Green Lifestyles: Get Rid of the Junk Mail

Barb and CT Green Scenes team up for solutions on greening our lives!

Who wants unnecessary clutter? None of us do. But, just open up your mailbox and you’ll probably find lots of mail you don’t even open.

Junk mail has a huge carbon footprint and overloads our landfills.  It’s also a big waste of your precious time and energy to sort, weed, shred and toss. And, unopened mail in the trash can be easy prey for fraud and identity theft .

Time to organize your life, plant your Seeds for Success and go for the win-win. Stop the mail from reaching your doorstep in the first place by contacting organizations that can help like Direct Marketing Association Choice and companies who have your name on their mailing lists.

It’s worth the bother to reduce and hopefully eliminate junk mail and live a greener lifestyle. According to CT’s Green Scene’s Junk Mail: Return to Sender loaded with great tips on how to get rid of unwanted mail, ”The next time you get a catalogue or a coupon pack, think how many trees were destroyed before it landed in your mail box. Then, think about what you’d like to do about it.”

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Why do stress free holiday tips stress us out?

I just looked online for tips on how to entertain stress free.  And do you know what I came up with?  Lots of articles loaded with advice to make endless To Do lists weeks before the holidays even hit.  One article even proclaimed that your life during the holidays should be run by lists. Ugh!

If I followed all these suggestions,  I should have prepared my shopping list weeks in advance, made another list for every dish I’m going to serve (including nuts and mints), along with a third list for everything (yes everything!) that needs to be done one week out. Do you think that includes blow drying my hair?  Yikes!  I’d better give up on Thanksgiving right now because I’m several lists behind.  Read more

Why Are We All So Busy?

My new column is about questions we ask ourselves. Let me know if you have a question you’d like to ask!

When I bump into someone I know in the checkout line at the grocery store and ask,  “How’s life?” the response is usually the same.

“Crazy.  I’m so busy,” as they rush to get their food on the conveyor belt. 

As co-author of a book with the word “Balance” in the title, I thought I’d find some tips on how to balance out our busy lives.  Here’s what I came up with to help us lead healthier, centered lives so we can pace the flow of each day and vow never to say, “I’m so busy” again!

Read more

Why Do Women Need Friends?

There have been times in my life when I’ve had lots of friends around me and then there were times when I didn’t.

After going to my 30th high school reunion last week, I realized that some of my best times have been with my girlfriends. And… some of the worst. They were there when I laughed till I cried and they were there when I cried my eyes out. Read more

Can’t Find the Perfect Career?

Guess what? The perfect job doesn’t exist.
Sure, many of us find work that we love to do. I’ll bet Meredith Vieira of the Today Show thinks she has the world’s best job and Miley Cyrus probably considers her’s is pretty cool too. But “perfect” … entirely without any flaws, defects, or shortcomings as defined by www.dictionary.com? I don’t think so.

Wrapping everything you love to do in one career plan can be quite a tall order, especially in this economy.
You heard me say it before. My Love What You Do Bloom “seed” is not just about your job but about loving life. To stay engaged with living a full life, Read more

Idea to Sprout, Lifestyle to Cultivate, Business to Grow? Then Start Weeding!

You’ve got a great idea and you want it to sprout. But somehow your idea gets crowded out, smothered and stunted by your weeds. What are your weeds? Weeds can deter you from going after your goals and dreams. It’s self-defeating behavior that stops you in your tracks and interferes with moving ahead with a plan, lifestyle change, project, business venture or creative brainstorm. Unless you identify your weeds and pull them out as they crop up, you’ll continue to get tangled up and allow them to suffocate your growth. Read more

Make a Personal Pamper Promise

Aaahhhhhh. The luxury of a warm drawn bath with lavender and vanilla scented salts to soothe, low lighting to unwind and time away from the world.  Sound yummy? It is if you can find a way to Organize Your Life so you can jump out of your “to do” list and into the tub or whatever you want to do for a mini-weekly retreat. How? Make a Personal Pamper Promise to you! Read more

When Supermom Becomes a Super Mom

Your day of breakfast in bed and homemade cards honoring the greatest mom on earth (that’s you) has come and gone. Now it’s back to doing all you can for your family every day. But beware of the Supermom syndrome. As one very busy mom with a baby, pre-schooler and full time job recently told me, “My mom did it all and I think that’s what’s expected of me.” Read more

When That Little Voice Won’t Shut Up

Hearing little voices? Think you’re crazy? Can’t quiet them down? Then don’t.

Your little voice wants to tell you something. It may even want you to do something. Or not do something. It may have an idea, a suggestion, a new frontier to take. Just when you think it’s gone away there it is again. You can’t shake it, muzzle it, quiet it or contain it. It’s there and more likely than not the general theme is about change.

But change doesn’t have to be a scary thing. It’s just downright uncomfortable and usually brings up loads of emotions. When intimidation, fear, embarrassment and knocking knees stop you from exploring the message from your little voice, then it’s time for a shot of “you go girl!” mixed in with a gentle push and some supportive hugs so you can find out what’s knocking on your brain instead and then Make IT Happen! Read more

Claim Your Life with Your Girlfriends

You want to do something with your life but haven’t told a soul or enlisted your friends to help? Before you burst from going it alone, infuse yourself with some girlfriend power and start claiming your life.

First let me tell you about the wonderful women who showed up for the first GabGals™ Girlfriend Summit last Sunday because they rocked! As one of the GabGals™ who presented the event, I was amazed at the energy of the group as they came out for a magical day on a beautiful farm complete with female bonding and even some magic wands (playful fun is part of the formula!). Read more

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