Curation Without Culling Is Chaos

August 22, 2022August 18, 2022 MstldelanoLeave a comment

Hello friends! I’ve been spending a lot of time at home, and as I prepare for the cooler months (when staying inside more is inevitable for me), I’ve been thinking of ways to improve my environment. While doing some of my normal cleaning, I noticed that I had far more things that needed to be maintained, and not enough “blank space” around me.

I realized I’d become fully immersed in my identity as a curator (never a hoarder: I hate having stuff “engulf” me, nor do I purchase or collect items for any reason other than appreciation of art in various forms). However, I’d been slacking on my culling. To cull is to go a step beyond curating: it involves eliminating things that may be suitable but aren’t the best. It’s part of the selective behavior that creates s well-cultivated sense of personal taste that has a healthy dose of discrimination and exclusivity. I prefer to look at this as culling (focusing on what I choose to keep) as opposed to purging (focusing on the things that I’m removing).

For instance, I have books – lots of books. While I may enjoy all of my books, I need to go through these books and figure out which ones I love and which ones I like, and promptly rid myself of any books that don’t meet the “love” category. The same thing goes for clothes, accessories, and even cookware: I’m culling all of it, and only leaving behind the items that make my heart sing.

Culling allows the things you love the space they need to shine.

Curating without culling creates chaos, both within the mind as well as within the physical environment. So I’ve started taking the steps to eliminate this chaos externally so that I can cultivate more internal peace and order. With the most difficult seasons for me (late fall stretching into early winter) ahead, I want to ensure that I have as little disorder and as few energetic “leaks” as possible.

What kind of culling activities have you found beneficial? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

life curation

January’s Organization Challenge: Mid-Month Updates

January 17, 2019January 16, 2019 MstldelanoLeave a comment

You all may remember a few weeks ago when I stated that I was going to start a January organizational challenge. I use the outline provided on a website that I visited, All Things Mikita. This post is just a brief update of how that organization challenge is going.

Well, I stopped the challenge. What I found was that I had to substitute too many of the items outlined in the challenge. For instance, Day 9 of the challenge called to get rid of nine skirts or dresses. However, since I have made it a habit to regularly streamline my wardrobe, I didn’t have any items that I wanted to get rid of. I wear skirts regularly so removing them from my wardrobe would have left huge gaps. Day 15 of the challenge calls for getting rid of old jewelry, but most of my jewelry is high-quality so getting rid of 15 pieces did not appeal to me at all. Day 20 calls for getting rid of 20 pajama pants, but I don’t even own 5 pajama pants!

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I’m envisioning organized spaces, like this

This challenge is excellent for a few reasons, especially for someone who is attempting to upgrade their wardrobe and get rid of many excess clothing items. But in my case, I realized I did not have an abundance of the items mentioned for the challenge. This is a good cautionary example for me, because it’s important to look carefully over a challenge before committing. Next time I do an organization challenge, I will be sure to note whether I can complete the tasks as listed. And, if I can’t complete the tasks listed, I need to prepare myself in advance of the challenge start date to substitute appropriately.

I’m sure I’ll do more challenges in the upcoming months, but this one fell flat. I wish I had some good results for you, but I stopped after I got a few days in. It just didn’t fit in my life at this point. The next challenge I select will be a better fit for me and my lifestyle.

Enjoy your Thursday, friends! I’ll talk to you all tomorrow.

life curation

My Favorite Organization Tools

January 30, 2018January 20, 2018 MstldelanoLeave a comment

Happy Tuesday, friends! This is a post that I meant to do before the beginning of the new year, but life got in the way . . . And I forgot about it. But better late than never, right? And let’s look on the bright side – it *did* arrive before the end of January. That’s a good thing, no?

Look, staying organized is HARD. It’s hard to stay on top of everything that we have to do daily, to accurately project how much time we’ll have for upcoming obligations, and to remain cool and calm while we knock out everything that needs to be done. It’s a lot for one person, much less those that have to manage the calendar of others (administrative staff, parents, and event coordinators come to mind).

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(image courtesy of MariaFresa.net)

Organization tools have been so important for me, because managing my life isn’t easy. Here are some of my favorite tools for staying organized and efficient:

A desk calendar/blotter : I love being able to see my entire month at a glance. Regardless of how much I have going on, being able to see my plans in large, clearly defined squares helps me visually comprehend whether I need to lighten my load or decline additional activities/plans. I’m a fan of colorful calendars, so this one by Amazon perfectly suits me.

A personal planner : I rely on these heavily, especially since I don’t put every little task on my calendar. Personal planners hold my daily to-do lists and reminders for things to be done on future dates. The prettier the planner, the better I like it, with one stipulation: it must be small enough to fit into my purse, but large enough to capture my thoughts. I always have it with me, so portability is a big thing. My current planner is by Eccolo, and I’m including a link to one of their beautiful options below:

A refillable day planner : So it seems that a desk calendar and a personal planner would be enough, right? Well, not for me LOL! Some days require even more time management, and I’m a huge fan of fillable day planners to help me get through everything that needs to be done. These allow you to measure your time in 30 minute increments and has space for jotting down the most important items to handle through the day. Since these are undated, you only use pages as you need them (allowing you to have this planner for much longer than a year or two). The planner is also refillable, so you can add more pages as needed. I prefer this one by Blueline:

My phone apps : Who doesn’t love a cell phone? These are the best way for me to keep up with my repeated to-dos, especially since I can set how frequent I would like my reminders to be. I love my phone apps for those reminders that are time-sensitive (for example, having my alarm go off 5 minutes before I’m able to reserve tickets for an in-demand event). I’m #TeamiPhone, but every brand of smart phone has apps that can help you manage your time.