Mary C. M. Phillips

In 1854, a young Louisa May Alcott dedicated Flower Fables to her good friend, Ellen Emerson (daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson).

Amos Bronson Alcott (Louisa’s father), Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau were all close friends and naturalists.

Thoreau would often guide the young Alcott sisters around Waldon Pond (which he affectionately named Fairyland), exploring nature, picking berries…living deliberately.

Louisa’s communion with nature is evident in this little book of flowers and fairies and Thoreau certainly was instrumental in developing Louisa’s imagination:  “Cobwebs,” he said, “are actually fairy handkerchiefs.”

Below is an excerpt in which Violet (the little fairy heroine) begs the Frost King to show mercy on her flower friends:

“O King of blight and sorrow, send me not away till I have brought back the light and joy that will make your dark home bright and beautiful again. Let me call back to the desolate gardens the fair forms that are gone, and their soft voices blessing you will bring to your breast a never failing joy. Cast by your icy crown and sceptre, and let the sunlight of love fall softly on your heart.

“Then will the earth bloom again in all its beauty, and your dim eyes will rest only on fair forms, while music shall sound through these dreary halls, and the love of grateful hearts be yours. Have pity on the gentle flower-spirits, and do not doom them to an early death, when they might bloom in fadeless beauty, making us wiser by their gentle teachings, and the earth brighter by their lovely forms. These fair flowers, with the prayers of all Fairy Land, I lay before you; O send me not away till they are answered.”

And with tears falling thick and fast upon their tender leaves, Violet laid the wreath at his feet, while the golden light grew ever brighter as it fell upon the little form so humbly kneeling there.

The courage of these little fairies is a foreshadowing trait I recognize in her later work.  Whether in the magical realism of little fairies or the reality of Little Women, the combination of sweetness and bravery shine through.

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I’ve spent the last few weeks de-cluttering my attic.  It’s a great feeling.  A lighter feeling.

Why I ever held on to so much or bought so many plastic storage bins, I’ll never understand.  My new epiphany is this:  If I haven’t opened a storage bin in over two years, it’s quite possible that I don’t need its contents.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Joy of Less is now in bookstores and — after only one day — is a bestseller. There must be a lot of people out there with too much stuff. One of my essays is included in the book.

Giving away, throwing away, becoming lighter in various ways (materially and spiritually) feels extremely good! I’m shedding the superfluous and experiencing more joy in having less.  

Peace.    

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One needs to switch-it-up every now and then, and I’m happy that WordPress provides a variety of themes for their bloggers.  Switching themes (ideas, interests, goals) may also be a healthy way of living one’s life.

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My essay, Practice Makes Perfect, appears in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Joy of Less.

Over the last few years, I’ve made a concerted effort to get rid of clutter.  It actually started as a spiritual practice.  I had asked God to make things more obvious to me as I was having a hard time making decisions, artistically.

My prayers were answered.  At the same time, however, I (suddenly?) noticed that my house had become cluttered.  Like so many of us, I had accumulated too  much and thrown out too little.  Yet, for some reason, it had never bothered me before.

This new sensation was a strong, compelling force and I felt the weight of every item in my house. I wanted to see actual space, not clutter and “pitch it” became my motto.

I spent a year giving things away and selling things on e-Bay and Etsy.  It was an arduous task, but gratifying and educational.  I learned how to sell online and became a semi-knowledgeable seller of rare books (having to research first editions I’d picked up at yard sales before placing them on Etsy).

What became very clear to me, importantly, was how it had changed my thought process.

It seemed that less clutter in the house created less clutter in my mind.  I was able to make better decisions.

Anyway, my story has nothing to do with material items.  It has to do with activities.  As  I mentioned, when I de-cluttered my house, I felt compelled to de-clutter other things in my life.  One of them happened to be my son’s activities.

Parents are notorious for cramming kids’ schedules with too many activities (some of you are nodding).  It’s not healthy for them….or for us.  I mean, who can excel at everything?

I’ll just leave it there as I’ll be writing more about de-cluttering in the next few months as I read through the book (it’s due out in April).

Here’s my advice for now:

De-clutter your house.  De-clutter your mind.  De-clutter your schedule.

And remember, there is joy in the space.  Because, less is truly more.

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