“We’re not very normal, are we, Martin?” I said as we walked out of this little general aviation airport when Martin had finished up some meetings.  We were half the age of all the men standing inside.  They were chatting about airplanes and the weather (Cause that’s what pilots do when you put them in a room together.  They talk and talk.  Airplane this.  Weather that.).

I’m not used to being around so much conversation that I UNDERSTAND.  It’s all in my own language.

It also makes me realize how different we are to EVERYONE we confront.  Can you relate to this feeling sometimes?  You are being you, but sometimes you feel so out of place.  Other people have more friends, bigger lives, better children, richer everything, NORMAL everything…

You know what conclusion I’ve realized?

So what.

I think our kitchen in Berlin was my first introduction to absolutely ignoring what society says.  Who says we have to have 4+ burners on our stove?  I really started focusing on what I wanted… and being okay with the fact that it wasn’t standard.

There isn’t anything wrong with wanting what you want.

Being true to yourself means following what you want to create in life – not what your family and community wants you to do.  And that’s hard.  But I suspect that because you join me here on Making This Home, you often confront questions of what society says you should want and what you really want.

What is stability and security?  What is normal?  I think those questions can come second to something much more powerful:

Really, what is most important to you?

Since returning to the United States, my heart has been overwhelmed with amazing discoveries about what matters in my life.  Martin and I will be heading out to visit a neighbor, and Martin will profess these ideas about home and passion that are exactly what I’ve been thinking.  I can’t quite put them into words for you.  We’re still in this state of discovery.  How do we learn to listen to our hearts?  To accept that we can’t say, “I live in ___.”  Or “I am a ___.”  The answers are much longer for us.

You might love watching this super-cute, quick clip.  It makes me want to jump up and dance:

Just keep being you.  Just keep doing what you love and believe.  No matter where we are, that seems to be the absolute key to a happy life.  And keep reminding yourself of one thing:  so what if it’s different.  It’s the you that YOU WANT TO BE.

Summer is always a little slow to come our way in the mountains.  The mountains still have snow, and lilacs are just starting to bloom.  I was so touched by the different summer homes and old tack houses on our hike this weekend.

I wonder what it would be like to live on this old dirt road tucked in the mountains.

When bucks shed their antlers in the fall, a lot of people like to decorate with them.  All the white on the side of this building are antlers.  It’s so rustic and charming.

This little building has siding made of old license plates.

And there’s nothing more exciting than discovering a country swing set when you’re a kid.  This one is right along the creek.  Who wants to stay right here with me all day?

I cannot wait for next Saturday when we slip into the mountains again.  It’s Independence Day weekend in the US.  Where will you spend it?

The things that are the hardest to let go of in life are the items we hold closest to our hearts.  Professional organizers and declutter-ers make a living by going through our stuff and getting rid of things because they have no connection to our treasures or our triumphs.

We don’t keep heirlooms and sentimental items because we might need them one day (which is the reason we tend to hang onto most things).  Heirlooms and sentimental items connect us to our family’s roots, moments that have passed, and the people that we were.

{Hope} original painting

But do we really, truly need to hang onto every bit of that?  We’ve picked up on a few tricks at our house.  Some of  you long-time readers of Making This Home might recognize a few.

1.  Give family heirlooms or your prized possessions to members of your family.  If you have your great grandmother’s ring collection, give one to every girl in the family – maybe for her birthday, an achievement in her life, or just because.  If you have more religious items than you could truly appreciate, give one to someone you love when she reaches a milestone.  I think it’s all about giving from the heart.  It makes saying goodbye so much easier.

2.  Take pictures of your items and pass them on. My dad taught me this trick.  He can always go look at his old artwork or possessions.  He says that sometimes seeing a photograph gives him more joy than actually having the item.  He doesn’t have to dust or care for a photograph.  He is filled with just as many memories of a photograph of something as he is of the actual item.  It’s sort of like vacations – what do we treasure most?  The photos.  Not the shot glasses.

3.  Pick and choose.  You do NOT have to keep every heirloom. Keep the ones that are most important to you.  Break up gravy boat collections, and just keep a boat or two that YOU love and that YOU will treasure or use.  Give the rest to family.  Sell them to antique stores.  Donate them to charity auctions.  Tuck bits into branches of trees or fences where you know only exploring kids go.  Wouldn’t that be fun?

4.  Try to ignore the monetary value and follow your heart. We know a woman who inherited a painting from her grandmother over in Germany.  The painting isn’t attractive at all.  But it is worth a lot of money.  So the girl keeps it in her living room.  The picture doesn’t make her think of her grandmother.  It doesn’t bring her joy in her heart.  It just makes her think of money.  Why keep that?  I would rather pass it to someone who would love that painting.  I would focus on one of the dozens of other things that girl has from her grandmother and love and cherish those things.

Truly – don’t you believe we should hang onto heirlooms and sentimental items only if they bring happiness to our lives?  And when you decide that maybe you should part with some, ask yourself:  could this item bring even more happiness to someone else than it does to me?

Do you have anything to add?  How do you part with things you love or feel like you’re supposed to love?  And what is a treasured item you’ve received from relatives passing on their collections and own heirlooms?

Join me with the rest of The Decluttering Project as we tackle everything from books to gifts we can’t use.

We’re on the lookout for adventure.

We thought you might be, too.

A new update in the shop : {Journey} Family Pack ~ 3 Travel Journals.

Save money.  Get a travel book for everyone in the family.  Give them to traveling friends.  And so fun – pick your favorite colors from this summer collection.  The family pack is here!

I can’t believe all of the fun places these journals are heading to.  Bits in the US, Europe, Canada, and shhhh-it’s-a-surprise.

Frequent Question:  Where do Gadanke journals ship from?

Gadanke products ship from the US – even when I’m in Germany.  I can offer cheaper shipping to just about everyone around the world this way.  Yeah!  The US Postal Service costs a fraction of the Deutsch Post.  And you know how low the dollar is, right?

Well okay – everyone gets cheaper postage unless you’re ordering in Germany.  So I’ll see what I can do in the future for you guys.  For now – I ship from the mountains of America.

Any adventures this weekend?

We are hiking to a waterfall and going to a hot springs with some guests.  I’m so excited!  These are the kinds of things our friends in Germany eagerly come to America to do.  Hike, swim, and sunburn!  Oh – and cowboy hats are coming along.  I’m not German enough to want to get “an American sunburn”!

Have a beautiful weekend.

I’d have to say that testing Gadanke products has to be one of the coolest job requirements.  It ranks right up there with tasting real Spanish churros dipped in warm chocolate.  And thanks to our very own travel journal from Gadanke to document all our memories, photos, and memorabilia from a quick trip to Spain, Martin and I don’t think we’ll ever forget those churros.  (Taco Johns – you will never be the same.)

Here are just a few peeks of pages from my journal:

I took a couple of Stabilo pens with us and spent about five minutes each night filling in itinerary pages like the one above right.  I wanted to remember details from each day, but I didn’t want to spend much time with a journal.  I wanted to vacation!

When we got home, I really expanded our story with words and photos and my own bit of style.

We went to Spain during Holy Week.  Call me a bad blogger for never saying a peep.  It was our first vacation living in Europe!  It was really important for me to capture the trip for us.  (Hope you forgive me!)  I’m so glad because this journal has transformed into an incredible treasure.

{Journey} ~ Travel Journals

Where are you going this summer?

What are the hardest thing for you to get rid of at your house?  I’m willing to bet one of the top three things at our house is a huge source of don’t-wanna-get-rid-of-that at your house, too.  We love our books.  We can always say, “Well I might need that book when I…”  So we hang onto them.  And we hang onto them.  And we keep bringing more books into the house.

I’ve been trying to find a solution for all of us with our book clutter in this segment of The Decluttering Project.  I was at the county library on Monday.  The solution suddenly blew me away.  I hope this new perspective helps you, too.

1.  You can always sell your books to used bookshops. They give you store credit which is super cool.  But then?  You come home with more books.  I love taking books to used bookshops.  But I only give them books that I have no attachment to.

I need to get rid of more books.

2.  You can sell books online. Some people seem to have really good success with selling on EBay, Amazon, Abe Books, and other sites.  They’re a lot of work, and decluttering your book collection this way takes a long time.  When I declutter, the stuff has to get out of the house (otherwise I might change my mind!).

3.  You could donate to your local thrift shops or hold garage sales. These things kind of work.  But they sure don’t get me to give up my copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends.

4.  You could give some books as gifts. If a book has really touched you or prepared you somehow, pass it on to someone taking the same steps.  Send a little surprise in the mail with super cheap media mail postage.

5.  And best of all, you should give your books to your community. I got a library card; I couldn’t find a single book by one of the authors I was looking for.  It’s not my library’s fault.  Many libraries are underfunded.  Others are trying to support such a small community like mine that there’s no way they could offer many books.

I talked to my librarian about donations and lack of library funding.  Then I came home, realizing how many of the books Martin and I have left in the US that we could GIVE.  We could always check the books out at the library when we want them.  So could anyone else in the county.  What a gift!

If you live in a county that has such enormous funding that you can find ANY book at your library (like I could in Denver), box up your books and drop them off at a county library outside of the city the next time you head that direction.  It’s the greatest gift you could give a library trying to support a small population.

Or give your children’s books to elementary schools or programs that redistribute books to needy children.

I have a little story for you from my favorite librarian.

Okay – it’s my mom.  She’s a teacher and elementary school librarian, and you will be hard pressed to find a single book from my childhood that is suitable for children at her house.  They’ve all been donated.  Here’s why:

She used to work in a school where many low income students went.  Many students’s families couldn’t afford lunch or clean clothes.  Some students were bouncing between foster programs, grandparents, or anyone who could help them.  One little boy’s family was getting kicked out of their home for not paying rent.  He was being sent to live with his grandparents.  The boy had checked out a book.  My mom didn’t know if the boy had lost it or just had so much going on that it wasn’t being returned.  She was so torn at the end of the school year – should she submit paperwork to the school to fine this boy?  Or should she let it slide?  Something told her that that library book may have been one of the only things that boy had.

I hope that helps you part with some of your extra books today.  What are some that you think you will be ready to pass on?

(Images both from Flickr)