I am impulsive by nature.  You just have to look at me and my bank account to know that is true.  Impulsive in my spending.  Impulsive in my eating.  Impulsive in almost all aspects of my life.  I like instant gratification.  Amazon.com is the closest I have ever come to pure bliss.  I want a book, I down load it instantly.  I want a new toy or whatever and they deliver it the next day.  I love you Amazon, but you probably are not good for me.

I bring up the impulsive behavior because the decision to move was in the end, like all of my decisions, based on impulse.  Most of the time when I make a decision, it happens immediately.  But I made an impulsive decision that won't take place for 9 months.  Can that really be impulsive?  I'm not sure.  But the decision has been made.  I don't anticipate any change in that except for the where.  So what do I do in the mean time.  How do I fight this urge to just get on with it?

One of the things is to start the downsizing.  I hear my daughter's voice in my head often.  It use to be my mother's.  Now it's Kate's.  She says, "you are always doing this.  You get rid of things, give them away and then you get something to replace it."  And that is true.  But I am hoping this time will be different.  The change is going to have to be a mental one as well as a physical one.  I am going to have to let go of the picture of the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving that never happens.  I am going to have to let go of the guest bedroom that only gets occupied a couple of times a year.  Even the idea of space and size is going to have to change.

The article that I read on decluttering said that you should do something every day.  She also suggested starting with the easy stuff.  So I cleaned out my t-shirt drawer.  Actually I had 3 t shirt drawers.  Now I have 2 but the second drawer is for t-shirts that use to be in my closet.  I hung on to t-shirts that long ago had gotten stains because I could sleep in them.  And some of them I have.   But most of them just sit in the drawer.  I wondered what to do with them after I put them in the plastic garbage bag.  I wondered out loud where to take them for recycling.  It turns out, because my roommate looked it up, that The Good Will and The Salvation Army takes any kind of clothing.  They sort through them and the ones that can't be resold are recycled through various places for various things and only about 20% end up becoming land fill.  That is good news.  And I don't even have to separate the good from the bad.  I did my sock drawer too.  What next.?
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Yet another blog

This is my sixth bog. My first "Women of Great Taste", while not in the end consistent with its title, was my most prolific. The others not so much. I am currently still writing my photography blog but the subject matter of this blog did not seem consistent with that one. Perhaps they will merge at some point.

I believe in serendipity. I believe that life sends you themes. Or perhaps you begin looking for something, you may not know what exactly but life sends you ideas. Not just one but many that dovetail into one another. 

I am not a huge Facebook fan. However since I began my 365 day photo challenge at the beginning of the year and started posting to Facebook (I understand it better than Instagram and thought more people would see my photos there and be more forgiving) I have felt somewhat obligated to see what others were doing. In doing so I have watched more cat and dog videos than anyone ever needs to watch in this life time. But with in the last few weeks there have been several valuable posts and some exchanges with friends that have lead me to a new direction. But I am getting a bit a head of myself. 

I have been restless and felt in need of a change. (Again).  I have been thinking of moving from Chicago. And then Charlie got a job in Tampa. Charlie is my daughter Kate's boyfriend. And Kate was the reason I moved to Chicago in the first place. So now I am free to go. I do love Chicago. I love not owning a car. I love all my friends. But family has always trumped friends. 

I am not yet sure where I will end up.  I am giving myself 9 months to figure it out. Kate will be here for 6. 

A friend said he envied me having the guts to just pull up stakes and move. Especially since I am not in great financial shape. He is afraid of many things, running out of money is the primary one and I am pretty sure that would never happen to him.   I don't feel particularly brave.  But I do feel like a need for change.  And not just location.  But a life style change.  And I am at a point in my life were I can do that.

Back to the Facebook postings.  The first was a link about decluttering.  In a lifetime far, far away, I wanted to be a home organizer.  And I have decluttered on many occasions.  This reminded me I need to do it again.  I have accumulated way too much junk over the 10 years I have been in Chicago.  But this time I want to really declutter and get rid of many of my possessions. The second post was about a woman who has lived many, many years not using money.  She barters for everything.  I am going to try to find her book (the proceeds go to charity because she doesn't need money.)  I doubt I will ever get that extreme.  The third posting was a link to a blog about minimalist living.  And this is what I want.  People in my life.  Not things.  Adventure.  Not things.

So this is my new journey.  To make a life for myself where I can live as a minimalist.  Focusing on what is important and not materialist things that I want.  See where I can go, what I can learn for what ever time I have left on this precious planet.