Holy Icicles, Batman! It's COLD!

Yeah. This morning I woke up grateful to be warm and to have a roof over my head. It was about -20 degrees outside and a cozy, warm temperature inside. Thinking about how lucky I was to be cozy made me very, very happy.

I'm getting over a cold, so the projects to be completed pile isn't getting a lot smaller very fast. Eh. I'd rather not have to rip out errors from illness induced foggybrain.

Designing a Tiny Home

I love looking at unique tiny houses. Not the shiplap, cookie cutter tiny houses for sale that are smeared all over Pinterest. I have realized several things. I would never want a tiny home with a foam cushion atop a storage box that calls itself a sofa. Nor would I have a television in my tiny home. I would require a place to sew and a place to sit and embroider or to knit. Bookshelves are a must. I'm not into composting toilets. I don't need or want a bathtub. A washer/dryer is a must. And most important, I don't need a kitchen with a four burner stove, full-sized fridge, and a farmhouse sink. Two burners are enough. A middle sized fridge is fine. A loft is not necessary, but a cupboard bed would be great.

My basement studio is 13' wide and 30' long. If the ceiling were higher, I could easily live in this footprint. That's almost 400 square feet. In tiny house space, that's a lot of space.

Why Does the Pile O' Projects Have to Go?

Because eventually, I won't be able to finish them, even though I might want to and have the time to do them. My vision is in the slow process of failing. My glasses are getting more and more complicated and are not as effective. I can't change this. I can't delay it. It sucks.

In my dream world, all the projects that require good vision will get done while I still have decent vision. I will gracefully, gradually shift to projects that don't require the ability to see tiny threads and accurate placement of the needle. I'm not sure that will actually happen, but I can try.

Minimalism Meets Reality

There's a side to minimalism that folks don't talk about.

On a limited income, there is a lot of difference between 'Do I want that?' and 'Can I afford that?'  Extra pillows? A decorative coffee mug? Your thirty-fourth pair of shoes? Those things are all optional and are the kind of things that a minimalist will eschew. They are things that a person on a limited income doesn't even bother to consider. There is no questioning if it will bring joy, the fact is that buying extra stuff means there will be no food on the table, no shoes on the feet, and no heat in the home.

Minimalism is for the rich. If not the actual rich, then the folks who have achieved 'enough' and can look at 'extra.'

The Pile O' Projects

"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."  Thomas Gray.

I had to go digging through my tools and such to find the exact one I wanted to complete a Christmas gift. The gift would use up stash and make my BIL quite happy.

Sigh. No good deed goes unpunished. I found another project for the Pile. This one is a knitted gansey on tiny needles with dark blue yarn. The pattern is rather complicated and is one I designed. Don't look impressed. Designing a gansey is a matter of selecting the patterns you want to use and sticking them into a set of generic directions to make one.

The Pile is growing again. Drat.

No! It isn't growing. I'm not really starting new projects. I'm finding old projects that I hadn't finished. The Pile O' Projects is simply being identified.

Minimalism and the 'To Make' List

Experiences over objects.

Time to focus on what you are doing and not what you are (or are not) using to get that shit done.

Well, what do you know? It's working! This is the smug post about the success I'm having. No eco-tourism for me, though.

I had set aside the projects that were on my 'To Make' list in a pile 'o projects when I did the 2 + 2 = 5 declutter and re organize of my studio. I created a clear and clean space in which to work and solve the problems that had kept me from completing projects. I wasn't thrilled about the pile o' projects, though. I was worried that the pile would just get pushed around and not worked on.

In the first full day of studio use after the re organization, I completed four different projects that had been hanging over my head and making me feel guilty. FOUR. Then I dove into another project that would require a bit of effort, and it's down to just the hemming. Yep. And the hemming is going well.

That pile of projects is halved. Halved, I tell you. I'm now moving through my studio searching for projects to add to that pile, so I can attack them and finish them off. I hate to admit it, but I am finding the occasional stalled WIP (Work In Progress) that I add to the pile. But at least, I've identified them and can finally get them finished.

How to Minimalize and or Declutter in Three Easy Steps

Step One
Throw out all of the things you don't like, don't use, and don't need. Get rid of the boxes you used to use to store that stuff, too. Anything that makes you feel fat, guilty, or disorganized has got to go. Buyers remorse? Trash it.

Step Two
Do not go shopping for things you won't like, won't use, and won't need. Brag about how little you go shopping and how you can now feed your entire family on 35 cents a day. Save your money for experiences, like travel to eco-tourism locations that are suffering from the footprint of the eco tourists.

Step Three
Write blog posts about steps one and two. Feel smug and superior while earning an income due to the clickbait that covers 45% of the screen real estate on your blog.