Winter has not been snowy at all so far here in Maryland, so our holiday season did not really feel like one. It was even around +10 - +15C a couple of times and that completely killed the mood for any celebrations. It did arise the mood for travelling though, which I did in its fullest. I've gone to a few beaches in our state and Delaware, went snowboarding in Pennsylvania, and am flying to Massachusetts on Monday to see some friends. I'm also off to CA in about a week - but that's a permanent move.
Since I had all this time on my hands and lots of my personal things to go through, I have decided to find good homes for all the stuff I did not need myself any more. All the books I did not need or want any more went on Amazon, all the papers with one clean side were stacked for future reuse, and all the clothes/shoes/soft toys/etc. that were of no use to me were collected into a big bag ready for the donation to a local non-profit organization.
Looking at that bag for donation I have suddenly realized that probably I'm not the only one in my apartment complex who has some stuff they don't need any more. It's just not everyone has the wish to research where to donate the items or the time to go and actually deliver the bags. That's why I figured my help could be of use. Since I was donating my own things anyway, I might as well take the things from my neighbors and donate their items too. First of all, with enough bags I could just order a truck pick-up that would come on behalf of the non-profit organization to collect the items at my apartment complex. Second of all, all my neighbors have the convinience of just bringing the bags to my apartment and not worrying about anything else.
I talked to our Residents Services in the complex and they helped me out with the copies of the flyers which I put in every building in the complex (~15, I think). In the next week I have received a few phone calls and emails from the residents: all of them had a few bags full of items in good condition that they were ready to donate. I'm still in the process of collecting all of them at my place, so there is work left to be done, but so far I'm very happy that I got some responses from the neighbors :) If any of you ever have the time and the wish to do something like this - do it! You would help both yourself, your neighbors, and the non-profits.
Once I got in the mood of cleaning up my place from the unused items, I've decided to do the same for my parents. After days of work I finally realized how much more advantageous it is to buy music online rather than on physical CD's and to rent films instead of buying them on DVD's just to see the movie once. In general, I was amazed at how many unused things exist in our homes that just sit in the corner, collect dust, and take away the space. I suppose, one can say that my big New Year resolution is to avoid bringing those things into my home as much as possible. Let the Qi flow :)
Hm.. what else is happening with me? Ha, I've done my first knitting: the leg warmers that I dreamed of for so long. Not sure if there will be any more knitting in the nearest future, but so far it has been quite entertaining.
The New Year of 2009 so far does not feel any different than 2008. I guess, such differences can be felt only in the childhood, when we look for magical transformations anywhere we can. In the adult life the "make-overs" are a bit of a challenge, but are quite worth the effort nevertheless. Maybe the change of the last digit in the date does not bother you in any way, but there are still a plenty of reasons to look at your life and see what you would like to adjust there. This is what I dare to suggest to all of you :)
Oh yeah, I do have one actual New Year resolution: wear a skirt at least once a week :) Getting out of the jeans' comfort zone once in a while should do me some good.
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