Your Life. Organized.

Quote of the Week: Enthusiasm

"Most great men and women are not perfectly rounded in their personalities, but are instead people whose one driving enthusiasm is so great it makes their faults seem insignificant."

Charles A. Cerami
Author

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A Birthday Rant

August is my birthday month, and I just love birthdays! It's great to get together with friends and celebrate another year on earth enjoying all the wonderful things that life provides! However, when it comes to kids' birthdays, I often see parents stressing out and overspending, and that's never good. When it comes to birthday parties, especially for very young children, simplicity is key. Since we're talking simplicity, let's talk about a birthday party tradition that has got to stop. The goodie bag.

I encourage you to put on your Grown-Up Panties and be the first parent in your subdivision to JUST SAY NO to the goodie bag! These little sacks of evil, which I not-so-affectionately call Crappy Bags, are just one more cog in the wheel of crazy that kids' birthday parties have become.

Let's get real: no child needs to come home from a birthday party toting a bag of sugar candy, cheap trinkets and art supplies to add to their own clutter at home. Admit it parents, you don't want them bringing it home either, do you? And as much as I'd love to say the CLUTTER angle is plenty of reason to loathe the concept of goodie bags, the bigger lessons are even more important. Thus, I shall share with you the insidious evil of the goodie bag...

Quote of the Week: Responsibility

"Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon them and to let them know that you trust them."

Booker T. Washington
1856-1915, Educator and Writer

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A Quiet Mind

I'm guilty. Sometimes I just can't help it. I seem to constantly fill my mind with activity. Distraction. Noise. We all do it, and I think to a degree it's part of being productive. You should make the most of your time. But I also think balance is important, and there is a point in time when being constantly "active" becomes counter-productive.

Sometimes it's good to choose to forgo the distraction of outside input and be in silence. Either in physical silence (driving without the radio on) or in mental silence, even in a crowd. When you have a few minutes of downtime, whether it's in the doctor's office, at the airport, or on the train, rather than checking email on your Blackberry, making a phone call or reading a magazine, why not just sit quietly and see what happens?

When you sit quietly your mind is free and unfocused, and it can wander at will. You'll notice what's going on around you instead of having your head down and being oblivious to your surroundings. You'll notice what other people look like, what they're wearing, what they're doing and who they're talking to. You'll think random thoughts, which will lead to other random thoughts, and you might come up with a creative thought or two. You might even have a new idea or solve a problem you've been working on.

But you won't do any of those things if you're feeding your brain INPUT at every opportunity. Our brains are like walkie-talkies -- they're two-way communicators. Yes, they need INPUT, but if you don't allow them some quiet time, they won't be able to generate the amazing, creative, original, wonderful, innovative OUTPUT that we're all designed for!

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Quote of the Week: Only One

"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do."

Helen Keller
1880-1968, Author and Lecturer

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The Big O: Secrets That Sell

Sell your home faster by organizing ahead of time! Listen to the newest episode of The Big O with me and your hosts Vicky and Jen as we discuss how to make your home show great and sell faster simply by decluttering, organizing and tackling the specific areas that buyers always notice, but you might not!  Even if you're not selling your house, you'll get some awesome decluttering tips to make your home a nicer place to be. Be warned when listening though... you may learn something and you will have fun!

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HGTV Mission:Organization Success Story: Kim Banta

A few years ago, HGTV's Mission:Organization with its ever lovely host, Gail O'Neill came to Atlanta and Kim Banta got a craft room makeover! Here are the 'before' pictures...

Quote of the Week: Fear

"You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind."

Dale Carnegie
1888-1955, Speaker and Author

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Cool Stuff For Back-To-School

When dinosaurs ruled the earth and I was in elementary, middle and high school in Pennsylvania, we never went back to school until the Wednesday after Labor Day, which meant we got to hang out at home until early September! These days, (and particularly in the south where I live now), primary school begins way early! My friends' kids are back in school within the first TEN DAYS of August! ((Seriously??)) That's prime summer fun time, people! Come on!

Well for you folks with kids going back to school crazy early, I posted this now so you have plenty of time to plan. Here are some cool items for heading back to school in organized style this fall! Or summer..

Quote of the Week: Beauty

"...don't forget that in the midst of all your pain and heartache, you are surrounded by beauty, the wonder of creation, art, your music, and culture, the sounds of laughter and love, of whispered hopes and celebrations, of new life and transformation, or reconciliation and forgiveness."


~From the New York Times bestselling novel The Shack, by Wm Paul Young

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