What are your days like? Is life moving along smoothly? Or are your days filled with overwhelm, ups and downs, and challenges? There are times when finding your next step flows easily. At other points, the next step feels elusive. What if next included embracing “small awe” moments? How would that change the mood for your day and your experience of next?

Have you ever seen or experienced something that evoked such a sense of awe that you could barely find words to describe it? I remember visiting the Grand Canyon decades ago. My husband and I stood on the edge, looking at the magnificent expanse and feeling that deep awe. We were speechless.

Experiencing big awe because of natural wonders, cosmic events, encounters with wildlife, moments of surprise, spiritual experiences, human achievement, art, scientific discoveries, or personal transformation is amazing yet rare.

Small Awe Concept

The idea of small awe is more readily accessible. I was introduced to the concept when I visited the Dinner Gallery in New York City with my daughter, Allison. We saw the Time Is A Fire exhibit by artist Langdon Graves, who gave a talk about her work. Langdon used the phrase “small awe” to describe the intent behind some of her pieces. I’ve been thinking about that idea ever since. She said these tiny moments of awe are always available to us. However, we often don’t stop long enough to recognize them.

a Small Awe Next Step

What if your next step was discovering and enjoying a small awe moment? That might be . . .

• Seeing the first purple crocus of the season emerge from the earth

• Hearing your client declare confidently the progress they are making

• Crossing off the last task on your to-do list for the day

• Feeling the sun warm your body after days of gray, gloomy weather

• Going to the post office to mail your tax packet to your accountant

• Basking in the post-mindfulness meditation calm

• Taking in the coffee aroma and flavor from your favorite mug

• Sensing the warm water cover you as you shower or soak luxuriously in a tub

• Enjoying the open space you have in your closet after decluttering, organizing, and donating some clothes

• Hearing the sound of your loved one’s voice on the other end of the phone

• Climbing into your cozy bed after a long day

• Making progress on that big project, you were procrastinating about

• Having a great conversation with dear friends

“Be on the lookout for a ‘small awe’ moment?”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Next can be a grand gesture or something smaller. It can be infused with awe. Are you stuck and unsure about what to do next? Be on the lookout for small awe moments. It might be just what you need to help you joyfully move forward. What moments are available to you? What will be your next step? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

If you want guidance with your next step, I’m here to help. Please email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or click here to schedule a Discovery Call. Next is doable, especially with support.

Do you know Jonathan Larson’s iconic “Seasons of Love” song from the musical “Rent”? It begins with “five-hundred, twenty-five thousand, six-hundred minutes,” the number of minutes a year. He asks, “How do you measure, measure a year?” Jonathan continues with questions about how to measure a year in the life and the life of a woman or a man. Every time I hear it, this beautiful ballad reminds me of how precious time is. It brings me to tears.

Our time is limited, so what we choose to do with it and how we acknowledge and appreciate it matters.

In Happier Hour, Cassie Holmes shares several “time crafting strategies” which encourage focusing on positive experiences. She proposes that making time to do this will bring you more clarity, satisfaction, and happiness.

One strategy she learned from her friend who practices it with her kids on their car rides home from school. I encourage you to try it with your kids, partner, friends, or colleagues. You can also do this as a solo practice. I slightly modified the concept for our purpose and am sharing the three-part practice with you.

Effective Time Crafting Strategy

1. The Rose – Something Good

Share something good that happened. This immediately focuses your thoughts on the positive and encourages gratitude for the time you are in now.

2. The Thorn – Something Bad

Share something crummy that happened. This helps develop problem-solving skills and acknowledges that life isn’t only rosey. Challenges are part of life.

3. The Bud – Something Exciting

Share something you are excited about. While it’s terrific to be mindful and in the present moment, looking to the future with happy anticipation extends your joy quotient and enhances your time.

“Time passes in the blink of an eye.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

Here is an example of my rose, thorn, and bud.

• Rose – I had a productive virtual organizing session with a new client and loved helping her accomplish her session goal.

• Thorn – I couldn’t make it through the yoga class because I wasn’t feeling well.

• Bud – I’m so excited we’re going to Turks & Caicos to celebrate our 40th Anniversary!

Time passes in the blink of an eye. Acknowledging what you are grateful for and learning from the challenges can enhance and bring clarity to your days.

Are you making time to reflect? What are your rose, thorn, and bud? I’d love to hear your thoughts and invite you to join the conversation.

Seasons of Love - RENT (2008 Broadway Cast)

The latest installment (v31) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature is here with my newest discoveries informing, educating, and relating to organizing and life balance. I’ve included unique and inspiring, clutter-related finds, which reflect this month’s blog theme.

You are a wonderfully generous, warm, and engaged group. I am deeply appreciative and grateful for your presence, positive energy, and contributions to this community.

I look forward to your participation and additions to the collection I’ve sourced. What do you find interesting?

What’s Interesting? - 5 Clutter-Related Finds

1. Interesting Read – Extreme Clutter

Are you curious about hoarding behavior, chronic disorganization, and how to help yourself or a loved one be safe in a cluttered space? In Filled Up and Overflowing – What to do when life events, chronic disorganization, or hoarding go overboard, Diane Quintana, CPO-CD® and Jonda Beattie, M.Ed, professional organizing colleagues and authors, share their and their clients’ experiences and insights through poignant stories. They describe how to distinguish hoarding behavior from other types of disorganization and clutter, describe effective strategies, and include valuable resources. Diane and Jonda write about the importance of being respectful when helping. They suggest, “Ask permission before touching anything, opening any drawer, cupboard, or closet…before moving anything – even a small piece of paper or a box that is in the way.” They explain that the movement can cause distress. “Even though it looks like random stacks of stuff to you, they know where their possessions are and will become panicked if they cannot find them.” If you are a professional, a family member, or friend of someone challenged by hoarding behavior and want to help, this is an essential go-to guide.

2. Interesting Trend – Aesthetic Clutter

Photo by #thecluttercore (Instagram)

Have you heard of cluttercore? It is a relatively new design aesthetic trend from pop culture that first gained attention on TikTok. Cluttercore is now visible on other social media platforms, too, like Instagram and Twitter. Search #cluttercore to see a variety of visuals. You’ve heard of the minimalist aesthetic and movement. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Marianne Eloise describes cluttercore as maximalist, a “messy, actually lived-in lifestyle.” It’s a rejection of minimalism. Eloise says, “it’s a stuff-centric aesthetic however, it has little in common with careless hoarding.” Cluttercore rooms look cozy, lived in, and filled with lots of “artfully arranged,” carefully chosen things. As the enthusiast Micah describes, “Cluttercore is in no way a promotion of unhealthy hoarding of material objects and garbage, but rather an appreciation of things we can call our own.”

“Spring is a great season to declutter the extraneous.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO™

3. Interesting Podcast  – Thing Clutter

In this podcast episode “Things,” WNYC’s Radiolab hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich (since retired) discuss “things you can hold and things that can take hold of you.”  During this personal conversation, they talk about objects, their relationship to them, and the thought process for keeping or letting them go. The dialogue is reminiscent of the decision-making conversations I’ve had with clients as they talk and decide about the clutter in their lives.

4. Interesting Season – Declutter Clutter

With temperatures warming, thinner layers of clothing, and flowers blooming, this is an inspirational moment to let go, de-stress, and get organized. Spring is a great season to set your organizing goals, declutter the extraneous, and create the calm at home that you deserve. Change is possible, especially with support. If you are struggling, enlist help from a compassionate and non-judgmental friend, family member, or professional organizer like me. I’m ready to help. Discover how virtual organizing can work for you and why my clients love it so much. Let’s talk. Call 914-271-5673 or email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com.

5. Interesting Thought – Mind Clutter

Clutter isn’t just reserved for the physical stuff we own. We can also experience mind clutter, which makes it hard to think clearly and focus. Some of my favorite mind decluttering strategies include:

• Doing a brain download with a pen and paper

• Taking a walk in nature

• Practicing mindfulness meditation

• Organizing a small space or area. The reduction of physical clutter can result in less mental clutter.

What are your interesting finds? Which of these resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

The latest installment (v30) of the “What’s Interesting?” feature is here with my recent discoveries that inform, educate, and relate to organizing and life balance. I’ve included unique and inspiring, change-related finds, which reflect this month’s blog theme.

You are a wonderfully generous, warm, and engaged group. I am deeply appreciative and grateful for your presence, positive energy, and contributions to this community.

I look forward to your participation and additions to the collection I’ve sourced. What do you find interesting?

What’s Interesting? . . .

1. Interesting Read – Motivational Change

Making a change can be challenging enough. When we understand what motivates us and why we can create an environment for success in our lives.  In The Motivation Code – Discover the Hidden Forces That Drive Your Best Work, Todd Henry, author, consultant, and creative, shares research that identifies twenty-seven unique motivational themes that drive us. We each have a specific combination of motivation drivers that can be discovered by taking the MCODE assessment. Todd says, “Your Motivation Code is not intended to be worn like a name tag. It is meant to help you better understand why you are driven to achieve certain outcomes, and the unique opportunities that accompany those drives.” If you feel challenged by change and motivation, your insights from reading this book and taking the assessment will be valuable. As Todd says, “Operating within what naturally drives us allows us to work toward the outcomes we most crave.”

2. Interesting Resource – Clever Change

The pandemic has accentuated the need to have rooms serve multiple purposes. An eating space, living room, or bedroom is also an office, meeting, or learning space. Having furniture that is functional, well designed, and easily transformable for your needs sounds too good to be true. Not anymore! Expand Furniture in Canada has an impressive collection that changes coffee tables into desks, ottomans into extra chairs, desks into dining tables, and many more options. The only downside is that I’m now addicted to watching their YouTube channel. 

“If you’re ready to change your attitude about the cold, focus on ‘koselig,’ a Norwegian strategy for thriving in winter.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO

3. Interesting Article  – Mood Change

With the pandemic, various quarantine levels, and winter’s cold, short days, many of us feel unsettled. In a recent Forge article, The Norwegian Philosophy of Thriving in Winter, James Ware shares the Norwegians’ secret for creating a positive mindset in winter. They focus on koselig, which is “a sort of shared, safe togetherness.” It’s a feeling of warmth and safety that can “describe a house, a situation, a meal, a conversation, or a person.” It’s similar to the word, cozy, or the Danish concept, hygge. Psychologist Kari Leibowitz researched the winter mindset. Ware shared her thoughts and said, “the koselig mindset is about making the best out of a bad situation.”  If you’re ready to change your attitude about winter, try one of the suggestions: create a cozy ecosystem at home and with people, find creative ways to be social, be in nature, and reach out to help someone else.

4. Interesting Season – Organizational Change

The cold temperatures, mounds of snow, and pandemic likely means you are spending more time inside than out. Are you working from home, helping your kids learn remotely, and trying to carve out some personal time? Is your home feeling cozy and supportive or chaotic and disorganized? Winter is a great time to set your organizing goals, declutter the extraneous, and create the calm at home that you deserve. Change is possible, especially with support. If you are struggling, enlist help from a compassionate and non-judgmental friend, family member, or professional organizer like me. I’m ready to help. Discover how virtual organizing can work for you. Let’s talk. Call 914-271-5673 or email me at linda@ohsoorganized.com.

5. Interesting Thought – Fear of Change

Let’s face it. Change can feel scary. Our fear can be paralyzing. However, I’ve noticed from personal and client experiences how our fear exaggerates the actual change. Fear isn’t a bad emotion. As a matter of fact, it’s present to warn us of danger and to take a specific action. When we move away from the familiar and comfortable, we can be afraid. Recognizing that growth and positive change are available to you on the other side can help normalize your feelings and move you forward despite your fear. 

What are your interesting finds? Which of these resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.