UNcluttering

to a place where simple is pleasurable!

Serenity Facts

.......I am granted the........
....Serenity to accept the things I cannot change........

...Courage to change the things I can.....

.....And wisdom to know the difference....

Publisher

I made a change today!!! 

For exactly 10 years I have followed this one procedure step by step from A to Z.  

The results over the past 10 years 

produced mediocre feedback.  

Today I changed the method  

and my perception 

and the results 

were obviously 

outstanding,

noticeable

and different! 

WOW!!!

Thankful for letting go of the necessity of

routine,

consistency 

and repetition of  the old 

and creating 

new routine, 

consistency 

and repetition. 

Thankful for the ability 

to receive comments, 

judgment, 

feedback, 

love, 

words, 

kindness, 

excellent intention 

and

criticism. 

Thankful!!!

Great Words!

Dirt

YOSEMITE!  

Half Dome!  

Dogwood! 

Rock Climbers! 

Bears!  

Hippies!

El Capitan! 

Water Falls!  

Nature!

Pizza!

Patchouli!

In the  early 90's I was sitting on a bus in Yosemite Valley when on walked a woman wearing pieces of fabric tied over, under and around her body, macrame hemp tied around her head holding matted hair into a large bun,  a big over stuffed shoulder bag made of burlap and no shoes with a scent that made me stare.. I was not sure if I liked the smell or did not.   I heard a man say peeeyouuuuu!!!, that chic is wearing a load of patchouli!  I made a note to remember that name (Patchouli) and look into to it when I got to town.  I continued to stare at the woman, her organic clothes, cool style and dirtiness that made her shine in a clean sort of way.  

One of my first stops in town was the health food store, where I inquired about Patchouli and   listened for about 20 minutes on all the scientific facts and data on the plant:  Patchouli is a  bushy herb of the mint family.  Patchouli is native to China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and the Philippines.  In the Plant Kingdom it's Genus species is Pogostamin cablin.  Uses of Patchouli include;  hair shampoo, conditioner, perfume, air fresher, antidotes for venomous snake bites, incense, detergents, aromatherapy oil, lotion, insect repellent, medicinal uses include; headache, colds, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain and more.  Its' name is derived from Tamil Patchai.  The clerk wanted to keep talking, I wanted to buy some.  So I grabbed a bottle, paid and left eager to try it out.  Since this day I have bought Patchouli products of many kinds and like the way the smell moves me earthward.  

One day I was in Costco, standing in line with my mountain size  pile of things in a cart and  4 customers back from the check out and heard the Cashier say, "I smell dirt, WHO has been working on a tractor?  DIRT  !!! Do you guys smell that?  I really smell dirt and it's is getting stronger.  Are they working in a field nearby.  The dirt is strong."  She was talking VERY LOUD!!! Everyone was looking around for a large mound of dirt!  I wanted to do the boogie and sing-  IT'S ME!!!!!! It was I that reeked of dirt and WOW!, I was choosing embarrassed because everyone now new she smelled dirt and I knew it was me.  My turn at the cash register and I said, " Do you still smell dirt?"  She said, "YES!, Do you?"  I laughed, " Yes I do, and YES that dirt smell is me."  I told her it might be the Patchouli and I let her sniff my arm and she roared with laughter and said, "Yes, Yes, that is it."  Since then I call Patchouli, DIRT, very fitting name for me and my style of perfume... Thank you lady at Costco!!!!  I LOVE DIRT!!!!

DOG LEASHES

"He lost the dog leashes," I said.  She did  not understand, by the look on her face, so I said it again," HE LOST THE DOG LEASHES."  So, she with her whimsical and loving way said, " So, are you saying, HE!!  lost the dog leashes?"  "Wow, Yes,"  I said.  Seems simple, however not so, she asked again and I replied the same, "Yes, HE lost the dog leashes."  Slow as I am, born unto a quick, witted, sharp as  a new tack daughter, she realized I was not getting it, so she said, " How did HE get the dog leashes?"  I replied, " I gave them to him to hold for awhile."  And she said, "So, HE  lost the dog leashes (head bobble)?"  I said, "Yes."  She said, "Did you make sure they were in the truck after the walk?"  I said, "NO.... Ok, so I lost the dog leashes, I lost the dog leashes, I lost the dog leashes, I lost the dog leashes."  I chanted this louder each time of at least 10 in hopes it would sink into my pea size brain.... That I lost the dog leashes.  She laughed, I almost cried, clearly I wanted to blame someone for this nonsense... And, thank you daughter of the Field for reminding me to take responsibility, stand up straight, laugh at myself, and scream to make sure the whole neighborhood heard who lost the dog leashes.  I DID!!!

A few weeks later, She calls me, frantic, she was locked out of her Tahoe house, barefoot, no cell phone and her dog inside.  She had walked to a neighbors house who she just met, asked to borrow his phone, called me and this explained the odd number I did not recognize.  I offered, ideas of how to break in, kick the door, break a window, scale the roof, visit the interesting, odd, weird, strange, kooky neighbors, call a room mate and others.  She was irritated, cold, we hung up.    She called about 4 hours later to say her friend, J.O.E.S. and friend, used the ole' credit card trick and - in they were.... Thank you J...... 

A couple days pass by and she stops in for a visit, to walk the ONES and chat.... We leashed up and made our way to the field for creature play and smell time.  She said, " You know you missed an opportunity."  I said, " Oh yes, I miss many, which one do you speak of?"  She squawked," When I could not get into my house and  was locked out and   was blaming everyone, you know, it was really my choice- I lost the keys."   EPIC.....  I continue to learn on this marvelous journey of life.... loving each step and YOU!!!!

Be a Mountain!

I chose conflict, anguish and  despair.  I sought advise from family and friends and this is what they said, " Fight BACK, Give it to um hard, You let them know who is BOSS, Call the police, Tell the authorities, Go to the administrator, Call the president, Tell someone, Call the people about the problem, Be Still Like a Mountain, Take them to court, Stop them, Do something  and You can't just sit there."   I tossed the ideas out like bad habits and hung on to one, made it my home and found peace within the stillness.  I became Still Like a Mountain.  I noticed the peace I emanated rippled back 100 fold.  I found myself surrounded with solution, abundance and goodness.  Thank you friend who shared this lovely solution.  

Later the same day I saw another  friend who I have not talked  with in  several months.  She said, "I have so much to tell you, things are going GREAT, I have good news about all areas of my life, EVERYTHING is fabulous, and I just want to thank you."  I said, " Oh, thank you, but, thank me for what?"  She said, " For so long you have told me To Be Still Like a Mountain."  I finally stopped and peace flooded my way launching  waves of greatness.  "Thank you," she said, "Thank you!!!" 

Life is Funny

He said, " Thank goodness NOTHING lasts forever."   He said it just like that and with no warning as we sat on the bench.    I became irritated at his demeanor and body language as he spewed this out between a bite of falafel and sipping water.  "Why, that is absurd," I commented, "things do last forever and what exactly do you mean?"  I was reminiscing about my attachment to things, people and situations. Mentioning my difficulty with change and stating  that I seek similar, consistency and  predictable as a way of life.  He looked at me and kept eating seeming to pay no attention to my irritability and jabbering on and on about my desire of  seeking the perfect life.  His calmness reminded me   screaming was an option, which I wanted to do, however refrained.  He ate and I continued to talk about life, this and that.  I mentioned how I was challenged with a student.  And just like a door swinging wide open, slamming shut  and pinching my fingers,  with his arms raised high, he shouted, "THERE, THAT'S IT, THAT'S WHAT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR, SEE!!!! THANK GOODNESS NOTHING LASTS FOREVER!!!!"  I chose pain, it  hurt! Then I made another choice, thanked him  for his sage message and finished lunch while  he watched the birds.  As we were walking away he said, "Life is funny." My fingers still ached.

Eucalyptus Toothpaste

Feeling free,

I heard the tires squeal and door slam with a rat-a-tat-tat on the aluminum garage door, he arrived.

The pitter patter of paws I missed and when I asked where Hannah was he said, " AH, I have work today, yes on Saturday, so she is home."  Siddhartha her brother scampered about sniffing high and low for her  and instead of finding his sis  stopped at Scott and collected love, hugs, kisses and snuggles.  Sidd smiles for Scott barring teeth high and wide, just like all the other Campbell Clan.  The chain saw was powered on and away he went making small pieces of the 50' Eucalyptus tree that snapped in half from a neighbors yard.  In 20 minutes the job was complete and the back up crew  of 1 arrived on time to help clip and trim the excess Eucalyptus twigs.  The yard reeked of sweet,  spicy  sap that reminded me of  Montana De Oro.

When the  task was complete Scott rounded up his equipment and again turned to Sidd and asked for a smile.  Up went his lips with white teeth blaring against his black skin and fur.  Scott noticed something on one of Sidd's canines and gave me a scowl saying, "plaque, don't you know about dental care for dogs, it is very important."  I said, "NO, that is not plaque, just the color of his tooth!"  He applied very  little pressure with his fingernail and a thin, flake of disgusting crud peeled from Sidd's  tooth...... It was so nasty and  I quickly realized, "ok, so he has some plaque."  He continued to scrape  and scrape and scrape some  more. 

Thank you Scott for chipping away at the scum- ness on his teeth.
Like dog son of a Mom human, like human Mom of a  son dog- 

I too have a scrapping appointment tomorrow and just hope the Dental Hygenist does not feel the queasy  nastiness that I felt as I  saw what loosened from Sidd's teeth.

It is always an interesting feeling to lay back, relax  as my teeth  are scrapped, brushed, picked, flossed and polished.

I use this time to meditate- They  used to always ask if I would like the TV on and so I suppose that my aghast reaction led them to NEVER ask me again.  I think they may have even purchased a new cover since my ungodly reaction to the contraption was so OVER the top.

So, for tomorrow I get to go to a place, recline, close my eyes, have happy thoughts, no thoughts, be centered, grateful and peace.

I also will work on keeping my hounds' choppers clean-

Thank you again Scott for the really cool experience !

I think a great flavor for toothpaste would be Eucalyptus- maybe I will take a few twigs with me to Dentist and see what they think!

Koalas love it!

Outta the Box

I  noticed the thought while I was standing near the sacred, Native American Rock,  that tiny boxes are so limiting that I  almost tripped and  landed in a thicket of berries.  The bold lines which define  the plain,  white squares are  statements to human kind.   The separating line between two clans, teams or groups is boldly part of our culture.  The walls separate  and segregate.  It is because I was completing a form and disliked the taste of the arrogance of the thing  that created the paper with tiny boxes that led me into a tail spin.    Yet, I  found gratitude and  made an opportunity to find peace and love on the page- once I made my own tiny boxes.  I understand the section where it says name- That is clear, we are born, we have names, and we use these names to call upon each other, I get this.   Yet some people and creatures names are numbers. Does this confuse the computer or scan tron?   The gender question, are they serious, only two choices, male and female, and clearly there should be more boxes here. However I find this section quite irritating- because why does it matter which gender?  It does not!!! Hallelujah!!!! Marital status, this is no ones business, so I argued this and it was explained that there may be a discount if you are widowed or otherwise, well I thought, "That's special."  And my most favorite is the section about race.  I always thought African American had something to do with where someone was born.  I recently learned that this box identifies color as do all the other boxes in this section.  Why in the world would color matter?   That's like asking, " List the size of your liver."  And, my most favorite, favorite, favorite is;  Military Status,   this should read; Mood Status.......  Why then I could answer.    Have you purchase a toaster lately, yes or no,  exactly why dos it matter,  who reads this?  Does it all really matter?  Or are these small boxes put here to remind us how insignificant our lives are that the whole of it fits into a box?  Or does it matter so much that we hold   value to what  fits in the box .  The Age section.... I had to stop here...... because I was told,  " Mam this is a security question."   So it was about this point that I found my self frustrated and irritable with the box nonsense, not feeling peace and love, decided to make my own peace and love  boxes on the form and this is how they read-

• Peace Party
  
• None of your business
• All of your business
• Yes Please
  
• No thank you
• All Colors
• Homo sapien
• Happy Person
  
• Very Energetic Person
• Sort of Tired
• I think I am a man but feel like a woman today
  
• Androgynous
• Every Religion
• No Region
• Seeking UFO intervention
• Sober for 10 years
• Super High
• Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple
• ALL Colors: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary & HUES
• I am, I am, Sam I am!
  
• Call me what you like
• 108
  
• Thank you
• Have a great day
• List 10 things that are great about your life
• I like dogs
• Old and Young, thank you for asking
• Earth
• Military Status- I own camo pants and owned a jeep once
• Abel-ed  Body
  
• Disabled Body
• I LOVE my BODY
  
• I love you
• I love myself
• I am brilliant
• You are brilliant
• Life is GREAT
• Let's Party!
  

 After I made my own boxes I felt better about the form- also doodled some YIN YANG, Peace signs, many hearts, of course the Om, tons of stars, squiggles and circles and more hearts a sun for kicks and smiley face cause it  fit.   I handed it over and said, " Toodles."   All of this nonsense and some sense of boxes kept  racing through my mind as I stood near the rock, berries and creek.  I stopped, took a deep breath, noticed the oaks, water falling over the rocks and blue sky.  I relaxed, felt gratitude for small boxes and small energy as well as outta boxes and dynamic energy.  I continued walking and kept focus on the moment, the grass and sky.  Feeling Free!