Newsletter Techni-Venture

I’m happy to report that the February newsletter, Unpacking Your Stories, finally went out this week –  while it was still February!  The newsletter folks, MailerLite, announced that the domain name had to be “authenticated” before anything could set sail.  It sounded simple enough, but anything involving coding is complicated for me.  Miraculously, I was able singlehandedly to get some code from MailerLite, but figuring out where and how to insert it – at GoDaddy or Hostgator – was beyond me.

I wisely turned the task over to my web person, Ellie Nowels of Centipede Graphics, who began a weeks-long email exchange with MailerLite, involving screenshots of code that weren’t being accepted.  Finally – ta-dah! – the code went in and MailerLite declared me “authenticated.”  Then, just before I hit “send,” I remembered that I was supposed to have added an additional “quick link” to my new book.

I couldn’t figure out how.  But thanks to a Fiverr contractor named Kisilda in Albania, the new link made it into the newsletter, and it finally sailed out to subscribers.  If you’re not one and would like to take a look, here ‘tis.   Whew!!!  It’s a very special issue since it contains the first story written by one of my Unpacking Your Life workshop participants, Cindy May. Just hit subscribe on this web page, and future issues of my now-authenticated newsletter will appear in your inbox each month. Whew!!

Technology requires A LOT of assistance.  But now on to the part I like best:  not technology but stories!!

Six-Word Mantra

It’s become a tradition in our family for my daughter Sarah to fill my Christmas stocking.  It’s always a treat to see what she’s chosen in addition to the always welcome dark chocolate.

This year, she scored with something very special:  a set of wooden pencils emblazoned in gold with the advice:  Be Curious. Make Mistakes. Keep Going.

What an important mantra for those of us who (did she notice?) can let perfection get in the way of moving forward. It is only through trial and error that we can keep going.  It is the scientific method of living!

The pencils were an especially important message for me as I shift into the uncharted territory of Unpacking Our Stories and encourage rightsizers to find the story behind the stuff they want to keep or discard.

Onward!  (And it’s really OK to use the erasers.)

Rightsizing? Or Downsizing?

As I think about this process of unpacking our lives, it’s tempting to use the words rightsizing and downsizing interchangeably.  Whether we move to a smaller space or simply minimize the amount of “stuff” we want to have in our current space, we are actually doing both.

We are sizing our “stuff” down, and we’re also trying to make sure we take the right stuff that’s meaningful and reminds us of the stories that have informed our best lives.

Since our theme as we unpack our lives will be to uncover our life stories, I’m inclined to use the term “rightsizing” rather than “downsizing” since the effect will not be to make our lives smaller but to help us live large, true to our values, with the right stuff in view.

On to rightsizing our lives!

First Unpacking Workshop!

I’m excited to offer my first workshop on “Unpacking Your Life” – 10 to 11:30 AM Saturday, Jan. 13 – as part of Upper Arlington Lifelong Learning program. The class will be in the lower level of the UA Municipal Services Center.

Join me to mine your “stuff” for treasures that are significant in your life stories and bring them as prompts to create stories to share with each other and who knows what else.  Write them out? Record them? See how they figure into your goals and values now?

A place in the class could be the perfect gift for downsizers and their family members, who want to turn a dreaded process into an enriching one.  The easiest way to register is to call UA Lifelong Learning at 614-583-5300. Course number is 441286A. If you live in Columbus, I hope to see you there!!