Decluttering Food Storage

In my past life I not only had a large refrigerator in the kitchen, and a second smaller one, along with a 10 cubic foot deep freeze.  This was practical and realistic for that time in our lives.

When we moved overseas we quickly adjusted to the fact that the refrigerator we now had would have easily fit inside the one we had in Canada, with room left over.  A bit of a quandary at first, however, as the Europeans are known for we too shopped for consumables nearly daily. 

In Australia, we acquired a fridge that was similar to our North American style, and learned quickly that by living a mere 500 metres from the grocery store it was a little much.  Our shopping habits were a blend of both North American and European style.

With our return to Canada, we have had more opportunity for hosting people, therefore at times we would have benefited from having additional storage.  And for that I am grateful.  However, I have learned in the last six months that more is not necessarily practical or realistic for this time in our lives.

Eager to hit the large warehouse grocers, I found our eyes were bigger than our consumption habits.  A number of fresh "bulk" items had to be discarded.  I found that having a freezer full of an assortment of meats and veg is not nearly as inspiring as it is convenient, and we've been drawn in by the advertising of buy 4 and save promotions to be an easy sale.

Especially during the holiday season.  I bought quantities of things that normally I would not have.  Suddenly having 14 boxes of crackers, 6 bags of potato chips, and various and other sundry "treats", became a necessity!

Ugh :(

I understand and practise the concept of shopping the outside aisles of any grocery store, where the fresh items can be found.  I nip into the middle ones as needed and consciously skip aisles, because I know browsing can lead to buying.

A couple weeks ago I declared that we would be eating our way through our frozen goods and now after the binge buying for the holiday season I'm including our dry goods as well!

The Fridge Door

This is home to the condiments, jams, jellies, dressings and spreads.  Amongst our collection are bottles and jars used once, thought it would be good, and containers that make me ask where did this come from and why.

Doing an inventory of such food items can be:

Inspiring 

Motivating you to recipe search ways to incorporate one or both of the unique grainy mustards on hand, into a dish.

Reminding you of a dish you created that you had forgotten about therefore changing the status to used twice.

Liberating

I discarded a horseradish that on the label claimed "hot", however was anything but hot.  Each time I reached for it, I frowned, so I emptied the contents and recycled the jar.  Having it reside in my fridge did nothing but take away space for things that make me smile.

Presentation

Have you ever stood there looking for something and all of the contents just blurred together.  By wiping jams and jellies of the bits that have accumulated, cleaning the shelves then changing the order in which they appear helps to stimulate and refocus what we see when we are looking for something.

The Inner Sanctum

Just as the fridge door, presentation plays a big part on the shelves and drawers.  Out of sight is out of mind.

There are the daily consumables on the shelves: juice, milk, cream, butter, eggs, cheese etc.  Because their rotation is frequent there is little fear they will expire before their time.

However its the tubs of yogurts, sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese that once opened the countdown clock begins and if they get bumped to the back of the fridge there is even less hope.

This is where I invest time in organization and presentation.  Just like the grocers, I lean towards having them label out and eye level so when someone is peering inside they are easily spotted and may very well inspire someone to use in their creation.

Produce can be a challenge, when more than one in the household shops, and recently we had more carrots than we could conceivably consume.

Spinach, carrots, apples, celery either get blended or juiced.  I have been using a silicone muffin tray to freeze the juiced goodness for smoothies. This has been a clever way to extend the usefulness of produces, especially when greens start to wither.  

Again this goes back to buying the quantity of fresh that exceeds our consumption.  Being mindful that consuming good food can be rhythmic and because you ate the large bag of spinach two weeks in a row, it bears keeping in mind that consumption fluctuates.

The Freezer

How long do bananas last in the freezer waiting to be made into muffins or a loaf?  Banana loaf is a popular item in my household, however, when the frozen bananas start to make me feel guilty for not having made them into a baked goodie I let them go.  

There is more than one way to use up an overripe banana than tossing it into the freezer to live for eternity. I have chosen to buy less rather than more, rather than having the excess be banished to the freezer.

This past summer when at a warehouse store I decided I would buy a selection of frozen treats.  Turns out only 25% of the pack was popular and in the freezer remains the other 75%, 4 months later.  

I do not consciously like to discard food, however, the reality is that no one is going to eat them.  With it being winter the odds are even smaller, and the odds get even worse thinking it will be another 4 months until frozen treats will be attractive.  

Therefore, I let them go.

The Cupboard

Until further notice in my household I will not be replenishing:  crackers, cereal, potato chips and other snacks.  I've already made peace with the fact that I've overbought and that despite my best efforts some of what I bought will go stale.

Now that the holiday season is coming to a close, the buy four specials or the bogo offers will drop in popularity until the next "celebrate by serving potato chips" occasion comes around.

As a rule I do not succumb to such offers, however it bears repeating...

Saying "No" once at the grocery store means not having to repeatedly say No when you are at home.

~Sherry Trentini, Creating Space

They suggest not to grocery shop when you are hungry, I would also add not to grocery shop when you are not present.  

Being tired or distracted may lead to you accumulating things in your trolley that do not serve you or your household in a nurturing way.  

I know I have allowed the dazzle of the "good deal", to influence my purchasing, and I know I have paid the price twofold.  Hence having to consciously declutter my food storage.

Making choices that are contrary to our lifestyle, does not mean that we have completely let go of our Nurturing values.   

We have the power of choice:  choosing to continue in that fashion or not, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Decluttering Virtual Boxes

At the end of the year I take inventory to:

Donate things that I know I will never use.

Discard things that are no longer useable or donatable.

Clean, Organize and Refresh the energy of the things I do want in my space. 

Most of my personal belongings are stored in a 16' x 16' container. Despite the best intentions the most perfect home has not been acquired in our new location. Therefore we continue to live in a furnished rental property with perhaps 40% of our belongings.

This makes me a little antsy.  This makes me a wee bit impatient as I know there are things in that container that meet the criteria above.

I decided this morning that in order to satisfy my need to purge, clean, organize and refresh my space I'd have to be creative.  

Since I can not get into my boxes I would literally have to think outside of them! I went to my Inbox!

Email-Deleting the Archives

I started my day with a coffee and settled in to read my personal email.

Thanks to my smartphone I easily delete and discard emails on the fly, but what I noticed when I opened my account on my computer is that I had a total of 4181 read emails in my inbox.

That number stood out at me like a beacon.  I've read or clicked on over four thousand emails and deemed them important enough to keep?  Surely I must be joking...

So I started to investigate what I had been hoarding...

I navigated my way to the 4181st email and by only looking at the subject line I knew that I could let it go.

I worked backwards for a time, deleting 50 emails per page, simply by reading the subject line.

In no time I was down to 3404.  Then 3,101, then 2794, 2660.

By the time I had finished my first cup of coffee I had deleted 1521 emails.

It could have been easy to get caught up in the reading and reminiscing of emails from some senders.  

It could have been easy to create a folder named "Keepers", to sort and organize correspondence into.  

The truth of the matter is that the content was no longer valid, no longer applicable, and no longer valuable.

It was simply taking up virtual space so I clicked "Delete".

Email-Shoulds

I do have a number of folders, and when I glanced through them I noticed that four of them contained, "I'll read when I have time" or "I should keep these and read them"

Some of those emails were over 4 years old, and again without clicking on them and getting caught up in consuming the content I decided that simply deleting them was me choosing to stop "shoulding" on myself.

Email-Click Unsubscribe

Having recently began my own email list for my website, I understand the value of list building.  I can not aptly describe the thrill of receiving an email telling me that someone signed up to my list, trust me it is very exciting.

What I noticed in my inbox is that there were multiple stored emails I received from companies and people that I rarely if ever clicked on.  Most of them were the giant corporations that incessantly send emails and frankly I never read them.

So I clicked the Unsubscribe, thanked them silently and deleted all of the ones I had never been opened.

What I have learned in the last few weeks of building that list is the importance of sharing content that people click on to read and engage.  Having people who are not attracted to your content, offers or what you have to say, or like me delete without even clicking, is a disservice.

I can not aptly describe the moment of acceptance when I received emails informing me that someone had unsubscribed from my list. 

[Note:I said acceptance]

I trust that when I sign up for email newsletters, offers or otherwise I do so when I attracted to the content; therefore when I have unsubscribed from a list I am doing so because that content is no longer of value to me, I am overwhelmed by the influx, or I am turned off by constant offers and no content.  I get to choose who appears in my inbox.

When I received unsubscribes I accepted the fact that, like myself, they valued the content of what they had received however they were honest with themselves and me that it was not most perfect for them.  Asking the question and trusting in the answer.

Email-Receipts of the past

I'm quite pleased that some companies are giving you the option to have your receipt or invoice emailed rather than a paper copy.  I enjoy the print at home option for tickets as well.

The paper copy can fade in time, or smooshed from your pocket or bottom of your bag.  A paper copy can be misplaced, misfiled or mislaid.  

An email copy is very efficient and easily searchable or filed electronically.

In my 4181 emails, I was able to let go of well over 500 emailed receipts over the past few years.

Concert tickets I enjoyed.

Updates on events I had attended.

Purchases I made.

Delivery notifications.

There is an expiration date on holding onto purchase receipts, both literally and electronically.  Especially when some online vendors keep that content in your account and keeping one in your inbox is simply duplication of the same.

Just like cleaning out your wallet, purse or file folder, discarding receipts of past purchases creates space in your inbox as well.

Email-Drafts

I had a couple dozen emails that I had started, never finished or may have gotten distracted, called away from or had simply changed my mind about composing.

I had a couple of emails that I had obviously decided it was in my best interest and that of the greater good, to write but not send.

The cathartic response to putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard to get things off of your chest is either reacting or responding to something.

Just as you were taught in school when writing an essay or report, it is best to get the content on paper, walk away or let it sit, then go back, review and edit.  

Reacting is often your first draft.

Responding is letting your first draft sit, reviewing and editing the content with perspective.

Holding onto drafts hold thought energy, its like that niggling feeling like you forgot to do something.

Deleting emails that you had started and never finished, drafts that are well outdated are holding space and holding thoughts that may serve you better to let go of.

Going from 4181 to 2000 

I do not fancy myself a hoarder, quite the contrary, so today when I managed to declutter nearly 2200 emails I was very pleased to how en-lightening it was to have created that much space in my inbox.

Things to note:

I did not get caught up in reviewing the content, rather I used the criteria of date (starting with year), subject line, and sender, as my guide to whether it held any value.

I was honest with myself about whether I would create the time to review the emails I had organized in folders.  Letting go of the "should reads" literally made my shoulders relax.

Unsubscribing from lists from giant companies was easier.  I consciously signed up for their list through purchases or necessity; I consciously unsubscribed from their list due to the quantity or lack of relevance.  

Choosing to let go of emails from an entrepreneur or website was harder but equally valuable.  When I searched the sender I noted how many emails I had engaged with, and how many I had "intended" or "shoulded on myself" to get back to.  I did choose to delete past emails I hadn't read and will see if I'm inspired to carry on with them as new emails arrive.

Deleting Receipts felt like cleaning out my wallet or purse.  It was easy and feels lighter just thinking about it.

Letting go of email drafts was also easy to do, knowing that they are no longer in virtual purgatory feels better overall.

Emails- Sent

As pleased as I was to have declutter my inbox by 50%; I was equally overwhelmed when I noted that my Sent folder held 4671 emails.

Using the date as my main criteria I downsized the sent emails to 3350 in a few clicks.

The knowing that I have let go of 3502 emails or 40% of the content I was holding in my email account is a great way to Create Space in my world! 

 

 

Water - Its Elemental Dear Bagua

How would you describe your favorite body of water? 

How would the water be moving or is it still?

Would it be deep or shallow?

Would it be calm or energetic?

Off the top of your head, what water metaphor could you use to describe your life at this moment? 

Does that metaphor match your ideal Flow in your life?

Water is an essential ingredient in our life.  Literally.  Our bodies are composed of 50-75% of water.  We can live without food but we can not sustain our life without water.  

Water is the source of Life, it is connecting to spirit and spirituality.  It is the Flow of life.

When we have to much water energy in our lives we can 

• lack form
• overwhelm ourselves and others
• tidal waves of emotion; flooding
• unprocessed stuff
• feel wishy washy

When we have too little...

• anxiety
• like we've lost the/our flow
• lost connection to our Higher Power
• lack synchronicity
• dehydrated, dry and combustible.

Momentum would also be a great way to describe Flow. That feeling of being in the groove.  

Where in your life are things not going with the flow?

Where have you sprung a leak?

What could you add to your life or let go of in order to improve your momentum?

We can unclog our flow by letting go of things that seem to be holding us back.  It could be letting go of literal things, people, relationships, thoughts, clutter and even the simple act of deep breathing can help to release energy to get your flow back on. 

What parts of your life are going with the most perfect flow?

What can you learn from those tributaries and apply to the areas that need some help?

I believe that we could associate multiple metaphors of water to describe our lives.  Your ideal career pace may look completely opposite from what you want your home life to feel like.

The magic is finding the Balance that suits you best.

Purging & Acquisition: Zen Garage Sale; Going from 100 to 10%

And some of it was easy, there were clothes that the girls' had stowed that they had outgrown.  There were items that I would have discarded on the last go around but let them stay.  There were things that we wanted to take with us back to Europe that were important.  

Then there was the furniture.  I had already let go of some big articles already, however when I looked at the dining room suite, 4 bedrooms worth of furniture, various and sundry shelving units, etc.,  I began to ask myself the question, "What shape will all of this be in after being stowed away in a storage facility for an undetermined amount of time?" 

It’s not uncommon to hear of damage by the actual move, deterioration while being stored due to moisture or worse vermin.  And then the question begged, if and when the day comes to move it somewhere in Canada will I choose to go back to a property that would be this size again?" Kind of ditches the whole living more simply lesson huh?

After taking a very big breath in and out I made the choice to let go of most everything and boil our belongings down to the essence.

What happened next will always serve me as a clear and resounding sign that I was on the right track.  I called my dearest friend, we drank a very strong coffee, and told her my plan.  Using email and the omni-effecient Facebook I advertised that I was having a Zen Garage Sale.  Meaning, I wanted everything gone and didn’t have time to price it so come and make me a deal that makes us both feel good.

The best part was that my friend never questioned my success and nor did I.  And a success it was. 

We tag teamed at the house, while I unpacked all the boxes she hauled what was going to the garage and merchandised.  Subsequently, I was making calls, fielding calls, emailing and posting pictures, generating a vibe and trusting in it that it would reach the most perfect people.

The emotional value of the contents was a hot topic, pre-sale, during sale and post sale.  I was letting go of some items that were chock full of emotions.  And that can create a conflict, in more ways than one.  The primary conflict that I had to address was how “I” needed to make peace with letting go of these things that held significance.

Tupperware aside there were Wedding gifts, birthday gifts, bought for myself and the house gifts.  Gifts that someone thoughtfully selected and presented to me/us.  That comes with its own attachment. 

My dear friend has a great philosophy when it comes to gifts.  Once a gift is received, the recipient is now in position to “choose” what its fate is.  Be it on display, on use, on loan, stored and even let go of.

 

So when I looked at the beautiful martini glass I was given for my 40^th birthday…yes it was the absolute perfect gift, the giver is a person I adore.  When I look at the glass I am reminded of the gift, the person and the fine beverages served in said glass.  When I looked at it that day, in order to let it go I affirmed that even without the glass each time I have a martini I think of her, the laughs, the giggles and the concoctions we put into those glasses. 

I wasn’t letting go of her, I wasn’t devaluing the sentiment, I was letting go of a glass to someone else so they could appreciate and enjoy it.  I had to be objective and that made the process more peaceful.

There was much merchandise that I had to go through that same process with in order to reduce the emotions attached and simply see things for what they were. 

·        A Glass,

·        A Tupperware piece,

·        Dishes,

·        Pots and pans,

·        Baking sheets…

·        Books…

Simply put I was keeping the memories and letting go of the vessels, it was simply “stuff”. 

In less than 48 hours Myself & two other wonderful ladies opened the garage door and had ourselves a great time! Wheeling and dealing, cajoling (read “bullying with love”) to take the whole box of tupperware not just the one piece!  Directing traffic, organizing people to help lift, carry and haul! Collectively we were making things happen, we were making others happy and lightening my load substantially.  We didn’t even make it the whole day!  We sold out!  

Can’t beat that and the Empty garage made me feel so Full of Joy!

  

The next morning when the moving truck arrived, aware that I had worked to reduce the contents from the original quote, I was blown away that I had condensed our life to 10% of what we had originally….From $750.00 per month storage to $75.00.  Yes I did a little jig!

Purging & Acquisitions: Language of Now

No the phone did not ring with an offer right after I began the process of changing the energy about selling the house. Though how cool would that have been? :)

I knew that this was a transitional time for all 3 of us who were invested in the process and I felt more than ok about letting things move forward on their own as it was easier to do now that I/we were lessening the grip on to it energetically.

Months later there was an event that was happening back in Canada that all 3 of us wanted to be at occurring in October. The timing of the event was in sync with school holidays at the International school, however, in order to travel that distance I wanted to stay longer than the scheduled break from school.  In order to take extra days I had to apply for the girls to be absent well in advance of the time.

On the application form it asks why you require the children to be out of school outside of normal holidays?  My answer, Because we sold our house in Canada and needed to go back to move out.

Which technically was not exactly true, but my intention was for it to BE TRUE.  

So this really amped up my vibeage by way of believing it!  Every time the Autumn break came up in conversation I told people we were going to Canada, to move out of the house!  Yes I was believing my own marketing :)

Three weeks before we were to leave for Canada I received an offer on the house and based on the contract the conditions would be lifted while we were physically there.  Supreme Good Vibeage from that synchronicity and a good way to now release the house both energetically and physically.


As a visual person, I map out what I am doing by seeing it in my head.  So I stepped back into my memory of the house and all the boxes and saw myself organizing them for the mover to come and haul them out into storage.  Yes I kind of clenched about the per month price but now I didn't have a house to store them in anymore so it all balanced out.

I was able to organize most everything via email so that the groundwork had been laid for me to get it done in the time that we had.  A little twist to the whole situation was that less than a handful of people knew that we were coming back since the event we were attending we were showing up as a "Surprise!" That added a bit of mystery and covertness to the operation and a challenge thanks to social media not to spill the beans on the potential sale of the house and our trip back.  

I'm a big fan of chaos, yeah I know crazy.  But I had Zero thoughts that I wouldn't have enough time to accomplish this feat during our 10 days, in addition to other events planned.  It would be hectic but doable.

At my first opportunity I had to get into the house I was going to re-acquaint myself with what we had left to deal with inside.  This meant that I planned to sift through some of the contents that perhaps were important 14 months earlier but today would be different.

Not to mention from a financial standpoint, the boxes not only represented our worldly belongings but along with it a monthly price of $750 for storage fees.  Hmmm doing a quick calculation again...

• I had dodged paying that fee for 14 months, good call Sher!
• I was looking at a minimum storage time of 10 months until...who knew maybe 5 years? You do the math...
• Once our stuff was in storage the next time we would be accessible to it would be when they delivered to our next house.

When I say that the time to Purge was upon me, and I don't mean a bag or 2 of clothes, letting go of some old sheets & towel I mean... 

The Everything must GO NOW PURGE!!!

Purging & Acquisitions - Emotional Value

In order to move forward I believe it is necessary to lighten your load, literally and figuratively.

Think about something for a moment:
Of all the things you have in your house that are...

• stored in a box,
• tucked away in a closet,
• shelved in the garage,
• allocated to the basement,
• in a pile to repair, mend or recycle,
• and even rooms or areas that are tasked strictly for storing things that you don't use regularly or even ever. 

Now ask yourself, 

1. If you did not have the physical space to house these items what would you do with them?
2. Would you pay to store them elsewhere? How much would you pay to do so?

What weighed heavily on me, back in September 2010, was the quote from the mover for storing the balance of the possessions left in the house.  

In order to empty the house it would have cost me (in addition to the move to storage) $750.00 per month, times that by the number of months the house would be on the market, (an unknown value) and I quickly calculated that my best decision, at the time, would be to leave the boxes in the house. 

This didn't sit very well with me since how would that look when a potential buyer came through and saw our collection of boxes?  However I needed to make peace with that and we did our best in storing the boxes in such a way not to detract from the house.

Plus our time overseas (initially) was to be for about a year so sending it over was not even on the table.

At that time, I didn't question the contents that my amazing team of friends came and lovingly packed up for me.  Not only did I have a tight time constraint to get this done and back on the airplane, everything that I did not let go of retained a high level of value, especially emotional value.

I had attracted the most perfect people to help me move forward with the above tasks and I also attracted the most perfect people to be caregivers of our property in our absence.  Our bags were tremendously lighter because of that.

Selling property, can be a true test of patience.  And when that property is not selling it can be a pop quiz on one's self worth.

When pricing your property you factor in the physical attributes, location-location-location, current market information, features, upgrades, amenities, etc etc., blended along with the figure of what you value your property at.

Anyone who has ever bought or sold a home knows that you will only get for the property what someone will pay for it.  Both the seller and the buyer want to manifest their best deal.  From a Universal Law perspective you may cancelling each other out to a certain extent.

Even with the intention of selling I/we still had to figure out how do let go of something so big, (literally) the size of a house?

... 

Purging & Acquisitions: Spatial Awareness

No matter where in the world you live nature is shifting gears for the next season. Whether you are entering into Autumn, or here in Brisbane, we are nearly 3 weeks into Spring.  The transition is becoming apparent outside in the gardens and for some this is the unconscious nudge to start purging or storing items no longer suited.  While simultaneously you begin noticing the things you need to acquire.

I know a little bit about purging material possessions.  

When the decision was made to move overseas to Germany/The Netherlands in September 2010 I put the acreage on the market, boxed up the contents, let go of a large amount of stuff by either selling it or gifting it and set off for an International adventure.

Abroad, we were living in a quaint furnished cottage in Germany, and in comparison were living quite simply.  The house I was selling was approximately 316 square meters versus our quaint cottage of about 75 square meters.  I often said that we would be fine with a house half the size, then we moved into a house 25% of what we were accustomed to...Talk about downsizing!

I measure "simply" not only in actual size, but in features.  And the comfort I found in making that change was that we were living with & within what we needed and there was zero unused space.  

As a testament to making it work I was still able to host a Canadian style Thanksgiving for twelve people, feeding them all my standard fare and did so without having things like...

• a double oven,
• a double sink,
• a dishwasher,
• a formal dining room table, 
• a 2.5 m x 1.5m counter for the buffet, 
• various kitchen gadgets & accoutrements etc...

Everyone ate, drank and enjoyed the celebration!  This validated things for me in more ways than one.

For me that shift, not only to another country & culture,  but into another way of living was refreshing, relieving almost like releasing the breath you didn't know you were holding.  

Would I have attempted to make such a drastic change in houses if we'd stayed in Canada?  I doubt it.

Did I miss certain creature comforts? No question.

Am I blessed that my girls adjusted to sharing a bedroom smaller than one of theirs?  Absolutely.

This transition did not come without sacrifices and challenges, whereas before you would have to look for where a person was in the house, now you were acutely aware of everyone's breathing patterns. :) 

Not to mention 1 Bathroom versus 3 girls in the house...

Even though this was a furnished house there were practical things I chose to add.  However when I was bringing something "into" the house, it had to make absolute sense, it had to fit and it usually had to be multi-functional.  I had to be acutely conscious of my acquisitions to insure they were adding value and not just taking up prime real estate space.  And the wardrobe rule of something new coming in, meant something old was going out was strictly enforced, without discussion.

Arriving overseas with just our suitcases and leaving the bulk of our personal items and home contents all packed up in Canada proved to be a great lesson in value...to be continued.