We’re here, folks! Thanksgiving week is upon us. As I’ve talked with people about their holiday plans, I’ve heard a wide range of responses. Some are feeling completely stressed, while others are pretty relaxed. Are you at one extreme or somewhere in between?

The differences in how people are feeling revolve around things like . . .

• Are they hosting or being a guest?

• Are you bringing part of the meal to the host’s home?

• Will you be cooking, catering, or dining out instead?

• How many people will be at the event?

• Are you feeling organized enough or completely disorganized?

• Are you concerned about family dynamics or drama?

• How much traveling is involved?

• Is your Thanksgiving tradition the same, or will it be different this year?

• Are too many non-holiday things happening in your life right now?

• Are you missing loved ones who are unable to be with you?

• What? Thanksgiving is this week?

Which questions resonate with you? How are they influencing your approach and attitude about the holidays?

EASE: Embrace, Arrange, Savor, Express

I created a short acronym, EASE, to help you enjoy Thanksgiving more. This simple phrase works for everyone but is especially useful if you feel stressed or overwhelmed by this holiday or upcoming ones.

Breathe in EASE as you focus on engaging each idea.

• Embrace imperfection and unpredictability.

• Arrange simple, meaningful gatherings.

• Savor the flavors, conversations, and moments.

• Express gratitude for those things, big and small.

1. Embrace imperfection and unpredictability.

Embrace melds two ideas: Let go of perfection and acknowledge that life, let alone holiday gatherings, can be unpredictable. Focus on ‘good enough’ to soften perfectionistic tendencies. In addition, I remind myself of the many kooky things that happened at past Thanksgivings. We’re talking turkey catching on fire, EMS rescuing a guest who passed out, and almost pouring all of the gravy (that took days to make) down the kitchen drain.

While unpredictability might result in initial panic followed by quick action, the memories can evolve into fun and memorable Thanksgiving lore.

2. Arrange simple, meaningful gatherings.

Arrange encourages you to entertain in a meaningful and doable way. So, if cooking isn’t your thing, think about ways to make this aspect easier. Maybe it means letting someone else host, and you bring wine or dessert. Perhaps it means hosting but buying pre-made foods. Or maybe you’re going all out with hosting but simplifying the number of dishes you make.

More than what dishes you serve, the time spent together makes the holidays meaningful.

“Focus on ‘good enough’ to soften perfectionistic tendencies.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

3. Savor the flavors, conversations, and moments.

To savor means thoroughly enjoying and appreciating something, especially by lingering on its lovely qualities. There are so many opportunities to savor on Thanksgiving. I love the scents and tastes of this holiday. I can’t wait to bite into a section of a juicy pomegranate with its garnet-colored tart and sweet seeds, smell the hot apple cider simmering on the stove, or hug and talk with my loved ones.

A mindful presence will bring ease as it helps you engage more deeply with foods, people, and moments of connection and love.

4. Express gratitude for those things, big and small.

Being intentional about what you’re grateful for profoundly benefits your mental, emotional, and physical well-being. For example, gratitude is a natural stress reducer, fosters resilience, strengthens relationships, encourages kindness, improves sleep, boosts self-esteem, reduces negativity, and cultivates mindfulness.

While gratitude is often associated with and promoted more during the holiday season, expressing gratitude is a practice and awareness that can be integrated into every day.

Acknowledging even one thing you are grateful for will bring you more ease.

Human-Centered Thanksgiving

Approaching the holidays with EASE will help you focus on what’s most important and let go of what isn’t. You’ll feel less stressed, more joyful, and calmer. What can you do to infuse more ease into your holidays? I’d love to hear your thoughts and invite you to join the conversation.

Do you want help decluttering, organizing, brainstorming, or planning? Have you experienced the benefits of having an accountability partner? I’m here for you. Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – A local feel with a global reach.

Please schedule a Discovery Call, email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, or call 914-271-5673. Organization and ease are possible, especially with support.

What do tea bags, Elfa drawers, and virtual organizing have in common? The tea bags represent what needs organizing. The Elfa drawers embody an organizing solution. Virtual organizing is the bridge that transports you from where you are to where you want to be.

One benefit of the ‘bridge’ (virtual organizing) is the traveling-the-road aspect. In the time it takes to move from one place to another, you get to:

• Rethink what’s working and what isn’t

• Clarify your goal

• Open your mind to alternate solutions

• Think creatively

• Discover alternate possibilities

• Identify what’s holding you back

• Mentally prepare to take action

• Brainstorm with a professional who is 100% focused on your success

In essence, virtual organizing affords you the time and space to think through your organizational challenges and solutions. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong about diving into the action piece. However, designating time to discuss, reflect, and clarify can enrich and empower your organizing outcomes.

Virtual Organizing Benefits in Real Life (IRL)

For example, a client might need one or more sessions to discuss their challenges with letting go of sentimental or aspirational clothing. It’s valuable to tease out the thought patterns and potential obstacles. They take time to consider and sit with those ideas before taking action.

Sometimes, they move forward on their own. Yet, often, they find it helpful to devote some virtual organizing sessions to work with me on active editing, decision-making, and letting go. That means we’re not only talking about it, but they are doing the physical work as I support them through the process.

Releasing Stuck Energy

I’ve observed something fascinating for myself and my clients. When you begin editing, letting go, and clearing a space, it creates a path for new solutions and ideas. When things remain status quo, the energy in a space and your thinking can get stuck. But once you stir the pot, incredible changes happen.

“Virtual organizing is the bridge that transports you from where you are to where you want to be.”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVOP™

An Unexpected Project Outcome

One of the recent projects I’ve been working on is redoing our guest bedroom, which was our daughters’ bedroom. Renovating it has been on my ‘want to do’ list for many years. Finally, its time arrived. I will share more about that exciting transformation in the coming weeks.

However, for now, I’ll tell you about an unexpected outcome. One of the unanticipated side benefits came when we emptied the room to prepare for painting it. I removed the small Elfa drawer unit and temporarily placed it in the pantry. I wasn’t sure if we’d put it back into the bedroom post-renovation. After a few days of observing the cabinet in this other location, I decided to make it pantry-worthy.

I removed the games and playing cards and repurposed the cabinet for tea, spices, and food-related items. I also found these fabulous Container Store Elfa drawer dividers, which keep the items in the drawers organized and in place. It makes me giggle whenever I open the drawer and see those dividers. I love the reimagined cabinet!

If I hadn’t been willing to disrupt one space, I might not have improved another. Like my clients, I gave myself time and the opportunity to think through my organizing systems, get creative, and try something new.

Disrupting a space has value, as does having a thought and accountability partner to help you navigate to the other side of the bridge.

Virtual Organizing is an Empowering Path

What have you disrupted lately? What benefit have you received from your virtual organizing sessions? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

Do you want help getting unstuck, planning, or creating new organizing systems? If so, I’m ready to help. Please email me at linda@ohsorganized.com, call 914-271-5673, or schedule a Discovery Call. Moving forward is possible, especially with support.

Do you love the surprise of reading fortune cookie fortunes? I do. Recently, I got one I want to share with you, which I will do momentarily. Cookie fortunes vary a lot. Some don’t resonate or make sense. Others are so timely or hope-filled that they become ‘keepers.’

As you begin a new month and year, anything you discover to inspire or encourage your fresh start is worth exploring.

Often, I’ve noticed how the start of a project or a change you want to make is the most challenging. Imagine rooms filled with paper piles, non-functioning closets overflowing with clothes, or schedules packed so tightly there is no time to breathe.

Figuring out where or how to start can be overwhelming and prevent you from moving forward. You remain bothered and stuck by the clutter in your space, calendar, or mind. The clutter weighs heavily on your thoughts.

enter the fortune cookie wisdom . . .

“Begin...the rest is easy.”

— Fortune Cookie

Perhaps that seems too simplistic. Play around with the phrase to make it more authentic for you.

How about:

• Begin…the rest is doable.

• Begin…the rest is possible.

• Begin…the rest will happen.

• Begin…the rest is achievable.

• Begin…the rest is within reach.

• Begin…the rest is manageable.

• Begin…the rest is ______.

I encourage you to begin. Take a small action step toward the project or change you desire. Maybe that means editing one tiny pile of papers, removing the additional hangers in your closet, or hiring an accountability partner or professional organizer like me. The operative word is, begin.

I’ve seen over and over the positive energy and momentum that come from taking the first minuscule steps toward your goal. I encourage you to lean into the fortune cookie wisdom. Just begin. If you aren’t sure how or where to start, reach out. I’d love to help you activate and work on your 2023 goals. How can I help?

How are your new year and fresh start going? Have you made progress, or are you feeling stuck? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.

This year winds down, and we take time to reflect on the past twelve months and the year about to start. 2022 has been full of intense emotions, experiences, and amazing conversations we shared on the blog. We’ve walked side-by-side, navigated turbulent waters, made new discoveries, and wrestled with life balance. In our free-flowing exchanges, insights and new perspectives emerged.

Our conversations about life balance, change, mindfulness, clutter, letting go, motivation, organizing, coping, resilience, hope, pandemics, and more have provided immense comfort, connection, and joy. Thank you for being part of this generous community. You inspire me to show up, write, think, explore, and engage.

I am deeply grateful for this community’s thoughtful words and beautiful sharing. I curated twelve of my favorite quotes of the year from my top engagers, selecting one from each month’s theme. Thank you, Christine Li, Diane Quintana, Ellen Delap, Janet Barclay, Janet Schiesl, Jonda Beattie, Julie Bestry, Lucy Kelly, Sabrina Quairoli, Sara Skillen, Seana Turner, and Yota Schneider. You are the consistent voices and readers who bring our conversations to life. I am grateful to you and everyone who reads the blog, contributes to our discussions or shares the posts. You bring hope, light, curiosity, perspective, and learning to each day.

There have been many other conversation participators and sharers this year, including Alison Nissen, Andi Willis, Christine Johnson, Geralin Thomas, Hazel Thornton, Jill Katz, Jill Yesko Diana, Julie Stobbe, Juliet Landau-Pope, Katherine Macey, Kim Tremblay, Lisa Gessert, Lynne Palumbo, Nancy Haworth, Sheila Delson, Stacey Agin Murray. Thank you for bringing richness to our conversations and for sharing your ideas.

Enjoy the year in review- one quote, insight, and inspiration at a time!

12 Delightful Quotes From Our Conversations This Year That Will Make You Feel Inspired

1. Fresh Start - 5 Best Ideas Shared Here by Pros to Help You Make a Promising Fresh Start

“Zero assumptions is a wonderful way to remind myself that I can start fresh with every moment. Every breath can be a reminder to refocus and notice what’s happening now and move from there.”

— Lucy Kelly

2. Embrace Change - 3 Hopeful Ideas Motivated Big Changes in My Life Which Can Really Help You Too

“I have made such sweeping changes recently...I’m still catching my breath and am learning that it’s ok to postpone some decisions while waiting for the dust to settle. The big change...feels so right that I’m happy just to let that feeling resonate for a while before I implement some of the other smaller changes that I am aware are lurking in the background...”

— Diane Quintana

3. Next Step - What Becomes Visible If You Make Your Next Step Hope?

“When life feels challenging, I like to reflect on the challenges I’ve endured and survived in the past. If I got through ‘that,’ I can surely get through ‘this!’”

— Janet Barclay

4. Letting Go - 3 Ways to Let Go of Big & Joyfully Experience Powerful Benefits of Little

“Often, it is in letting go of the big and cluttered that we can fully appreciate the abundance in our lives.”

— Yota Schneider

5. Clutter - 11 Delightful Pros Share Best Cues for When It’s Time To Declutter

“I know I need to declutter when I am feeling drained or fatigued. It’s a bodily response informing me that there are too many things going on or too much to focus on accurately and well. When I have that realization, I do my best to spring into decluttering mode so that I free myself up for smooth action again.”

— Christine Li, Ph.D.

6. Time Management - How To Prioritize Your Time and Celebrate Life’s Joyful Moments

“If we don’t prioritize our joy, our lives slip by, and while we’ll have served the clients and cooked the meals, and checked off our tasks, will we have really lived?”

— Julie Bestry

7. Motivation - Discover One Surprising Solution When Doomerism Sabotages Your Motivation

“Optimism is key to finding opportunities. When we are down, we feel stuck. Staying optimistic doesn’t mean you need to deny what is going on. You choose to put your energy into something that will uplift and motivate you.”

— Sabrina Quairoli

8. Enlisting Help - What’s The Value Of Enlisting Help As You Make A Positive Change?

“Enlisting help either as a mentor/teacher, accountability partner, or a cheerleader can make the difference between reaching your goal or giving up.”

— Jonda Beattie

9. Mindfulness - How to Bring Mindfulness To Each Day And Easily Increase Joy In Your Life

“…I often ask my clients to consider what they ‘get to do’ vs. ‘have to do.’ Right now, I’m joyfully anticipating a light day, some reading time, and prepping for the rest of the week. I ‘get to’ think ahead about my clients and meetings and family time – all of which I’m grateful for. It’s a key component of mindfulness...”

— Sara Skillen

10. Possibility Thinking - What’s Achievable When You See Life As A Petri Dish Of Astonishing Possibilities?

“…it’s easier to be grateful and optimistic than we think.”

— Janet Schiesl

11. Wonderfully Human - What Is The Amazing Value Received by Reframing More Thoughts?

“Rather than ‘I don’t know how,’ say ‘I am learning to.’ It is all about our perspective and our capacity to keep learning.”

— Ellen Delap

12. Life Balance - Make A Happy Holiday Season Life Balance Inspired By One Of Einstein’s Timely Ideas

“…this moment of calm was a true blessing…balance comes from allowing all activities to have some time, including stillness and rest.”

— Seana Turner

These quotes were taken from our lively dialogue on the blog this year. What resonates with you? Is there one idea you’d like to bring forward into the New Year? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.