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Posts Tagged ‘patience’

Monday’s Meditation: On What To Do When Your Loved Ones Irritate You

By Annie | August 13, 2018 | 3

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Monday’s Meditation: On Waiting Vs. Creating (Or: Why A Watched Pot Never Boils)

By Annie | May 2, 2016 | 0

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Monday’s Meditation: On The Small Things

By Annie | May 18, 2015 | 2

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Monday’s Meditation: On Getting Unstuck

By Annie | February 16, 2015 | 3

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Monday’s Meditation: On 14 Verses for A Day Lived Simply

By Annie | September 16, 2013 | 10

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Monday’s Meditation: On The Art Of Locating The Misplaced–A Study In Patience, Pragmatism & Faith

By Annie | February 25, 2013 | 5

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Monday’s Meditation: On Growing from Small Beginnings

By Annie | August 27, 2012 | 5

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Welcome

Annie Traurig was born with the ability to see order through clutter. As a child, she spent playdates organizing friends’ closets and packing their duffle bags for summer camp.

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Simplify Your World

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The secret to an organized closet… is the combination of 3 things: ruthless editing, intentional organizing, and consistent maintenance. -Editing. Keep only what you actually wear and feel your best in. Not what you aspire to wear. Not what you once used to wear. Not what doesn’t fit you. Not the things you thought you’d wear at the time you bought them, which hasn’t panned out, causing you to feel guilty. And definitely not the items that feel hard to figure out how to style. You don’t need your clothes to be your job, unless, you know, clothes are your job. -Organize intentionally. Give thought to both the nature of your space and your tendencies. Put the items you wear most in the most accessible spots. Get uniform hangers for the love. Fold carefully. Arrange by category. Color code. -Maintain. Put things away where they belong consistently. It’s worth it. The end. #professionalorganizing #closetorganization #closetgoals
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I’m a perfectionist, which means I’m perpetually aiming at doing things beyond even the best of my abilities. In striving, I’ve made my fair share of mistakes. I realized a while ago how pointless (and damaging) it is to dwell in the lower energy plane of those mistakes longer than necessary. Scolding myself for not having seen back then what I surely ought to have doesn’t change the present circumstances. The fastest and most assured way to move beyond whatever has transpired is to be committed to using the present moment as an opportunity to learn and improve. “How will I use this as an opportunity to rise?” It’s a refrain I’ve adopted and ask automatically now. The question is wonderful because it implies that using the present for greater good is obvious and natural. It isn’t a matter of if we can, but how we will. Sometimes what’s transpired is far darker than a little, avoidable mistake. Despair, unjust cruelty, and devastating loss are parts of the human experience. So are moments of feeling overlooked, undermined, provoked, disadvantaged, angry at others and at ourselves, and adrift in grief. Even (and often especially) then, we have the ability to rise by recognizing the valuable lessons each moment contains and integrating the learnings. After we have processed the pain, released the wound, and relinquished our desire to rewrite the past, our challenges can serve as the kindling that stokes the blaze of our eventual ascensions. There is so much power in knowing that your darkest place need not be your end point, but a reference point: the way you’ll recognize, one day soon, how far you’ve come. [calendar design by @ariel_marko ] #risetogether #riseup
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You are of most service to those around you and the world at large when you’ve first taken good care of yourself. When you have sufficiently provided for your own needs—your need to breathe, be still, exercise, nourish yourself well, and exist in a calm and orderly environment—you are exponentially better equipped to problem solve for others, think creatively, collaborate, and contribute. Make the time. It matters…first to you, but ultimately to all of us. #selfcarefirst #declutteryourmind #timemanagement
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3 big reasons we love a slatwall⤵️ 1. They are completely customizable. With zero constraints, Slatwalls allow you to accommodate precisely what you own, grouped entirely the way you please. 2. They are a perfect solution for awkwardly shaped, otherwise cumbersome items. So long as it can be suspended (or sit in a basket or shelf that’s suspended), it can have a home on a slatwall. From bikes to basketballs and skis to rakes, the slatwall plays. 3. They are endlessly versatile. The ultimate magic of a slatwall is that it allows for easy evolution over time. Storage needs change? Choose a different hook and rearrange to your heart’s content. (Have we convinced you yet??) #professionalorganizing #garageorganization #slatwall
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Working practically on top of each other to achieve a level of intentionality in client spaces is our obsessive speciality. Matching jumpsuits is our hobby. #professionalorganizing #professionalorganizer
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The key to keeping the storage scales even? Be uber selective about the areas and categories you care to own more, and ensure the rest are ruthlessly edited. It’s perfectly fine to have activities or certain types of belongings that are related to your passions, and that you therefore feel compelled to own a not insignificant amount of. So long as everything isn’t “your thing,” you’ll keep the overall amount in your space balanced to a manageable amount. If you’re purporting to love every category as much as the next, your lack of clarity about your priorities will ensure you own an excessive, unmanageable amount. It’s like a budget: spend where it counts most to you, and be frugal with the rest. #professionalorganizer #organizinginspiration #declutteringtips
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An intentional RESET restores optimal functioning and gives us the chance to begin anew. Reminded of how areas of our lives look and feel when they’re operating at their highest levels, we’re more likely to be motivated to sustain those high standards. In this way, a RESET washes away the past and paves a clear path forward. Each of us has likely experienced this when we go to the dentist. We may walk in thinking our teeth and gums are clean enough from daily brushing, but a professional teeth cleaning is a RESET for our mouths. Feeling the squeaky clean of our chompers, we’re once again energized to maintain that level of dental hygiene. We’re more conscious about consuming staining foods and drinks. We enjoy the pearly white of our toothy smiles, and remember our mouths are worthy of excellent care. When we work with a trainer who pushes us physically, it RESETS our barometer for our exercise practice. With their guidance, we’re reminded of what our bodies are capable of. We see more optimized results. We can use this to improve the workouts we have on our own, as we remember the feeling we’re aiming for, the speeds we’re capable of, or the stamina within us. It’s in this spirit of continual improvement that we’ve recently launched Live Simply RESET memberships to our clients. By doing so, we’re ensuring the sustained effects of living within optimized environments: ease, calm, and clarity. We’re upholding the standards of beauty, Simplicity and order that allow clients to more aptly feel their best at home. The new year, too, brings its own RESET. A new calendar invites us to release the past and fills us with a renewed motivation to aim for the best versions of ourselves. This year, embrace your sacred opportunity to clear the slate and begin again, using the RESET’s power to restore and energize the things you care about most. What are you going to RESET this year?
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2024 was Live Simply’s best year to date, in all ways. We did a record number of move-ins, we edited through thousands of items, we organized closets and kitchens and garages and on. Our secret recipe involves a mix of deep dive, emotional expunging, elevating surface level beauty, and laughter (always). As we continually raise our standards for ourselves, the universe responds in kind. Who knows, maybe 2025 will be the year the stars align and you’ll listen to the cue to reach out to us. We’ll be ready when you do—ready to alleviate you of burdens and baggage you’ve carried for far too long, ready to bring order to your chaos—let’s be honest: ready to change your whole life.💁🏻‍♀️ In the meantime, THANK YOU for engaging, for being open and receptive, and for having even an inkling that you’re worthy of living in an environment that supports the best version of yourself. 🙏🏻💞💞 #professionalorganizing #declutteryourhome
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Organizing your gift wrapping supplies (if you’re a serious gifter) is the present to yourself.
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Empty Acquisition mode places the focus on what is lacking: your imperfections and the products that promise to solve them, your lack of fulfillment and the shiny objects you try to fill that bucket with, your fear about not having enough that causes you to collect more than you reasonably need, and on. It’s a mindset that convinces you that you’re not good enough, that you need to be more impressive, must keep up with the latest and greatest in order to remain relevant, and that you need something or someone else to validate your worth. Present Contentment is a state of awareness and gratitude for all that you do have. It’s allowing yourself to enjoy what you’ve worked to create or bring into your life. It’s centering yourself in the knowing that your worth begins within and radiates without. As it reaches the end of the calendar year, the fever pitch of the holidays, and the final tallying of the year, we have the choice between fiending and breathing, between getting sucked up into chaos and holding our calm, between emptiness And Contentment. We don’t have to fear that contentment will melt into complacency, either. The appreciation for things as they are is what paves the way for future growth. Let the goodness in your life register. Take a second longer than normal to connect to the people around you, to feel grateful for your belongings, and to relish the elements of your daily rituals. All that you have and all that you are is enough to elicit contentment. [calendar designed exclusively by @ariel_marko ] #contentment #contentmentishappiness
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How to get a cluttered home (and the mindset fix!)…part 3 #declutteringtips #declutteryourhome #professionalorganiser
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How to get a cluttered home…part 2. #professionalorganizing #declutteryourhome #decluttering
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How to get a cluttered space…part 1. #professionalorganizer #professionaldecluttering #declutteryourlife
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Little moments of delight ought to only be a drawer pull away… And in a hectic and divisive climate, doing what’s possible to establish any greater sense of clarity and calm is paramount. Your corner of the world is just for you. Tend to it well so that it nurtures you, and so that you, in turn, can more adeptly contribute to the world at large.✌🏻 #professionalorganizer #professionalorganizing #rainbowaesthetic
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We live in a highly produced culture. We’re bombarded with shabby befores snapping to swoonworthy afters. The upgrades are instantaneous, only adding to their impressiveness. We expect our personal transformations to happen as rapidly. We want the results now. We want our current discomfort, our hang-ups, and our emotional turmoil to be dispelled in the span of an HGTV episode. We evaluate our goals impatiently. We wonder how everyone else is managing to pull off overnight success. We become so focused on results that we minimize the significance of the small yet valuable steps we make in the right direction. In any endeavor, whether it’s getting our spaces in order or achieving career success or healing from loss, progress is key. We must decide that what we’re aiming for is worthwhile and believe in the efficacy of our efforts, because progress is often so subtle that it’s imperceptible. It’s only later, maybe in a few months, or even years down the road, that we’ll realize we were advancing all along. As time ticks by and we keep showing up to do the work that needs doing, we move, grow, mature, process, and weave together seemingly disparate dots. Celebrating progress allows us to appreciate our present circumstances and enjoy the unfolding of our lives. [Calendar designed exclusively for us by @ariel_marko] #progressnotperfection #progressisprogress #monthlymantra
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Hearing that we made what would have otherwise been a highly stressful, deeply unsettling process FUN?!? That’s some new level kind of high praise unlocked. No matter how chaotic things may appear on the surface, in our eyes there’s a clear path to clarity and calm. That vision allows us to relax and enjoy the process, (and occasionally delight in how much thought we’re giving to the most minute details). Energy is infectious, and we’re always honored to inject reassurance, action, and a spirit of playfulness into the environment.✨ #professionalorganizing #organizinginspiration #moveinquickly
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Repeat after me: self care is more than skincare. Self care is more than red light masks and bubble baths and efforts to make our physical selves more attractive, and it’s far beyond all of the products you’re constantly pitched as being self-care necessities. Actual caring for ourselves means caring for our whole selves and our full lives. It means attending to necessary tasks so our days run more smoothly. It may mean delaying gratification by sucking it up in the moment to do what truly benefits us in the long run. It might involve overcoming emotional hurdles in therapy or facing the scary storage room you’ve been avoiding for years or prepping your produce for the week, or scheduling in an admin hour to your weekly calendar to deal with your mail. Self care—the mature, nourishing kind (rather than the product-centric one peddled on socials), might not look glamorous to anyone else, but it serves to set your mind at ease and move your life in the direction you want it to go. #declutteringtips #selfcaretips #simplify
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Improvements to your space—however incremental—that make your every day life run more smoothly, with more ease, greater delight, and less stress are worth whatever effort or resources they require to implement. It’s time to start pouring some love into the areas in your life and space that are mediocre (or worse!), and that in however subtle a way, detract from your overall quality of life. Why? You are worthy of ease. If you can’t figure out how to pave the way for that on your own, we’re here to facilitate your progress and design Simply energy into your life. #professionalorganizing #kitchenorganization #organizinginspiration
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Moving into a new space offers the opportunity to establish intentional systems and sustainable habits from the get-go. That’s why we take such care when considering placement of every item, how those items interact with each other and with the nature of the space available, and how best to situate everything for maximum ease of use and client delight. We’ve done a record number of move-ins this year and we’re more obsessed with the process (and convinced of its value) than ever before. #professionalorganizing #seattleprofessionalorganizer #movein #seattlemovers
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October was my mom’s birthday month, and if there was one quality (aside from joy) that she possessed in spades, it was grace. She didn’t try, she just was. She didn’t force or manipulate, she allowed things to ebb and flow towards and away from her without ever seeming too troubled about their direction. And that includes lost entities such as mobility, independence, and then, finally, life. Hers was a grace built on the calm confidence of someone who is secure in themselves and their values, and grounded in the present. When we’re connected to our true selves and have a clear sense of what matters most to us, we remain rooted in the face of annoying distractions and catastrophes alike. We don’t easily get knocked off our axes or swept up in drama. We aren’t prone to self-chastising or comparison. In a noisy world, our connection to ourselves helps us to remain composed, to assume the best of others, to be compassionate to ourselves, and to forgive when necessary. Instead of trying so hard, chasing, and criticizing, what if we take a page from my mom’s book and try grace on for size? What if we find out that it’s a far more effective strategy on all counts? That we feel better when we prioritize our peace and our authenticity. What would it look like to give ourselves and those around us grace this month? What if we moved one notch away from the people we think we should be to stand more firmly in who we are, and then decided to lovingly accept that version of ourselves? Wouldn’t that be freeing? [design by @ariel_marko ]

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