My Year of Less: It's Not Semantics

When I first announced My Year of Less, a friend corrected me and said I really needed more -- more time spent doing what I love.

My friend is wrong. I really and truly do need less. Let me explain: I have a remarkably full life. I spend a great deal of time doing what I love, with people I love. I'm blessed with family and friends. I write every day -- and not just for clients. I write for myself every day, even if it's simply a blog entry. I bake. I cook. I doodle. I do collage art. I go to the gym. I read -- the newspaper, books, magazines. I have a Kindle. (I'm cool like that.)

And the full life extends beyond me alone. Tom and I are planning an anniversary trip. We're starting the home remodeling project. The whole family plays Wii. We watch movies in the home theatre. We shop. We go for drives. We eat out. We put together jigsaw puzzles. Seriously. We play together. It's good.

So, trust me, I don't need more. I don't even need more time. 24 hours per day, seven days per week, is plenty.

What I really and truly need is exactly what I'm after. Less. I'm beginning with less clutter and other stuff -- I'm expecting to find less stress and anxiety. We'll see how it works. So far, one week in, so good.

Today, I have less of a mess at the front door. Three dogs and 23 years had resulted in massive claw marks on the front door. No more. Larry the Handyman was here and fixed it. Sanded the scratches off and restained the door. Yes! One more thing to scratch off my list. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) This change also creates one less reason to avoid inviting people over. I've been so embarassed by the front door (the last dog really clawed it), that I haven't wanted to have people over to the house. I don't even know that other people noticed the marks -- but I did. So, one less excuse. It's progress.