-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

These kind of traditional stripy rag rugs are the best! They are beautiful in a simple, handcrafted way

I found this yesterday in my dad's storage. It came from my grandparents' and I think it used to be in granddad's room. It was small enough to throw in the washing machine and it's now drying in our balcony. I will put it in the entrance. The rug we have there now is a knotted wool rug (inherited as well) and I will get rid of it. (One in, one out, remember? )

I like bare floors, they are easy to clean. And I'm afraid if I bought a rug I would get sick of looking at it quite fast. That happens to me.
The floor would be ruined though without a rug at the entrance, so there has to be something there, and this is better than just something.

Minimalist wardrobe

2011-03-13T23:28:00.000-07:00

How to begin creating a minimalist wardrobe?
You need to take an honest look at your lifestyle and what kind of clothes you actually wear and like. On your body, not on somebody else. In your current life, not in a fantasy life. Then think about the colors you like to wear. Which items in your wardrobe do you reach for most often?

Eliminate everything that is too small, too large or ill-fitting. If it pinches or makes it hard to breath or sags in a weird place, ditch it. Even if it was expensive or you like it in theory...
Those items that you occasionally pull out and put on but immediately take off and wear something else instead - give them the boot as well. Think about what it is that you don't like about it, is it the color or loud pattern, frilly lace trim, or something else?

I recommend starting with taking everything out. And I mean EVERYTHING. Then only put back items that you regularly wear.

The goal is to have only favorite clothes. It will make getting dressed super easy!

My own wardrobe consists of black, shades of blue and purple and red, with some dark chocolate brown. Everything goes together and I feel most comfortable in those colors.

After finding a favorite brand clothes shopping became so easy. They have lots of basics in natural fabrics. I love their substantial, slubby cotton-linen mix jersey tops and tunics, and I wear the pictured skinny stretch linen pants all the time. The jeans are organic denim and they are my other pair of pants in constant rotation.
The clothes are not cheap but they are well made and the brand's business is ethically sound as far as I can tell! There are also no labels on the outside, which I appreciate. I don't like to advertise my clothing brands (though here I do so and say that the brand is TOAST from the U.K. and the pictures are from their web site).

Finding a go-to shop for clothing makes shopping easy and fast and you are less likely to make costly mistakes. I love the convenience of on-line shopping as I don't have to go to crowded stores with my daughter. If you stick to one brand you are likely to be able to choose the right size from them without trying things on.

I will do another post on what my minimalist closet actually contains.

Spreading the Monkey Love

2011-03-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

Or monkey business, if you will!

I have had requests for custom toys, and I have made a few. But I really don't have the time and energy to make so many.. So I'm giving people the chance to get crafty and make their own toys! And I actually feel better about selling something that will give a wonderful experience and a sense of accomplishment to crafty people, who like to get their hands dirty making stuff.(Though I do appreciate people who have bought my toys- otherwise they would all live all over my house! My daughter would surely give a home to all of them!)

I plan to sell different patterns, though I suspect the monkey might become a favorite! and I want to still create new ones. My daughter likes raccoons and I've been doodling her some, thinking what a cute toy it would make :)

Use it up, Wear it out

2011-02-12T01:12:00.001-08:00

(Make it do or Do without)

When is the last time you wore out a piece of clothing (the occasional pit-stained T-shirt aside)?

I remember wearing my favorite jeans until they had holes or ripped, but that was a long time ago.

Then I got into the habit of buying more than I need, and would buy new nice things before the old ones were even close to having to be retired of their service.

Until yesterday. I noticed my favorite black stretchy skinny linen-mix pants had several small holes forming in the creases of the inner thigh area. I'd worn them a lot, every week, sometimes many days in a row. They are not old, I bought them in the beginning of the fall season. They are also good quality, I just wore them and washed them so much. I'd wished they had lasted longer, but this just tells me something about how unused most of my clothes have gone in the past, that I have had them for years and then taken them to a charity shop still in good condition.

Then right after the black pants I noticed two small holes at the knee of my blueberry blue leggings, also bought around the same time early last fall.

It was actually a bit strange feeling, almost like an accomplishment. And I regretted a little of not buying a new pair of the black pants, but I hadn't noticed they were starting to disintegrate, and I didn't want to get another pair "on reserve" -that would be so against my minimalist practices, and something I might have previously done, but not anymore.

I realize how nice it is to actually use what you have, and only have what you use. Even with the annoyance of losing my favorite pair of pants, I realize that it is freeing to be rid of the scarcity mentality - the fear of running out, thus buying spares, extras and reserves. There is always going to be more. In fact, my favorite shop where I bought the pants, usually has very similar models season after season, and they now have the same pants but with buttons at the ankles.

I'm still going to get some wear out of the black pants. I can wear them under a tunic, and the holes are not big yet so they wouldn't really show anyway. Still, I don't want to find myself with ripped pants in the middle of the winter, so I'll wear them with tunic to be safe (and covered, should they fall apart on me). I'll replace them eventually. The leggings will be worn as long underpants (yes, we really need those here!) and perhaps at home.

Having less things, which you take care of and appreciate, and use up, feels somehow substantial and grounding. I really wish we could all simplify our lives a little bit, stop wasting money and resources, and wasting away our integrity at the consumerist altar.

Image from dwell.com

The End of Decorating

2011-01-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

When choosing utilitarian pieces, like a jug or a bowl, or a dustpan and broom, make it count! Get beautiful everyday objects, when you need something, so you can leave them out, and display them instead of knick knacks and purely decorative stuff. When your toaster goes bust, pick a new one that you are happy to leave on the counter. Try to get one that will last a long time, even if it costs a bit more.

You don't need that trite stuff, a functional, utilitarian object can have innate, humble beauty.

"Decorating" must be one of the most useless hobbies of modern day. It creates clutter and the constant impulse buying is not good for the environment or ones finances. And it's like any other buying; the wanting never ends. Our homes have been subjected to trends, just like our appearances. Magazines and TV-shows etc bring to our attention a constant stream of futile things to desire. And like mindless robots we buy, thinking it will magically transform our lives into something more glamorous and exciting. And satisfaction never comes -we always want more, better, newer, trendier, different. No amount of stuff can change who we are inside.

But a home is for living, not for showing off. Make it comfy, make it practical.

Make everything in your home count. Be satisfied with less. Stop at "enough".

The Traffic Jam Years

2011-01-10T00:12:00.001-08:00

There is a saying in my native language, "the traffic jam years". It means those years when we have small kids, work too much to pay for the student loans, the car, the big house that we bought or that we are building, and building the house. Still, we have to work out to get back in shape after having kids, to meet friends and make an effort to keep up with the image of being, hip, cultured people who can talk about the latest theater productions and books. We have to have "me-time" away from the kids.

Juggling all of this and more puts enormous stress on our health, mental health, our marriage, and the kids' well-being. We may not have enough time to visit our grandparents or keep our house in order. We feel guilty and overwhelmed. We may use recreational shopping as a stress-reliever, thus making more financial strains on an already tight budget.

Most divorces happen when the children are 0-5 years old. Kids are a lot of work, and time-consuming to take care of. If we are not willing to give up other things, many other things, we end up exhausted, fighting with our spouses, and just generally miserable. We start fighting about money, about who takes care of the kids, and about everything else just because we are so tired.

The children are this young only once, maybe we could put their needs first for a few years? Could you stop buying so many clothes, endlessly decorating your home, going on so many trips abroad, eating and drinking out? Could you live in a more modest home, a small house or an apartment?

Having a nice house is, well, nice if you can afford it, but if there is no-one spending time there because everyone is at work, at kindergarten, and at after-school activities in order to be able to afford the house, what's the point? If everyone is unhappy under that vast roof, then is it really worth it?

Could you be satisfied with smaller, cheaper, older, less fashionable?
What is enough for you to live comfortably?

Sometimes we have to make hard choices. We have to consider our limited time, money, strength and endurance. We have to think of our spouses and children as well as ourselves. What is really important? Do we really want to buy into the dream of having a huge, magazine-perfect house with all designer furniture and expensive knick knacks, when it means we are losing out on so much more. Like precious time with our children, time to relax and actually enjoy being at home.

I'm not perfect, but I am making a conscious decision to put people before things. My daughter's and husband's happiness and wellbeing, as well as my own, is the deciding factor in our lives. I can honestly say I'd give up a career as an artist, I'd give up a dream of living in a house with our own garden if it came down to that. No career or house or a boat or a car or anything else should come before people. And since kids don't really get to vote, we should be very mindful in our decisions concerning them, and really honest about what we think is best for them, deep down inside, and then live with a good conscience.

There is so much hectic running around that it just leaves everyone breathless and confused. Where did those years go?

A quote for the weekend

2010-11-05T13:04:00.000-07:00

"for me, minimalism is all about keeping in mind that a lot of people have no choice but to not have possessions…luxuries…

knowing this breaks my heart. and remembering these people I choose not to indulge. this is a respect for the people who are struggling. i may not know how to fix things for people, but i may be able to offer a prayer and demonstrate that the entire world is not slapping you in the face by over indulging."

Posted over 3 years ago on the 43things.com

Trendy kids?

2010-11-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

I have not been one to dress my baby in adult clothes like tiny leather jackets and skinny jeans, but I have to admit that I have gone a little (or a lot!) overboard with my daughter's clothing. It's like the final frontier that needs uncluttering -after all, even my studio is almost uncluttered, after I get a charity pick-up organized to get the furniture away, since my new studio space, shared with five other people, is rendering the furniture useless to me.

I have bought more kids clothes than my daughter needs. I have bought more expensive ones than is sensible. I have bought lots of bigger sizes for future. Sure, she will grow into them, but does it make any sense to store them until she does.. (And what if she is a tomboy who refuses to wear dresses? :)

I estimate that at least half of it is second-hand though.

Most of the dresses hang in the closet, to be worn on special occasions, and Indiana wears sweat pants, tees and overalls on any given day.

I just realized that small kids don't care what they wear. It's all for our own sake. We like our kids dressed a certain way. Some go for the Burberry checks (ick!), some for the studs and leather, some for the bright colors and cute animal prints. I fall into the latter group. While my daughter may like the animal pictures, she isn't going to miss them if there are none. She has far more important and interesting things on her mind, like pretending a wood stick is her kayak, or something like that.

I don't want to make clothes a big deal for my daughter. Of course I want her to feel pretty and have clothes she likes when she is old enough to understand about that sort of thing. But I don't want to feed into excess preoccupation with clothes, appearances, fashion and trends.

It's as if we make our kids an extension of the image we want to present to others. Just like we make decorating our homes and clothing ourselves, where we vacation, what hobbies we have, project an image of ourselves.
But kids are not supposed to be an ego booster for us!

I actually think that our kids are better off with a little fever clothes and toys.

And I'm starting to get really tired of it all. I will try to buy even more second hand, and not more than we need. I will try to make more of her clothing myself, especially knits. I will give some big sizes to my nieces, that they can wear now and then pass on to Indiana later! I will sell and donate some things that I'm pretty sure we will never have much use for.

At least I'm now coming to my senses about this issue.

Cat's Meow

This moment ~ Painting

Red Makes Her Heart Sing

This moment ~ Watching

The Overspent Societies

Happy New Year!

Happy Christmas

I *heart* wood -Non-toxic Food safe Beeswax Polish recipe

To Pray With The Heart

Define necessity

~This moment~ Her Own Bed

How the party went

~This moment~ Party preparations

This Moment - My Indian Girl, Birthday Girl

Simple Christmas decorating

Minimalist, frugal family living -Guest Post-

Roses budding in November, minimalist kids, attachment parenting, traveling light and big changes

Gifts - A rule and a reason

Love, Cambodia

The joy of choosing less

This moment ~ Helping hand

Don't forfeit your soul

At my sister's house

Planning a birthday party in a small home

This moment ~ Easy Reading: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

Charity, money and love

Why do we feel entitled to take more than our share?

This moment ~ Autumn sunshine at the beach

The Pros and Cons of Expensive Stuff

Foraging

Birthdays and animal days and other simple joyful things I love right now

One day at a time - make your life your art

This moment ~ To a birthday party, with chocolate cake

While she had cereal I contemplated sewing.

The quiet beauty of a small life

This moment ~ washing dishes

Teflon smeflon -sometimes the good old ways really are best!

Buy nothing new month

This moment ~ painting in new mama-made dress

Thrift shopping the smart (minimalist) way

Another wake-up call

Simple sanctuary

One rainy day at a minimalist home (with children.)

Bittersweet August

If joy comes along, let it stay-

This moment ~ first time riding

Thrift shopping

Simply being me

Where does your heart lie?

At the wilderness cabin

Minimalist quote of the month

Hoard less, Give more

Minimalist approach to exercise

Small, ethical wardrobe for mom and child

Absolutely Wonderful

Tabernacles in Heaven

Miss you, Mom!

Leave Something for Others. (It's Earth Day!)

Tiny homes

Overwhelming abundance

Home tour

Minimalism and personality

Room for living

Back to Small and Loving it!

Realizations to help me achieve a minimalist life

A day to myself

Best rugs

Minimalist wardrobe

Spreading the Monkey Love

Use it up, Wear it out

The End of Decorating

The Traffic Jam Years

A quote for the weekend

Trendy kids?

I heart wood -Non-toxic Food safe Beeswax Polish recipe