After the new year we returned to our own little ocean retreat at Pawleys where I am in the habit of taking daily walks when the weather permits.  Several times a week we also try to catch the sunset over at a boat ramp on the Waccamaw River, it’s quite a spectacular spot don’t you think?

And most recently we went last weekend to the middle of the state (well not quite but we were west of the coast) to Givhans Ferry State park.  We took a couple nights and stayed in the cabins right along the Edisto River and had some great campfires, hiking and a canoe ride.  Luckily we didn’t spy any Aligators!

It’s been a fantastic beginning of 2012 and I can’t wait to explore more of our new state!

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• Giving your brain a rest.
• Giving your eyes a rest.
• Extra time, and who couldn’t use a bit of that!
• More productivity (less continuous distractions).
• More relaxed (De-stress).
• Better focus.
• My personal favorite~MORE CREATIVITY~ideas begin to flow more freely!

I do not personally have a smart phone.  I joke with friends and family that I have a stupid phone but secretly I’m glad to be able to have an excuse not to check social media even more frequently.  It’s bad enough that society has now made it acceptable for individuals to expect to be able to reach one another instantly.  I have a pet peve; when I’m hanging out with friends or family and they instantly stop having a conversation with the people they are with to respond to some text or call from someone elsewhere!  How RUDE!  How about relating with the people you are with first, then the one’s who are not physically present at a more appropriate time.  If you really need to answer or respond, politely excuse yourself and return to the conversation after you are done. This goes for business situations as well as personal ones and frankly if your company doesn’t have a policy of turning your ringers off in meetings maybe you should make it your personal policy.  And I’m not even going to mention laws about talking on the phone or texting while driving…Just. Don’t!  Okay, rant’s over…sorry!

I sometimes forget to even carry my phone with me and there have been a few times that this mistake caused others quite a bit of worry which I am truly sorry for but just 10 years ago if someone left to run errands and it took longer than expected people didn’t rush to the worst case scenario just because they couldn’t reach them instantly.  We need to learn to trust one an-others boundaries again and give people space!

Here are some of the ways I personally practice being unplugged for my own wellness.

I go without news/media at least 3 (up to 5) days a week, that goes for radio, TV and internet.

I try to go without my computer (checking email and social media) at least one day a week.

I don’t use my phone every day for texts or calls.  Some-days it can just wait!  Just ask my friends who might have tried to reach me:)

My cell phone is not in my bedroom at night, I have a separate battery powered (to minimize EMF’s) alarm clock.

No texting while driving and because I lived in a state that talking on the phone was illegal without a hands free device, I’ve adopted that habit to.

Do you unplug?  If so to what extreme, daily, weekly, part or totally unplugged?  If not, maybe you should give it a try and for goodness sakes have a little courtesy towards others when using all those devices okay?

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This big black scarab beetle was found by my husband in an oak log as he collected wood for a campfire last weekend.  The guys picked it up wearing gloves and brought it into the bathroom where we gave it a bath, we wanted him/her to be photo-op ready!  I got this shot of it while he hung out in the sink not having much to grip onto.  I applied a couple texture layers to the background to enhance the “story” behind this rhinoceros beetle (Phileurus truncatus Phileurini).  Pretty good looking (especially those back wings) don’t you think?   I would never want to bring it with me (unless it was dead) so it was returned to the woods along the river where it was found.  And that’s the short story that we know about finding this rhino beetle.

I love macro photography!

Pencil Storage

Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Heather on Pinterestst    

Source: amy-newnostalgia.blogspot.com via Adonna on Pinterest

Cord Control; Simple yet brilliant.

Source: Uploaded by user via Standolyn on Pinterest

Stuffed Animal Storage; unusual and clever!

Source: blog.makezine.com via Marla on Pinterest

Another great use for CD Spindles!

Source: epbot.com via Heather on Pinterest

And for all those flip flops!

Hope you have enjoyed some unusual and clever organizing ideas!  Happy Freaky Friday the 13th!

I keep track of these images all in one place over at Pinterest.  Won’t you join me there?

…and speaking of exploration and new ideas I’ve been spending time on the beach nearly every day!  This has been a gift and rather than feel like I “should” be doing something else with my time I’m keeping myself busy getting exercise, practicing my photography skills and getting totally inspired!  One of the many things on the beach I’ve been inspired by is all the textures.  I’ve started a series of photographs that investigate the wide variety of textures I find on the beach.  Eventually I’ll be working these photographs into designs of some sort.

I can see some amazing textiles and rugs coming from these images, can’t you?

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January is also the official Get Organized month (Go-Month) and Organizers, magazines and media across the nation are promoting getting more organized.  The new year is a perfect time to start fresh and getting organized ranks a top resolution for many people.   I always love getting a little more organization, especially after letting a few things go over the holidays.  Since most of our belongings are in storage I’ve turned my attention towards digital and electronic organizing, including unread emails and blog posts in my RSS reader.  Here are some of the ways I’m simplifying, getting things organized and trying to live with less.

•  Whittled the blogs I subscribe to down to those I really enjoy reading and those that didn’t focus on stuff-I love the eye candy but don’t need the additional temptation! (I didn’t keep track of how many I got rid of but this is my second round of clearing out in the past month).
• Evaluated the twitter feeds I follow and reduced them by about 15%.
• Went through my two separate emails (one for personal use the other for newsletters, stores, coupons etc…) to delete and unsubscribe from anything that no longer interests me.  I usually do this a couple times a year at minimum.
• Went through all my digital photo files and deleted unwanted images and duplicates.  At the same time I’m adding tags and ratings in Lightroom and backing it all up to an external drive. (This has been an ongoing project over the past months)
• Sorted through music to delete unwanted or duplicate songs while creating playlists and rankings.  (This is an ongoing project I will finish by the end of January)

Among all those emails I was clearing out there was this great article over at Becoming Minimalist.

“Owning less is far more beneficial than organizing more.“-Joshua Becker

I got to thinking about how we are currently living with all our stuff is in storage.  I’ve found myself craving a few of my things over the past 6 weeks, which consists mostly of clothes I wish I hadn’t packed, cooking tools and craft supplies.  Everything else I can live with out for now.  I’m sure after living without most of our possessions for several months we will be much less attached and more likely to purge when we unpack.  Remind me of this will you when I get to that point?!

Right in the midst of all this I came across an article about this guys who only owns 15 items!  I wouldn’t consider myself a minimalist but I long to embrace a less is more philosophy and lifestyle.   I am glad to say that our Christmas holiday was not “stuff” centered.  We did not give, nor receive an abundance of things.  I took some advice from the Joshua Becker article and grabbed one of the boxes we had gifts shipped in and filled it with stuff to give away…the process of living with less is one we have to continually re-evaluate and participate in.  As I walk the beach now I keep this in mind and rather than pick up each little beautiful treasure I take a photo of it and release it (most of the time:).

Stuff comes, stuff goes and the less you let come in the less you have to let go of!

This year I intend to SOAR!  What is your intention for the year?  Right Here is a fantastic comprehensive list of word ideas if you haven’t picked a word for the year yet.

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It’s been quite a year and for the first time in over 5 years my husband and I spent the holiday alone.  We slept in, talked to family on the phone (and via skype), had a nice relaxed breakfast and opened a few small gifts.  My favorite gift came from my brother and sister in law, an edited video of our wedding seven years ago!  I loved watching it while finishing up dinner preparations.  We also took a walk on the beach and discovered an extremely low tide, we got so caught up exploring that we left the turkey in the oven an hour longer than planned, no worries though it came out perfect!  We miss our family and friends who we are so grateful for but we’ve had a lovely quiet Christmas together this year.

What did you do for Christmas?  Was it a big celebration or a quiet and intimate one?

My friend began working with an incredibly talented Charleston florist SYG Designs this year who generously loaned many of the beautiful decorations (mercury and various glassware pieces and lanterns for the yard).  She did a stunning job making the house look festively elegant, don’t you think?  I’d say she’s found her niche with floral design and I hope to see her continue with it!

Her husband who owns Mantis Records, did an amazing job with his own additions including the music which was a super fun mix of holiday greats old and new. He also created a signature drink he called “Suicider” which was a big hit…love his sign!

What holiday festivities are you headed to this weekend?