Everyone seems to be questing for the ever-elusive state of balance. Books and courses and gurus abound, with ways for you to do more while maintaining work-life balance. We'll I'm calling bullsh*t on balance. Balance is like perfection—an idealized state, not attainable, and one of those things that make us feel like we are never quite right or whole without it. The quest for balance is a total set-up and we suffer in our zeal to reach this illusory state. Tell me—how many times ...
It's hard to believe that I have been writing for All Things Girl since 2007. My how time flies. All Things Girl is an online magazine that hosts an international choir of women's voices: writers, artists, etc. The talent featured is rich; articles and features thought-provoking. Much of my writing, in case you've either forgotten or just discovered me (hello!), tends toward the topics of relationships+life transitions+culture+travel and living life on my (your) own damn terms. Decluttering, living+loving small spaces, and the
Disconnect. Disengage. Remove. Extricate. Disentangle. Liberate. Unshackle. Unplug-from-the-digital-crackpipe-that-governs-your-life. Yes, exactly. Luxuriate in the shadowy solstice; revel in this shortest day and longest night, this dark, cold first day of winter’s eve when the fallow time slowly begins to return us to creative fecundity with the promise of spring. Take this day and night, finish your good work, and switch off. Stow your electronic drug of choice in its full upright position and step away from device. Yes, I just mixed metaphors. The solstice allows for this kind of messy. Things ...
Of all the popular –ists and –isms, minimalism is one that inspires much debate. A hot topic du jour, minimalism was popularized, in large part by Leo Babauta’s blog, Zen Habits. While I love Leo and most everything he writes, and have embraced many of the principles of minimalism, I have grown weary of the term. It’s lost its meaning and original intention—that of downsizing, ridding ourselves of possessions and things that clutter our lives, streamlining, ideally, to increase happiness and clarity around what is truly important and meaningful—to become ...
In 2010 I was invited to join the fab team at the Unconsumption blog. The blog was started by Rob Walker, a NY Times magazine columnist, and the author of, among others, Buying In: The secret dialogue between what we buy and who we are. Unconsumption, as described by Walker is "...not about the rejection of things, or the demonization of things. It’s not a bunch of rules. Unconsumption is an idea, a set of behaviors, a way of thinking about consumption itself from ...
