What have you removed from your life to bring you more happiness?

We held our meeting in Fremont’s Caffe Ladro this evening right before another snowy night. Very cold, so thank you for making the time to come out!

Tangible Items

We started off by recalling ways we have purged physical items in our lives. Jessica could relate to downsizing several times before moving. Once before moving to Seattle a couple times since while moving around the city. Christie could relate as she had done the same since moving out from New York. Jessica mentioned a space in her apartment building where she could leave items that were being given away and within a day they were all gone. Marlo agreed that she had a similar space or if you leave items out by the curb with a free sign, they are snatched up very quickly. Other means of getting rid of items: Freecycle, CraigsList, Goodwill, Salvation Army, a garage sale–and if you want to make a little cash on your good items, Ebay. We all agreed we have taken advantage of finding used items through these sources as well. As long as people are reusing the items, they aren’t going into our landfills.

We then talked about getting rid of personal documents and Margo was able to shed some light on what papers we should be keeping. Any tax papers should be kept 5-7 years, papers and receipts for your taxes should be kept for that year and any utility bills should be kept about 6 months. ALL paperwork with your name and address on them should be burned or shredded before disposing as they carry a huge risk of identity theft. If you can sign up for online billing, this will keep paperwork from coming to your home, but usually you can’t get rid of it all. Emily shared that the state of Washington is having Community Shredding Events. We are looking into coordinating a meeting with one of these events.

Mental Clarity

From tangible items, we moved into talking about mental clarity. Kaytlyn shared some personal experiences about saying no in her professional and personal life, and setting up boundaries that people will respect. Everyone could relate to how we sometimes feel overrun with responsibilities and giving to others. But clear communication with others about what you are willing to do (and not do) can actually breed more respect.

If you are getting to the point where you are mentally exhausted, you aren’t honoring your mental sustainability. Women at times can go, go, go and fail to look at the situation before deciding if it’s in their best interests to accept new responsibilities. If you need to, ask yourself multiple times if this is really good for you and what you are trying to achieve in life.

Personal Safety

Margo brought up some good points about physical personal safety that many women face walking around town or on hiking trails. Margo recanted a situation with the safety of her daughter and we all agreed that she had done the right thing by raising the issue with authorities in the area. Honoring our gut instincts of when we feel safe and when we don’t is important.

Wrapping Up

The sisters who attended were Christie, Margo, Emily, Marlo, Jessica and Kaytlyn. Great meeting everyone! You all brought up ideas we hadn’t even thought of. Keep the questions and ideas coming!