To Many Books!

Dear Reader;

 I've always had a love affair with books. Strangely this love was not encouraged in my youth. I grew up in a very small hamlet and the only library that I ever saw was at school. I did check out books but none of them grabbed my soul...they all just kind of fell flat. It wasn't until I was  fourteen years old that I bought my first two books with my own money. One was Autobiography Of A Yogi and the other one was of a Commune. I don't remember the title but what I do remember was how pissed off my foster mother was after she had flipped through a few pages! "These people are nothing but a bunch of animals!" she said as she threw the book down in front of me. I didn't care for her opinion or anyone else s for that matter because I wanted to live in a commune...just like that!

 After that I was seldom without a book or two in my hand. I wanted to know about life...a richer life...a spiritual world...and books were the doorway to those worlds for me. I began to collect hundreds of books. Those books moved around with me everywhere and during my married life we have moved over 18 times!

 Something changed for me three years ago.....I stopped trying to "fix" myself. I decided that I was alright ...just the way I was. I no longer had to surround myself with books to make me look intelligent. I wanted to share the knowledge ....so I donated most of my library to the first English Library in Panama. I truly enjoyed seeing the guys' face light up when he looked at my collection. His mother had passed away and had also donated her extensive library so between the two of us...he was on his way to a great start.

 I just removed another twelve books that I no longer need from my small library and my goal is to get down to perhaps twenty five books. I do have the condensed Caitanya Caritamrta, Bhagavad Gita, Krsna Book and now I require a new set of..original Srimad Bhagavatams.

Until next time.
Hare Krsna.
Kokum Lal

Simplify The Kitchen

Dear Reader;

 I believe that I'm starting to get a hang of  simplifying my life. This week I decided that I would not do any grocery shopping until  the produce in the fridge was used. Most of my married life I've had a fridge full of anonymous bottles and covered bowls full of left-overs. I don't like to eat left overs! I find that the food has lost it's nutrition and basically useless but I felt guilty about throwing it out so I just left it in the fridge to mold away from sometimes weeks!

 Another bad habit that I have been working on is to only cook enough for that very day. I have to understand that all of my children are gone from home and they won't be here for breakfast,lunch of supper....no matter how much food I cook. With those ideas firmly in place I'm now cooking very little and only for two. My fridge is now clean and free of left-overs! If I do happen to have extras then I just feed it to the cows. I'm sure they call me..."The Green Bucket Lady" because when they see that bucket they all come running.

  I only have what I actually use on my kitchen shelves and that makes it so much easier to keep clean. If I have any duplicates...such as Natural sugar then I just store those in the pantry. Bulk items such as rice and flour are stored in an old freezer. The freezer isn't plugged in...we just use it to keep the mice away. These old houses have hundreds of holes where mice can find their way in...but...we are slowly finding those holes and blocking them...so we are finding fewer mice.

 What I'm seeing is that I'm always looking for ways to simplify the task at hand...for instance...while I was waiting for my husband to buy dry wall for the upstairs bathroom I took all the contents out of my bag and started consolidating the items. I don't need 4 pens when one black one will do. I don't require two notepads when my Daytimer has everything that I need. I only require my red lip pencil and Rice paper skin blotters...everything else can be left at home. My one item that I won't leave home without is my Swiss Army knife!

 See...it has everything but the kitchen sink:)
I've got to get to the library before it closes. Until next time.

Hare Krsna.
Kokum Lal

Lost Camera

Dear Reader;

 Simplifying my life has become a joy. Every day I'm starting to examine my daily activities more closely and I'm always asking myself,"How can I made this easier....more streamlined...more compact...fewer steps?"

 My homes have always been quite simple but now I feel the urge to let even more things go and only live with what I truly value...yet not be crazy attached to. When I say those words in my mind I am seeing and hearing the heartbroken cries of a permaculture teacher who had stayed with us for a few weeks while we were living in Panama. She was really cool...very nice..knowledgeable about the permaculture course that she was giving and excellent with her students. One morning I heard this terrible crying coming from her upstairs bedroom so I rushed to see what had happened. She was sobbing hysterically and during lulls of her outburst ...she told me that she just found out that her digital camera had been stolen out of her bag..probably when she got out of the water taxi. I sympathized at the loss...gave her a hot cup of tea but that did not help. She cried...and cried...and cried...for the entire day! Frankly after about an hour I just wanted to smack her......and shout...."IT'S A CAMERA FOR GODS SAKE....SO SHUT THE HELL UP!!!"

 Instead I just waited it out and she was fine by the next day. If I remember correctly  the only time that I was truly upset about losing something was when I asked my then 13 year old daughter to trim my hair...just cut off an inch or so from the bottom. I did trust her judgement because she was good at makeup..hair...and fashion. Instead of starting with a little snip..she cut a chunk of hair off around ear level! Of course she had to finish the job and when I went to tie my hair up...it was to short! You have to understand that my hair is super fine and if it gets into my face it tickles and is just plain annoying plus I just had a baby...so I will blame it all on those crazy..unpredictable female hormones. Of course I started to cry and then my husband came in to see what was going on and scolded her for the bad haircut....then she cried....:) Drama...drama..drama...

  Anyhow ...where was I? Oh yes....so this week I was trying to solve the problem of a cold bathroom floor. This was the journey....cold floor...move rug from front because not using front door in winter....put rug in bathroom....good...but buckets of water are filled in the bathroom laundry tub three times a day for the cows....hay and straw all over the rug....sweep rug...vacuum rug...still dirty looking....alright move wooden floor mat to bathroom from shower but then feet are still cold....so buy bathroom slippers....hate bathroom slippers... wood chips and hay get stuck all over them....buy another pair of slippers...hate slippers...they shlop...shlop...around the house....finally I put my favorite velvet outdoor flats on and just wear them everywhere! Now not only do I love my indoor shoes but I also did away with the bathroom mat and two pairs of slippers. I know that the energy should not be transferred from the bathroom but at this point ...I don't care.

 The reason all this minimizing stuff is important is to make room for discovering how you really want to spend your time. I discovered that I require a space to put all of my books and art supplies. I've now spent a few days getting my writing/art/entertainment studio together. I would like to spend more time writing and also adding a more personal touch to this blog by incorporating my art.

 Just try it...look around right now and get rid of those papers....or books..or magazines that you no longer use. It feels great to start simplifying your life. Simplifying isn't actually a destination but a way of life.

Hare Krsna.
Kokum Lal