I have a dynamic practice of gratitude that I employ in a similar manner. I have ritualized taking a moment to stand before an area to be decluttered or reorganized, center myself, and genuinely offer my verbal thanks to those objects and their energies, for their contributions to my life and living. It does help to…

Resign and if questioned about the gap between jobs, you can characterize it as exploring your employment opportunities while working a job that didn’t provide a good match.

You win the comments section award! Made me LOL - thanks.

I built a leaning desk similar to this one, but much smaller. The beauty of my leaning desk is its simplicity and portability, as it is lightweight and I can carry it with one hand. Since ambient vibration can make it fall (as in from a fan during our San Francisco high temp days), I solved that problem with a 2 inch…

This is timely, since I am facing an enormous crop of organic tomatoes...

I see this as a matter of learning how to assert one’s self, versus aggressive behavior that most people find distasteful and which is unproductive. Assertiveness is a skill- and competency-set that includes personal clarity, speaking up and advocating, and self-respect. An assertive person might return an entree that…

Walter J. Palmer is the dentist from Minneapolis who killed gentle Cecil the lion by baiting him and exploiting his fondness for humans. From the Raw Story article: “The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force confirmed that Palmer — who has been previously fined for illegal hunts — spotted Cecil the lion at night and tied a…

An olla is an unglazed terracotta pot. Glazing prevents the seepage of water through the terracotta. Simple unglazed terracotta (clay) pots are ideal if one is making homemade ollas.

I deployed homemade ollas in my garden this year and they do help keep the soil hydrated. I need to refill them once about every 8-9 days or so.

Since it already appears exhausting, may I suggest that you set your timer for 5 minutes on the first day? See how that goes and don’t think about the ENTIRE ROOM OR AREA - just focus on the single item you have picked up and are rapidly evaluating whether to Keep or Discard.

I suggest working for a period of 15 or 30 minutes every day sorting some of your clutter in one defined area of a room into Keep, Discard, or Unsure piles. Don’t let the Unsure pile linger: go through it and toss, recycle, or donate items you won’t use. Set a timer and when it is finished, you may be surprised to…

I did, as well, but practice does help one master flipping an egg. Now, I can flip them with the best and not break the yokes. I’m going to try the method Jose Andres uses in the NYT article.

You are too kind, nurser - thank you. I think decluttering takes practice to incorporate into one’s life and the way to declutter is to start somewhere. Just a few years ago, I began decluttering my entire living space, to pare down those items I do not use or can no longer use. My experience has been that starting on…

It is my understanding that it is long intervals of use in which one’s neck is angled for prolonged periods that is of concern. Take a moment and look at those around you who are texting in public spaces: check out how the cervical spine is under persistent stress because of how we use our smart devices.

I use Craigslist and Nextdoor with great success, to post ads for items that are still usable. I focus on a small (large in context of my living space, however) decluttering project and usually allow myself a day or two on it, placing items in Keep or Remove piles. I have found that after finishing one of these…

I knew I was gay when I was a child. I just didn’t call it “gay”, but I knew I was different. It was only when I was older that I discovered the difference was that I was gay. I have always been attracted to guys.

Pushbullet makes it easy and seamless to move from one device to another. I can easily research an item on my 17” laptop and push the link, a photo, a PDF, etc., from it to my phablet, so I can continue work on a project. An example is researching a recipe and shopping for its ingredients using my smartphone push as a…

I’ve heard that statement, too, from usually well-intentioned people that fail to grok that abundance and happiness are not synonymous with material security.

Misconception: one must look like they are very sad if they have depression.

It is my understanding that much of the EU and most member states use the “precautionary principle” in food and substance regulation, which has its roots in the thalidomide tragedy of the 1950s and 1960s (http://goo.gl/zOTmSW) . A sharp physician, Canadian Francis Oldham Kelsey MD, was head of the FDA of the US at the…