Last month I gave a workshop on decluttering - not just offices and paper, but decluttering as it applies to everything in the house. In planning it, I knew I had to share an excerpt from a new favorite book, Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki. It gave me pause when I first read it because of all the reasons there are to hold on to things, this one was brand new to me: 

You’re learning how to declutter your space. It’s time to declutter your businesses messaging! I’ve broken my rule of no reading business books in bed, devouring Building a Story Brand by Don Miller.

Just because my sentimentality about objects has eroded over the years doesn’t mean there’s not a soft spot.  I just tend to reserve it for things with a heartbeat. Be it a filing system or a life, I live for a good transformation.

Michael Pollan’s home office, Berkeley, CA

I finally committed to reading Michael Pollan’s acclaimed book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma in January. It’s a disturbing, thorough, and downright fascinating exposé on the history and state of industrial food in the United States.

Since 2012 I’ve been compiling a year-end list of lessons learned that stand out.  I make a point to not review previous year’s posts when writing the current one, for fear that it will narrow my thinking.  When finished, I review past years’ posts.  This year I noticed some overlap.  Elements of #1 and #5 were planted before, but this time they re-emerged in finer detail, proving they are themes that continue to help evolve my work as an organizer.

This December I did something I’ve always meant to do, but never had.  Nic and I sat down and started listing out all of the wonderful things that happened this year.  What prompted it? What prompted it?  My defiant “2017 WAS the best year!” in response to a comment heard in our home expressing a different sentiment.