Monday

Monday is my day to reset for the week and get my ducks in a row - make some plans for health and home, and how I will step up for the Natural Living Challenge. 

Agenda this week:

1. Read "The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning"

2. Order plans for the week

3. Natural living

4. Release the bees

1. Read "The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning":

I am just starting this book by Margareta Magnusson (2018), subtitled How to free yourself and your family from a lifetime of clutter. This is just what it sounds like, a process for tidying up before you die. The goal is to lessen the chaos for those who are left behind.

How to Begin: Start in the basement, or the attic, or storage closets, because these hold things you've probably forgotten about and can easily decide to discard. Start with the large items and finish with the small. "Life will become more pleasant and comfortable if we get rid of some of the abundance."

Choose an easy category of stuff to begin - clothes.

2. Order plans for the week: 

One of my core values is to cultivate the spiritual quality of Order, practicing habits of self-regulation and creative energy, instead of acting on impulse, or giving in to mental overwhelm.

This goes right along with my Balance and Intentionality focus.

My Order Plan has 2 parts:

• Morning order: At about 9:15, say "10 Things!", and get up to fill the dishwasher, take out the trash, etc. and while I do that I also count out 10 things to put away.
• Daily choice: Later, when I do my house cleaning task, I'll choose one space to really sort through. 

This week my attention will be in our bedroom: We have too many books on the shelf, and I own many jackets I no longer wear. I want to create some shelf and hanger space for W's clothes that spill out onto the floor.

This week I plan to:

• Sort some books to give away
• Sort some jackets to give away
• Clear the floor in front of the closet

3. Natural Living:

I’ve been thinking a lot about butterflies and bees lately, so I decided to write an intention this week aimed towards helping them. One of the biggest threats they face is from neonicotinoids, a pesticide used to treat the seeds of more than 140 crops including virtually all corn, soy, wheat, and canola planted in the US. These are systemic insecticides that contaminate the nectar and pollen of plants, leading to death or severe development issues for butterflies and bees.

Really the only strategy for avoiding food treated with neonicotinoids is to buy certified organic products.

The intention I wrote this week:

I intend to buy organic popcorn, organic frozen corn, and organic flour as often as possible in order to send a message of support to farmers who are caring for the bees and butterflies, and so I can look my pollinator friends in the eyes with some amount of honor.

4. Release the bees:

It's time to release the Leaf cutter bees that have overwintered in my refrigerator.

Preferred Crops: Alfalfa, onion, carrot, and sunflower.

Nesting Behavior: Their range is about one hundred yards from their nests. The females build and tend the nest cells. They use cut leaf and flower fragments to form nest cells, which is where their name comes from. In the wild, Megachile nests in cracks and crevices of wood or rock, in beetle holes, in pithy stems, and occasionally in the ground. Leafcutter bees prefer holes about 1⁄4 inch in diameter.