It’s a well-known fact in the real estate world… that homes for sale that are full of clutter and chaos, take longer to sell and they sell for less money.

In the mind of a typical buyer, a house that has too many pieces of furniture, too many photos on the wall and especially too many little knick knacks, causes the house to appear smaller which in turn makes it less valuable in the mind of the buyer.

What you many not realize ….

Just as clutter eats up equity in a home…..Clutter in our personal lives eats up productivity in our minds.  It is sometimes almost paralyzing.

It’s true….Clutter is our enemy!  It is like a very sneaky and subtle thief that robs us many things such as….

• Joy and Happiness
• Peace of mind
• Family time

Clutter is something we all have in our lives.  Even people who are by nature very neat and tidy have some sort of clutter.    (more…)

Checking in…..

Do you ever ask yourself how you are feeling?  Or….are you more concerned about how everyone around you is feeling?  I spent most of life determining how I should feel based on what was going on around me and guess what?  It was an exhausting way to live!!!!!  Now I know the truth……how the people around me are feeling is most likely a reflection of how I am feeling.  How I am feeling can actually change the way people around me are feeling.  Good or bad…positive or negative. It is up to me.  These days I check in with how I am feeling and I then make a choice to stay with it or change it.  Simple yes….easy….not so much….at least not in the beginning of learning a new habit.

Where are you going? 

This is perhaps the busiest season of the year. It is “The Holidays” There is so much to do and seemingly so little time to do it.  We cram in all sorts of extra tasks from decorating and shopping to baking and hosting parties.  There are pageants and plays to attend as well as office potlucks and endless other events. You name it ….there is an event for it.   It is no wonder the season often passes in a blur and then it is “Happy New Year” and we don’t know what happened or how we got here.  Taking time to be conscious and choosing how you are feeling and what you are doing and where you are going is empowering.  Here is what I recommend….. (more…)

Family time is photo time…

We are at the end of week 5 of the 6 week plan to create the perfect holiday season.  If you haven’t already downloaded the plan and Christmas 2014 Organizer Notebook I hope you will do so now.  One of the suggestions in your week 5 plan is to take a family photo  to insert into or use as your Christmas 2014 cards.

Casual vs. Studio photos…

Have you noticed that family photos are becoming more casual these days?  I much prefer casual photos over studio photos.  Even many of the studio photos are becoming more casual in setting and clothing choices.

We’ve come a looooooong way…

Did you ever stop to wonder where the traditional studio photos came from? Until this post I hadn’t give in much thought either but it got me to thinking and doing a bit of research.  When photography was first introduced it was expensive and mostly reserved for the elite.  Also, the process was much longer, as in it took several seconds for the image to be captured, as opposed to the instant capture we have today.  People had to remain extremely still during the process….so much so, that there were even special headrests set-up behind them to help them remain still!!!!  The somber faces is a mystery and has only theories about it.  All I can say is I’m glad that we have gotten way past that and lightened things up.

Out with the old and in with the new…

There’s a cute joke about a newlywed wife whose husband asked her why she cut the ends off the ham before putting it into the pan.  She replied that she did it because her mother did it that way.  She then asked her mother why she did it that way and she said……”because that is the way my mother did it.”  They then ask the grandma why she cut the ends off the ham before putting it into the pan and she replied….”because my pan wasn’t big enough.”  I just wonder how many things we do that we’ve always done because that’s the way it has always been done.  So what does this have to do with family photographs?

Life is to meant to be fun…..

Gone is the day of somber faces and stiff posed bodies.  It is time to let loose and have fun!  I’m not saying never to have a studio photo again…..all I’m saying is that you can make taking family photos fun and interesting and can bring some life to your family gathering.   I have found that people are more themselves and have fun when they are “hiding behind” or playing with props.   It is like the child in them comes out and the results are outstanding. I’ve seen people sing better at Karaoke when wearing silly sunglasses as if somehow the glasses were magic.   I suppose in some zany way they were magic.  Why not make your own magic?  What I am suggesting is that you go to the dollar store and buy some props like Santa hats or paper mustaches or you fill in the blank.  Get the family together and have fun!!!!  Use one of the photos or even a collage of them to make into or insert into your holiday cards!  Life is about the fun we have, the memories we make and the stories we live to tell.  Let’s all commit to making some new fun memories and stories!

Wishing you much fun this Thanksgiving holiday!

Happy snapping and memory making….

Suzi

Do you ever say yes… when you would rather say no?

I’m a pleaser.  Fear of rejection is waaaaay up on the top of my fear list.  Part of it is my natural personality style and part of it is …who knows?  Regardless of where it comes from, or why it is here, the fact remains that I don’t like to say no……..especially to people I love.

So…..here is a little story that just happened to me and I thought I would share it in hopes that it may help you too.  

By little story, I mean this thing I said no to, in the big game of life, is teensy tiny as you will see.   If you’ve got the whole no thing down I commend you and if you don’t then I hope this will give you courage next time you start to agree to something you really don’t want to do.  I honestly felt my wings get a little stronger from the response I got 🙂

It all started when…

I received an email…not just any email……a chain letter  email.   I was “selected” to participate and they picked those who they thought would make this “fun”.   Now mind you it was only asking me to send a recipe.  Just one recipe. One little recipe to the first name of the 2 names on the list.  Now…if that’s all I had to do I would have done it in a heartbeat.  But, it didn’t stop there.  Next I would have had to copy and paste, change my name to the #2 position, paste the letter into a new email….(still doable for me at this point) AND THEN….. blind copy and send it to 20 people….this is where they lost me.  It no longer resembled “fun” to me….and it sounded like more work than I wanted to sign up for.  The letter also said that if I couldn’t do that within 5 days to let them know so  it would be fair to those participating.

I did not respond right away (though if there’s a next time I will, I promise) I waited a few days and then as I was clearing out some emails ….there it was.  I opened it….reread it….thought about it…..and then replied like this:  I’m sorry I forgot to respond.  I am going to pass on this.  I hope you are not mad.  I stress out over these things and I am eliminating stress so please give my spot to someone else.  Love you bunches, Suzi 

Whew…that was over and luckily I was within the 5 days (it had been 4) so I didn’t feel too bad.  The response I got was the best ever and is what made my day and strengthened my wings.  It went like this:  Thanks for being honest.  I am going to save this exact reply to send out next time I receive one of these emails LOL.  You’re my SHERO!

Woohoo!  I laughed and am still laughing as I share this with you.  Teensy tiny?   Maybe….but HUGE in many ways.  I hope if you are ever in a place where you are asked to participate in something that you really don’t want to, no matter how big or small, ….you will “just say no” and let me know if you feel your wings get a little stronger too.

Wishing you wonderful, stress free says ahead!

Hugs,

Suzi