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!!

Newsletter awakening

I awoke the other morning at 1 with a disturbing revelation.  I’d been thrilled that my first newsletter about downsizing was finally out, after no small round of technical glitches.  “WooHoo!” I’d planned to report to friends in an email.  And suddenly, it occurred to me that the header for the newsletter, “Unpacking With Pat Snyder,” also needed some downsizing.

“The fact that this newsletter is not about me but about the importance of YOUR downsizing stories – had me up and in the office emailing the person who designed it and asking for a change.  From now on, the header will simply say “Unpacking Your Stories.”

Fortunately, the designer is in Albania, where the time is six hours later than here, and she is very patient.  As I hope you will be.  If you haven’t had a chance to subscribe, there’s still time. There’s a subscription link here on the web page. And you will get your first newsletter with the revised header.  Whew!