Starting Small is a Big Thing

Tiny Sad Face Statue (part of a larger piece)

This week I was feeling stressed as my health was not tip top.  I know that it is only a temporary downward trend and that I will continue to get better over time. However, I found myself worrying about many things. I started to feel a bit frustrated with myself and my recent planning about a future tiny home/mobile gallery. A couple of times I reminded myself about my personal commitments that I made last week, and a recent addition of eliminating beef from my diet. I have been doing pretty good, and it has forced me to be more mindful of what I eat. In my case what I eat is a big part of becoming more healthy.

Sometimes this week I have seriously wondered, is having a tiny home really simplifying my life if my whole family doesn't agree to the prospect? I won't go into that in more depth here. I don't see any point in worrying about the future when so much is unsure. No decisions have been or need to be made right now about any of that. For now, my personal commitments are about things I can change in THIS present moment. Not a year down the road, not a decade from now, but right now.

Tiny Clay Statue of Rock Pile

One of the commitments I made to myself last week was that I would blog here every Sunday.  I almost forgot today, but thinking about how I can simplify my life right now brought it back to mind, so here I am. Sunday is the day I take off from filling orders for Peace Full Creations, my home business in the making. So I like to do things on Sunday with Carlie, the animals, and still be creative but in more light hearted fun ways. After making some tiny statues out of a clay I can bake in the oven, I decided to make some time to read You Can Buy Happiness and It's Cheap by Tammy Strobel and then write in this blog while watching frivolous TV shows through the internet in an effort to decide if we are willing as a family to get rid of cable. Later I will take time in my hammock to read the last of the books my Aunt sent me (she sent me the whole Game of Thrones series) and then I will be choosing 6 things to give away since I recently acquired 3 new things. Which leads me to what I have been reading this afternoon, Tammy's book.

Meditation  Rock Monster

I have been reading this book in small chunks as I am trying to not just take it in intellectually, but to apply what I get out of it to my life. The current chapter I'm reading has so many gems in it, that I have only been reading one section of the chapter at a time. Today I read the part of chapter 5 which included Project 333. I have been considering taking this challenge on as I read about it elsewhere, and it seems like a good step in my journey as I simplify my life and reduce my possessions to a level where I feel I am not living in excess. I do think taking on Project 333 and simplifying what I wear down to 33 items for 3 months is a good next step. http://theproject333.com/ for me, it's all about taking things one step at a time. I believe that I would love living in a tiny home, but right now I am not. And worrying about how to do this or that for my tiny home is less productive than learning to live small where I am.

One thing I am making time for today is reading this article: http://thinksimplenow.com/clarity/life-lessons-from-buddha/ about 10 simple lessons from Buddha, and one in particular seems very appropriate at this moment:

"Its Okay to Start Small

“A jug fills drop by drop.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Every artist was once an amateur.”

We all start small, do not despise small beginnings. If you’re consistent, and if you’re patient, you will succeed! No one succeeds over night; success belongs to those who are willing to start small and patiently work until their jug is filled."

A Tiny Love Story (in process)

Thank you for the reminder Mr Self Development! I will focus on each tiny step. And in the spirit of starting small and simple, I posted some photos all through this blog entry of some tiny art which I made today as part of my fun time with clay. Because it's important to let my inner artist out on a regular basis with no limits, just fun creativity. Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my week of bare simplicity, and the snapshots of today's tiny art. I really had fun making it. I am looking forward to seeing what comes of the various tiny pieces when I make tiny installation pieces out of them.