Purge Is The Word

At the beginning of this year, I picked a word to work on as a theme/project/intention for 2015.  Inspired by Ali Edward's One Little Word,  I chose the word PURGE.

Last year, this was the word I wanted to choose, but I chose COMPASSION instead. One of Ali's techniques for deciding on your word is to look it up in the dictionary and/or a thesaurus.  And last year when I read the words attached to PURGE, I shuddered.

Words like . . .

murder, eradication, ejection, catharsis, clarification, cleaning, cleanup, reign of terror, suppression and SCREECH . . .witch hunt

were used to describe this word.  And 3 months into this, I can see why.  Getting rid of your stuff is like a witch hunt and murder.  

I invested time and money into reading and re-reading two books to get me into the mode of doing this and doing it once and for all:

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker

I started sharing things that I purged on Facebook and Instagram. My motivation for doing this was strictly to hold myself accountable.  And out of all the things I have posted in my lifetime, these were the posts that people really started to connect to - I received messages of thanks for the push and for more information; people giving stuff away saying I inspired them; messages asking for the book title that I was using to help me, etc. In my own small way, I was helping others to purge too.  And the more positive messages I received from them, the more it keep me going.  People even gave me stuff, just to say thanks.

Some things people sent to me

I have been purging things like crazy since the beginning of the year - clothes ( you can read more about this process here), books, shoes, art supplies, beauty products and now jewelry.  I gave a bunch of clothes and costume jewelry to Vita-Living that I hoped they could use for Arts and Crafts time.  I gave nicer beads to my friend Amy, who makes some of the coolest stuff in the world, and to other beaders, like my sister, Beth.  I have given old glasses to The Lions Club, and tons of books to the Houston Public Library.  What has become enjoyable for me now is pulling out something

•  I don't use
•  I don't need
• or I don't want

and then thinking of who could.  As a start up writer, I'm not making a lot of money, so giving money right now to worthy causes just isn't possible.  But I can give my time and my things and feel splendid.

Speaking of free things, if you would like a chance to win these Moonstone and Freshwater Pearl earrings (retail value $80), go to my Facebook page and add a comment.  Whether you live near of far, I'll mail them to you.  And I'll be giving away more.  My little ears have decided to reject any metal I put near them, so what better way to get rid of some things?  I can pass them on to you at no charge and we just keep the cycle of giving away what we don't need going.

 These earrings are yours - just for reading