I wondered about the application of these - what is it like to rub directly onto my head? And will they be messy to handle or while they sit in my shower? Will I be disappointed with how they treat my hair? I can confidently say, after using them for over two weeks, no to any downside. So far anyway! While I wouldn’t recommend these sit in a shower in a location where they continue to get wet, and luckily my shower shelves are out of stream range, they dry quickly and are great to handle. I found that you really don’t need to rub much or for long, as the shampoo lathers quite nicely (I have short hair, so might be different for long hair) and the conditioner spreads nicely to easily. 

I love that they come in paper, there is no plastic to dispose of, no glass to worry about, and you have some options for types, depending on your hair needs.  

I don’t know how long they will last but I can leave a comment below once I have used them up. I do wash my hair daily, and I use a dandruff shampoo twice a week, but I know many people do not wash their hair as often as I do, so these may last even longer for some folks. 

Related to this, a while back I tried a dish soap bar at my kitchen sink. I did like it! However, the container you place it in is important. You want it to dry out, be easy to collect onto your scrub brush without it slip sliding around, and the one I got was a large square shape so finding the right soap dish that fit the bill was not easy. While I have not seen this option in shops recently (I first bought it while on vacation in Canada) a quick google search turned up several promising looking options!

I love to try these types of things that come with and require less material to throw away or even recycle. Recycling is great, but not the answer. It is still energy consuming, imperfect and relies on local services which often vary greatly by location. 

Give these hair ones a try! I have seen them at many an earth conscious mercantile and REI or other outdoor stores. Maybe you have tried them? If so, what did you think? If you want to try them, please share below where you bought them and then give your assessment after a length of use. Let’s take a chance and try these kinds of things so more companies are willing to risk bringing them to market! It may be a little different than we are used to, but change is not only inevitable, it is good for us!                                Here’s to a good hair day!

I love things to look nice. And clean windows, mirrors and shiny surfaces stand out as light reflects off them into a room and our eyes are often drawn to that. And the opposite can be true; streaky windows or mirrors often stand out to us because they don’t reflect cleanly the light and the surroundings. 

My Mom’s neighbor told me about a cloth she used on her windows that always left a streak free clean without glass cleaner. It was like magic! So when I got home and googled glass cleaning cloth, the E-cloth came up on the list. Instead of ordering it online, I remembered I saw the E-cloth line on display at my local Ace Hardware store so the next time I was in that area I went to Ace and bought one. 

It took a little looking to find the one for windows amongst many different E-cloths for various surfaces and/or uses. It is a two cloth system. One is a waffle cloth that you wet, ring out and wipe the glass with and the 2nd, a buffer cloth that feels similar to your phone or computer (or eyeglass) cleaning cloths. I tried it on my bathroom mirrors, full length mirror, then my oven door and even my shower doors. Wow! With little effort, they look like new! My main motivation was on the inside of my car windshield as I keep trying to clean it, but when the sun hits it just right I could see a film. And sometimes it even makes it hard to see when the sun is coming at just the right (or wrong) angle. So I cleaned the windshield, just on the inside, and so far it seems great, although I am not sure if I have encountered yet that tricky angle of the sunlight that makes it hard to see.

I have tried a variety of glass cleaners, cloths, paper towels, even vinegar and newspaper (what a mess your hands get with the newsprint!). Nothing has worked as well as this! They guarantee 300 washings of the cloth before you would need to replace it. That is a long life! I have suggested it to my manager at the gift and jewelry store I work part time at since we often have a hard time getting the front doors streak free as the sun shines through them for much of the day.

I am excited to try the other cloths and uses. I have really enjoyed my stainless steel cloth (not and E-Cloth brand) that needs only water, no chemicals, for several years now. Especially with the prevalence of stainless appliances. Especially refrigerators - finger prints are prolific! I am happy to have less cleaners and less plastic bottles under my sink. More environmentally friendly and a better outcome - win win! 
​
Have you used any of the E-cloths? What has your experience been? How many different kinds do you use or which one is your favorite?

I wanted to share something sweet. There is a website curated with good news.  It is called Reasons to be Cheerful.  The tag line is:  Tonic for tumultuous times

We are bombarded with negativity. And yet there are many things to celebrate in our world. Yes, there is much to be bummed about too. But where we put our attention, our energy, we support or even grow. The news and even Youtube and social media, is about getting your attention quick for your clicks to find out more reasons to be shocked! Our brains are wired to be alert for danger. We must make an effort to seek out the calm, the sweet, the beautiful and support and grow that too. Again, where our attention goes, energy flows. Think about when you feel a certain way, especially in an extreme, don't you then notice a lot more confirmations of that, whether that be wanted or unwanted? Thinking people are mean and greedy will often cause more mean and greedy folks to cross your path. Feeling a love of neat sports cars, you seem to see more of them on the road that day! Or loving good deals at the store. Try setting an intention before you shop. I did this today before going into the thrift store. I stated that I would find perfect items I needed  (nothing super specific) at great prices. (Because let's face it, even thrift store prices have gone way up.) Well I found some great items, some for 90 cents! I have rarely been so successful at one thrift store little-lone two in a row!

So seek out and surround yourself with more good news, more loving and hopeful things. Notice pretty flowers, cute dogs, cool clouds, sweet butterflies and let yourself feel the joy they create in you and bring that forward into the next moment and the next and even the next! And check this site out and maybe even subscribe to get the occasional email with new cheerful stories, right in your inbox. I bet there are a lot of negative emails in your box. Why not add one that is not?!
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/

You can make a difference in reducing harmful greenhouse gases every single day by reducing or eliminating throwing food into the garbage and thus landfills. Tossed out food is a waste of your money and the energy that produced it and brought it to your table as well as stored it in your fridge or freezer. Please consider how you might let less food get to the point of tossing it out, and when you do need to, place it in a compost or worm bin instead of the garbage can.  Check out my short video below with suggestions and comment here or on my Youtube channel if you have ideas, questions or wish to share what you do to waste less food. We can all do this! Thank you in advance for your time and effort, because it is estimated that a 60% reduction in food waste translates to a 7% reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions. That is big!

https://youtu.be/3KvMYu2BNFo

I have come to understand a deeper reason for how we tend to keep our spaces, whether that be our home, car, yard or desk. There is an energy at play. It reflects our state of being, our belief systems and our moods, even if we are not able to identify those.  We may go between living in a relatively clean and tidy space for days, weeks or months, to allowing things to get messy or dirty and thus needing to undertake a major clean up. Why?

Most of us are not hoarders, yet we have so much more stuff these days! Likely we have experienced feeling some level of anxiety around letting go of things. We may not even be very aware of what is around us, and in the case of the hoarder, not see the chaos and unhealthy situation (tripping hazards, mold potential etc.) we are living in.  The energy of our thoughts and emotions appear visibly in our outside world. I suspect you wont find a depressed person’s home spotless, tidy and full of light, with vibrant colors and music. I also suspect you wont often find a home of someone who has a truly healthy love for life and themselves to be cramped or cluttered, where the shades stay drawn day in and day out.

I wish to suggest an opportunity here. To begin, look with curiosity at friends and family, but ultimately at your own, spaces to see if you find a connection between your observance or what you suspect is the state of mind, and what their homes, cars or office look like. You may not be a psychologist or therapist, but you may have a good sense of what is going on with your friend or family member by not only observing their words and actions, but how they live. What clothes they wear and how they keep the spaces they are in control of, says something about their state as well as their personality. 

This could be the more nuanced but critical piece in keeping your spaces organized and clean, where you can find what you need and relax or entertain. More than will power, intention or your energy level. It’s my understanding and experience anyway, that why a person can’t seem to stay organized is not about being lazy or not caring, but more about their mental or emotional state or beliefs about themselves or the world. I wondered why some people seem to be disorganized to a certain level -  it doesn’t seem to get worse quickly but also they don’t seem to be able to maintain a level of clean they say they want. Things seem to return to a place of equilibrium or normal level of messy for them.

Reasons could include not feeling we are good enough, fear of loosing it all or not having enough, the need for “proof” that we are successful, fear of limitations or limited options, fear of missing out, of not having what we need, fear of abandonment, are some possibilities.The most common statement from clients and friends is “what if I need it later?”. Or they have plans for it. Even if those plans have been around for 10 years with no action. 

Might you be interested in finding out why? To get honest, real and a bit vulnerable in order to find out what is at the deeper, subconscious level of the reason you are living as you are? There are a variety of ways to get some answers and to shift old fears and beliefs. I am trained to help through Energy Codes Coaching and healing, but there is a whole long list of ways one might get some insight and support on this. The emotional piece has a big effect on the getting to and staying organized. If you think you “like” mess and clutter, ask yourself if you prefer going into other peoples homes, stores, or other places of business that are messy, crowded or cluttered. Or if you prefer a store where you can find your way around and find what you are looking for relatively easily. A friend’s home where things are clean and there is a place to sit down for a chat versus one where you have to watch where you step and move things off the chair or couch, table etc. in order to sit down. Likely your “like” of messiness is really just a tolerance of your own mess because it has become what you know, what you are used to.  Just like we get used to living on a busy road after a while. The sounds (possibly maintaining a low level stress response) are still there but we take less notice of them. It takes effort to change our space, and ourselves and that seems like too much work. There could even be a reason you don’t think it is safe to have it clean or organized. It might also be true that it is causing more stress and anxiety than you know. Just because we are “used” to an unpleasant situation or person, level of stress or frustration, doesn’t mean it isn’t effecting us long term.

We have a local grocery store that I wish to support as it has great produce, local options, wonderful employees and donates back to the community. However, they fill every possible space with other items too, ones that are not typical of a grocery store. And it makes it hard to navigate around, especially with a grocery cart and I get overwhelmed by all the STUFF in that store! So I only go there when I need just a few things and I can be quick. I keep my eyes on the areas I am needing items from like the produce section and have learned to tune out the other. But it is still unpleasant. I disliked going into Toys-R-Us with my young kids because there was just so much to look at, the eye doesn’t know where to land! Same with Walmart. I don’t shop there for a number of reasons, but one is how crowded with stuff, the tall and skinny isles etc. I feel anxious in that store! There is no room to breathe or think!

I am working on some short YouTube videos where I talk about organizing steps - but also focused on the mental part as well as the planning and prep. You know what organized and disorganized spaces look like. You also might see images of well organized closets, garage or rooms and feel it is out of reach to you which make you discouraged to ever start. My videos will be focused on the thought processes and feeling into what it is you want. And offer questions or tasks to help get you started. I hope you find them useful and get you off to a good start as you prepare to make some healthy and happy changes for your spaces. Winter and the start of a new year is a great time to start your year off!  Good time to do indoor projects in preparation for having more time and energy for outside activities and tasks when the days are longer and warmer! 
Check it out here… LINK 

After the holidays, I used to have a bit of anxiety around where to put all the gifts I received. There was also a mixture of gratitude and guilt. I appreciated the giver and the gift, and also longed for less stuff. Luckily over the years my family has done a better job of reducing the number of gifts we exchange. As a bigger clan, we draw names and get one gift for one person rather than a little something for everyone. Some of us request gifts of experiences. That could be a gift card for a service, such as a massage, pedicure or coffee house. Or what I most love, an event in the future that we will do together. Dinner out, a show, an escape room, etc. And to be honest, for my partner who has little time to shop, I will set aside items I have bought for myself (cute socks, a t-shirt, lotion) that I felt funny buying for myself as I was shopping for others, but knew I wanted (maybe needed) and liked! It still feels special to open as I got exactly what was wanted - with no worry that I might need to exchange it! And sometimes, if done well enough in advance, I forget about the items and it is a surprise after all!

Seems timely to be sharing this well written blog post from Credo Mobile (my cell phone carrier) regarding how our individual purchases matter. I would also add that if more of us shop at the eco-friendly businesses that try hard to protect our planet and us, in supporting them it increases their ability to lower prices for all of us. We vote with our wallets people! Really and truly! And even you, yes YOU, make a difference! 
Check it out - it has some helpful links in it too.
​Credo's Blog Post

Someone recently recommended to me the book “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. How to Free yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter” by Margareta Magnusson. I had never heard of it. So I put a hold on the audio book from my local library.  It came up as ready to listen to just days after the death of my Father-in-law. I wished I had been able to suggest this book to my in-laws prior to his passing.

The author, who was in her 80’s at least when she wrote it back in 2018, is quite funny and prioritizes like I do. Although she is not a fan of hiring help with downsizing! She thinks services like mine are expensive when considering you want to do this slowly with thoughtfulness. So maybe there is one thing we would disagree on.

Not that you need to do it fast without thinking it through. Doing it slowly with a great deal of thoughtfulness is best for sure. AND there are many folks out there that will never take the time to do it that way.  Sometimes, not always I realize, doing something quickly without getting too in your head about it, works quite well. It is my belief, that if you truly need something, it will find it’s way to you. So not giving or throwing things away because “I might need it someday” can fill up your spaces fast. Possibly cost you a lot of money as well. Way more than buying something again down the road should you indeed need it. Especially if you don’t remember you had it or can’t find it and buy it again anyway. 

Her main point is - do you really want to burden your family with ALL your stuff when you die? Obviously we need some stuff. But a house filled to the brim with stuff is an overwhelming and burdensome gift to leave those you love and care about. So thinking of them now is a gift you can give from beyond. 

Have you seen how many storage rental businesses there are around in your community? Americans are BIG consumers! It’s an addiction. And like most addictions, not a healthy one.  We have so much stuff we can’t even store it in our homes that we have to spend money to rent space to store it! Wise? Cheap? No. This is when hiring help is cheaper than not!


We are destroying our health, our lives and our planet - all at the same time - with all our STUFF! The items we keep and the items we throw away every day - plastic being the main thing. But food, clothes etc. The fashion industry has come under great scrutiny about the impact on the earth. And  those companies that sell the clothes who are tossing returned items because it is cheaper than re-stocking them! When will it stop?  Well maybe when we learn something from this Swedish death cleaning woman for a start. 

She suggest decluttering throughout your life, not waiting until you are closer to a likely departure. After all, none of us know when exactly that will be.  Decluttering and donating or gifting (or tossing) sooner rather than later, is just wise and kind. Less to clutter you now, and less work for your family members to have to deal with when your times comes.

I am happy to help you downsize, de-clutter, get organized, to be enjoyed at the time and well into the future! It really is a good feeling to know what you have, be able to find it, and be free of piles of things, duplicates or items spread out everywhere. I bet many of us could get a second kitchen up and running without missing much from our own! Open a drawer or two in your kitchen and if you can’t see what is in there in about 10 seconds, you could benefit from my services. Or the book at least.