WABI SABI Saturday

This past Saturday our HOA sponsored a community-wide Yard Sale and we decided to take advantage of it and clean-out our extra storage unit and to donate the proceeds to NURU International...this particular event particularly...BH2o

 

I was so excited to be part of this program and I ordred the t-shirt and kanga so that I could wear it and say... "I Am Nuru"...

So I spent the entire week getting ready...first I started cleaning out my storage by deciding what to keep and what had to go...and I posted about some of those things that I wanted to keep here.

I made up signs with foam board, computer generated, word art and modge podge...

 

...then I made up some flyers with great directions to our Love Shack...

...then I placed these flyers inside cardboard tubes that I attached to the signs that I hung onto metal mailbox flag posts.  I also posted this flyer on Craig's List and my Facebook wall!

On Thursday, and Friday, I put on my new BH2o t-shirt and went around and handed out flyers as I completed some errands.  People like...the teller at my local bank; the cashiers at the grocery store and at Barnes & Noble; the sales clerk at Kohl's; and, also to a few sales reps at some of the nearby apartment complexes.  BYW...I also learned that NO ONE has community bulletin boards anymore where you can post flyers...like WalMart/Food Lion/Target...what is up with that?

By Friday evening I had all my items cleaned up and ready for the sale...all the prices clearly marked with the great "Garage Sale" stickers that I had found at Wally World...

Friday night we made sure that we got to bed early...so that we could get up Saturday morning before the Yard Sale began at 8:00am...to set up our stuff and to strategically place the signs out in the neighborhood so that everyone could find us!

Saturday morning by 7:30am...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED...here is a photo of our Love Shack with everything all ready for the crowd to commence upon us...COME AND GET IT !!!

So here DH and I sat...hour upon hour...and NO ONE was stopping for our Yard Sale...talk about discouraging...I wanted to cry!  DH actually got in the car and drove out to the front of the neighborhood to see if there was anyone around...and he came back to report that...the front of the neighborhood was mobbed :{   OUCH...I guess that they just didn't want to 1.) either bother to try to drive around and find us, or 2.) they ran out of money in the front of the neighborhood!

By 11:30am we had a total of THREE people visit our Yard Sale...they were all actually our neighbors who were going somewhere and stopped to see what we were selling...and we made ONLY ONE SALE...that is it!  AND can you guess from this photo what it was?  It was that green Hidden Valley Ranch shaker  for FIFTY CENTS...

I was so bummed by then that I started picking up our stuff and we had it all loaded back inside of our storage facility by 12:07pm!  Then I came home and took a nap...which I sure was because I was tired fom all the running around I had done getting ready for the BIG event...but mainly it was because I was depressed.  I wanted to get rid of our stuff...for sure...but that was not really an issue because I'll just take it to a consignment store and donate the rest to our local Good Will.  The reality was that I was so sad because I had wanted to raise awareness and money for NURU International and BH2o.

I was ALSO trying NOT to take this personally...but I was failing miserably.  SO by Sunday, I decided that I wasn't going to try to FIX my mood and to just feel my feelings...ya know...lick my wounds and let myself get better in due time.  My way of doing this is to DO NOTHING...that is...not get dressed, not make my bed, not blog, and SIMPLY not do ANYTHING that I don't feel like doing!  I treated myself like I do when we go away on vacation and it's raining and you are stuck in the hotel room so you stay in bed and watch LAM TV, eat junk food, read romance novels and magazines, and take naps...yeah!  MY kind of vacation...a true escape from what ever ails you :D

SO during this PURGE...I happened upon this WONDERFUL article in my Woman's Day magazine:

Wabi Sabi: Making Peace with Imperfection and OMG...it hit me...GET OVER IT!  Hell...I am the QUEEN of  "BETTER DONE THAN PERFECT"...

After all...it is not the END OF THE WORLD...as I've been know to tell others...THIS TOO SHALL PASS!  This article was exactly what I needed to remind myself of what really mattered...

1.) that...I needed to clean out this storage unit and deal with my STUFF...and this impending Yard Sale event did just that...CHECK that off the list...and...

2.) that...DH already said that we'd give what we could afford to this charity...which is a minimum of $100.00 because that is what we are paying a month for the dumb storage unit...CHECK that off the list...and...

3.) that, I found a new philosphy in Wabi Sabi to continue on this journey that we have been on...in downsizing and simplifying our lives...CHECK that off as a double bonus to this entire experience :D

So from here on out...I'm making posts on Saturday's dedicated to finding and, more importantly, celebrating the wonderful imperfections in our lives...stay tuned for more WABI SABI SATURDAYS!

Comments

[Debra Bunker]

LOL, I'm so glad you are able to move on and get over it! Funny, the term Wabi Sabi makes me think of crying....Feel it, let it go and get over it! I think you've even given me that advise in the past. Don't stuff it, let it out! Hope your inspiration continues! Love you!

[Mitchell]

Wow that really sucks... Hope you are doing better.

[June Houck]

Been there, done that! Community yard sale last fall...I spent hours pricing and setting up my crafty stuff and baby equipment we no longer need. I made $6. Yep. I sold an ink pad and something else. I took all the baby stuff and donated it to The Good Shepherd. I still have the crafty stuff in my living room...