Will My Fictional Knowledge Save Me?

It's a gorgeous day outside, so what better than to think about civilization-destroying apocalypses? (Apolcalypsi?)  Netflix Instant Watch is a wonderful thing and recently I've seen a bit of the BBC show Survivors.  It has nothing to do with reality TV, I promise.  It's more like The Stand only British and probably doesn't have much to do with God or The Walkin' Dude.  

First, it made me think which type of apocalypse I'd like to be involved in.  Nuclear holocaust is right out - The Road's desolate, hungry wasteland is NOT appealing.  Zombie scourge is pretty bad ass, but let's be honest, when it comes to hand to hand combat with the undead or otherwise, I probably wouldn't make it very far.  Worldwide pandemic seems the way to go in terms of resources left over afterwards, especially as you don't have to count locations or resources out due to being surrounded by hordes of the walking dead.  Granted, survival is really a bit of a lottery, but I'll take my chances.  I wonder if, among the millions of useless online personality tests out there, they have a "Which Apocalypse Best Suits You?" quiz? 

Second, it made me think what I'd contribute to reemerging society.  Mostly entertainment, probably. I remember a lot of songs!  I'm not sure if knitting comes in handy.  I could probably use my domestic wiles to make canned food marginally tasty.  My fledgling gardening skills might be useful once the immediate crisis was over and we were able to settle down and start to rebuild society. 

Or maybe it would just be my vast pool of apocalyptic horror novel/movie experience - we could take fictional characters and apply those scenarios to real-life situations.  There's probably some valuable lessons in there!  The Stand (sure, you survived the plague, that doesn't mean you can't still break your leg and die in horrific solitude - be cautious!); the Gone series (seriously guys, resources do NOT last forever!); The Walking Dead; The Zombie Survival Guide; World War Z; Dawn of the Dead; etc, etc.  And now Survivors. Come to me, your encyclopedia of almost-useful-stories.

Organize, Minimize, Jazzercize

I DID organize, and I DID minimize today, but sadly, there was no actual jazzercize.  I think I failed on that one.  

Attempting to simply is kinda fun.  I'm trying to think of it as becoming organized.  You might not know it, but I love to organize, I'm just usually too lazy.  This is a big problem for all the life goals I have ("I'm going to be tidier!" "I'm going to eat better!" "I'm going to exercise more!")  So I may as well start small and work my way up.  Pile up the little victories and maybe I'll start tacking on some bigger things.

Got my e-mail inbox down to 18 today.  Deleted a lot, sorted most others into handy files, and now I just have one file of a few "go through, pull out the useful info, then delete" e-mails to take care of in the next week (I gave myself a limit).

Go me.

Lemme At 'Er!

The idea of simplifying (heck, even the idea of starting  to try simplifying) can get pretty inspirational.  I was reading some blogs during my lunch hour when I thought about my previous post and how I talk about having clothes I don't wear but don't get rid of.  I looked at the clock and saw I had 5 minutes before I had to head back for work and I realized that a fast, time-limited purge would FORCE me to make snap decisions.  Usually that's a bad thing, but my problem in this case is that I usually waaaaay overthink the purge process to where I become paralyzed with indecision and "what if"s and don't do anything.  I look at that closet every single day, I know what I've been dilly-dallying over, I know it, I just need to DO IT.  

I sprang out of my chair, rushed into my room and started flicking through the hangers one by one, pulling things out and muttering to myself, "This doesn't go with anything - GET RID OF IT!  You hate the sleeves on this even though you love the color so you never wear it - GET RID OF IT!  You don't even REMEMBER the last time you wore this - GET RID OF IT!  This always makes your legs look puny and your ass look huge - GET RID OF IT!!!!!!"

By the end of the 5 minutes I had a big pile of at least 15 things on my bed that I can donate.  And I haven't even gone through my shoes or my jewelry or my makeup!  I'm kinda stoked.

Spilling Hope: Do it do it DO IT!!

So, for Spilling Hope this year (check it out, it's awesome) I'm limiting my spending on food.  I did a quick review of my April expenditures and let me tell you, I was a little revolted with myself.  I spent a ridiculous amount and not just eating out, but on regular groceries, too.  Now, I love food, I love making food and trying new food and just plain ol' stuffing my face, but I could do a lot better.  I don't plan ahead, so I buy whatever I feel like at the store, then forget what's in my fridge/cupboards/freezer and food goes to waste or I think I've got nothing so I eat out or go shopping when I could actually combine things already there to make something spectacular.

I WILL BE A BETTER STEWARD OF MY FOOD MONEY!!!  It should help me get creative, which will be fun, and maybe even help push me towards a better diet in general.  Can't argue with that!

Liz and I signed up for one of those programs where you regularly receive a box of organic produce.  We're getting one every other week and even though we started with the small box, it's pretty chock full o' stuff in great variety, so I'm looking forward to seeing what I can build around that.  I'm also having fun reading a blog my sister turned me on to for inspiration, Poor Girl Eats Well.  She's got some crazy awesome recipes, a semi-regular feature called the $25 Shopping Cart, and just a pleasant writing voice that makes it fun to read.  Can't wait to try some of her recipes.

Making An Effort Sounds Good, But...

How does God always know what you need to hear when you need to hear it?  Darn him.  The sermon yesterday was about conspicuous consumption and our idea of comfort being tied up in a skewed concept of "enough", which is something that's been coming up in my thoughts more and more lately.  There were a lot of interesting points including how materialism is a big blind spot in the contemporary church and how it rises from three basic categories: greed, worry, and context/comparison.  I hope I'm not greedy, but I do worry ("What will I do without my stuff!?  what if something bad happens and I'm not filthy rich!?") and with my AMAZING levels of self esteem [sarcasm detected!] context/comparison is big in my mind ("But if I don't wear nice clothes people will think I look stupid!  Why is my stuff so OLD!?") even if it doesn't necessarily make me rush out and buy each new generation of iPhone.

My grandmother passed away right after Christmas and my mother has a living room full of her things that still need to be sorted through.  Mom's always been anti-clutter, but she told me on the phone the other day that she really wanted to start de-stuff-ing because she didn't want us to have to deal with too many things when she dies. I have no plans to die any time soon (I'm so in control of that) but maybe it's wise to think like that now anyway.  The less you accumulate, the less you have to de-stuff.  Fancy that.

I'm not exactly swimming in stuff (by American standards, anyway).  I don't have to rent out a storage unit or anything, but sometimes I find something I didn't even remember I owned - obviously not using it.  I regularly notice clothing I don't wear, but I don't want to get rid of it because what if I need it SOMEDAY?  And yet I know that I'm only going to wear it as a last resort and I'm not going to be happy about it, so why even give myself that option and in the mean time have a cluttered closet of unused stuff that someone else COULD be using?  

While I may not be completely overwhelmed with possessions, as an extension, I think my major fault is just not thinking about where my money goes.  I feel like I don't make a lot of money and (man, I suck) I find myself complaining about it.  But you know what?  I make PLENTY of money, I just "lose" it - no idea where it goes and no plan to keep it from going there. I spend way too much on eating out and on regular groceries (a lot of which I forget I have or it goes bad before I eat it); I buy books & magazines I don't need, etc.  It almost seems worse to me because when I spend my money on things like eating out, magazines I'll toss, going to movies, etc, I don't have a physical reminder sitting in my house saying "YOU DON'T NEED ME!"  I forget as soon as I'm done and it doesn't figure into my view of my own habits.

My big challenge is going to be planning.  Going with the flow is getting me nowhere, so I need to plan things like what to tithe, save, buy, donate, eat, etc.   I'm TERRIBLE at planning.  I'm really good at going with the flow and really, really bad at forethought.  You know why?  Forethought is boring and hard and I'm lazy.  I should probably try to work on that.  

Of course, this is something I've been SAYING I should do for a while - I get hyped then I fizzle out.  I need to figure out a way to actually get started and continually work on it.  I'm not assuming my life will change overnight or I'll instantly be awesome or never buy things I don't need, etc, etc, but can I at least try to start being mindful?  Can I at least try to be more generous with what I don't end up frittering away?  Bah.  Making an effort sounds good, but it kinda sucks to actually do it.