Creating Space

As a busy mom, or as any busy person on this planet, I excel at filling up my life. While my family subscribes to the "less is more" philosophy of planning, we find that our schedules are full of playdates, classes, errands and tutoring. We think that we don't spend a lot on non-essentials, yet our home is bursting with toys, books, clothes... things that no longer fit on shelves or in closets.

This summer I took a few months off from work and focused on creating space. What do I mean by that? I mean cleaning out the clutter. The physical clutter in our homes, and the emotional clutter that makes it harder for me to know what I want.

It all started with our wish to add some rooms onto our home. We live in a lovely 55-year old, 1700 square foot home. For most of America, our square footage does not even measure up to a cottage! Whenever I read about cottages in Martha Stewart or This Old House, I have to laugh. Their 2500 square foot summer cottage is 50% larger than my home! I was certain that my clutter resulted from being square-footage challenged! If only I had a larger home, then I would have enough space and be happy...!

At some point, I realized that we are not going to be able to afford a larger home anytime soon. We either have to sell our home and move somewhere less expensive, or we need to fit into our 1700 square foot home. We opted for the latter.

So, I began to make space. Literally. I started to get rid of things in our home. The non-fitting clothes were easy. They went to The Ecumenical Hunger Project along with outgrown carseats, strollers, and backpacks. Then the difficulty began. I needed to rid our home of the next layer of unneeded items, but it was not so easy. I felt like there were items that were not needed by people but still should not be thrown away. That is when I discovered Freecycle. Once I joined Freecycle, I began posting items we no longer needed but might be useful to others. Free fish Pinata. Free painting supplies. Free scrapbooks. The way it works is that you post your free items and any interested party will respond. I then tell them where and how to pick up the item, and it is gone! Soon we had a parade of people driving up to our house to claim our unneeded items. Our space hogs were becoming other people's prizes. I was thrilled. I made a promise to offer at least two thing/day on Freecycle. By the end of the week, our garage started to look more manageable, and I felt good that we had given so much to so many people. And I had a good time!

The next layer of items were those which still had, in my mind, perceived value. Like the Andrew Lloyd Weber: Now & Forever CD set I got as a Christmas present. I wanted to listen to it but somehow never did. I could not cast it out as a freebie. That seemed to discount the love that came with it as a gift. Those items I sold for nominal amounts on the Palo Alto Menlo Park Parents's Club Marketplace. As one of 1400 members, I could post items for sale to other club members. I sold the CD set as well as a number of other items I was still attached to.

At the end of this period of making space I was able to see what I really wanted to do with my life. I saw that it was time for me to have fewer conflicting commitments. Basically, I break my life down into three main buckets: being a great mom, making a living, and "saving the world." Since being a great mom, in my dictionary, requires time, I was unable to do it all. So I decided to integrate the making a living and "saving the world" into one bucket. And that's what I'm doing now. Looking for a job that has it all.

I love the idea of cleaning and making space. These actions create that "blank canvas" to be painted with colors of my passions and commitments, not leftover "shoulds" that filled my home with clutter. And in the world of connectedness through social media, Freecycle wins the prize of turning one woman's clutter into another woman's treasure.

The Girl Effect

I believe that social media will transform the way that we participate in social good. Instead of searching for the one cause that is our lifelong connection to making a difference, we will breathe contribution as part of our everyday lives. We will cry during a lion reunion video posted by friends on FaceBook and get introduced to the Born Free Foundation. We will join causes on FaceBook and help elect our next President. Participating is fun. Connectedness leads to contribution.

One of my criticisms of most non-profits is that you need a PhD to participate. You must read through lengthy articles or watch one hour videos in order to understand what their mission is. Then, you must participate for years, enrolling your friends to participate as well, before you feel a part of the movement.

Social media will change how we participate in social good by leveling the playing field.

This video explains what is, for me, the lynchpin of global development. Women and girls can and will turn the tide on poverty in the developing world. Did you know that women in Africa are the source of 80% of of all food and 90% of all food production? Their labor is largely unpaid, and the land belongs to their husbands or fathers. Therefore, the person responsible for providing most often has no access to land improvements, capital, agriculture education. Yet, they are the key.

And here it is, so beautifully and powerfully said. I love it. Enjoy! The Girl Effect

Why Bake Sale?

Mothers are amazing creatures. We band together after school drop off or just before pick up and talk. Then that talking leads to a committee, then we create a bakesale. For what? That's what is so cool! For anything! For the soccer team jerseys. For hurricane Katrina relief. For Second Harvest Food bank. Each mom bakes one dozen cookies or a cake or a couple of jars of homemade jelly... and it is all brought together on one day. Moms advertise the event. Moms work the tables. Each person does a little. Nobody is the star... the cause is the star. Then Boom! $20,000 is raised for Katrina relief. Or $400 for school uniforms. The cause wins. Families band together. Kids learn about giving.

I believe that if all mothers banded together for one year, in a global bakesale, that we would have a significant impact on the state of the world. I think we can do that... together.

So, bakesale it is!

Launch of this blog

Today I launch this blog. I am inspired to write because of my attendance at BlogHer 08. I am meeting bloggers from around the world. At a "newbie" reception, I met Brie from Canada who does jujucoop. Turns out she picked the same design as I did! I was tired but went to the mixer anyway -- if I'm here for the possibility of having all children are born into opportunity, then I can stay up a few minutes extra and attend mixer and post my first post. So, I launched before BlogHer 08 just as I intended. Whoo hoo!