Journal to a Muse

Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.

Collections start innocently enough. You find something you like, and then you find more of it, and then other people start finding it, and before you know it you have TOO MUCH.

Angels, Christmas figures, and more expansively "folk art" are what happened to me. My mother, eschewing dusting whenever possible, only put up "my" collection at Christmas time. So for my whole life there was this extravaganza of little boxes, cotton wrapping, tissue paper protections that exploded from storage sometime in December. And the treasures! Sentimental favorites for a little girl.

When I had children of my own and had inherited all these figurines, I didn't put them out because I didn't have a ledge or cabinet high enough or safe enough from little sticky fingers. And after that, it just seemed like such. a. big. task.

But I got out a lot of them last year. Still had sentimental favorites.

And discovered that my husband is sentimental about them! He's added to my collection. He "gets" that I especially like the German angels made by Wendt and Kuhn.

And last year, they added a KNITTING angel and shepherdess!

And where did "simplify" come in? Well, I left them out all year! so I don't have to get them out this year, and didn't have to put them away last year. I intend to dust them when I put them away... probably in February or so. THAT's simplifying my life.