Look What I Found…Vision for Time Well Spent I Wrote Back in March

 With the summer drawing to a close, I’m working to reign in all of my thoughts and ideas (which continue to come so quickly that I must forget half of them!). I’m (yet again) working to gather all of my bits and pieces that have accumulated in notebooks, on sticky notes (both real and virtual), backs of receipts, in computer documents and emails… I’ll share some gems along the way, highlighting the key elements of my overall vision, scattered as it may be at times, but rich with potential and overall good intentions.

The following is an early attempt to summarize my vision. I wrote it back in March when, don’t laugh now, I went away for 3 nights to write a business plan. My apologies to Bentley, my alma mater, for my extreme naiveté in imagining for even a moment that such an undertaking could be tackled with a few days in a hotel room. Let’s just say that my business sense was a little rusty but my enthusiasm and positive intentions were as fresh as a daisy. Read on for the full quote, this taken from an entry I made in my business plan software for social enterprise.

Cousin Maura and Walking the Walk

Read about Maura's trip to Honduras further down in this post and on her blog

Meet my younger cousin Maura… (I point out that she is younger because it is a rare distinction given that I myself am the youngest in my family of 9 children…)  I can actually remember when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, Maura’s famous reply was that she wanted to “be a lightbulb!” We thought it was funny and silly. Now that I’m older and just a bit wiser, I think Maura may have met her “lightbulb” goal, metaphorically speaking at least…

Among other things, Maura is the moderator of the Freecycle board in her area south of Boston… Hats off to you, Maura! Clearly, Maura is involved with a worthwhile and active community… She posted about my pre-launch efforts and I unexpectedly experienced quite the spike in visitors! I feel strongly that those who will lead the movement to more socially and environmentally responsible life choices in the suburbs are those same people who support the Freecycle movement. So, I think it’s a topic worth revisiting even though I blogged about Freecycle and Craig’s List way back in May when I started this weblog… Here’s my original post for what it is worth…(Bear in mind this was way back in May of 2008 – hahaha – and I knew little of blogging skills like linking to other sites - oh my!).  Better yet, just check out the sites (FreeCycle and Craig’s List) directly for yourself!

I’m surprised by how many people DON’T know about Freecycle yet… (“Free-what? Re-cycle? Oh, FREEcycle… What’s that?”) I hope to help change that with the new business…

I also hope that maybe we could even encourage some of the Craig’s List free stuff posters to be a bit more respectful of time and the environment by at least frowning upon those who post things like “don’t email me or call me… It’s on the curb, first come first served!” I have visions of too many people spending time, gas money, as well as wasting the gas to go to the location to find the desired items have been taken already. What a silly waste of time and unnecessary increase to that scary “carbon footprint” (that so many on Freecycle and Craig’s List are try to avoid) related to the reuse of the item(s) being freecycled. Note to self: Add emailing “Craig” regarding my concern. Don’t Laugh! Craig’s List founder Craig Newmark would likely be receptive, as he is a good guy by all accounts and cares about more than maximizing profits. Here’s a bit from an interview he gave to Bizrate.com:

Craig Newmark: We’re trying to basically just make enough to pay the bills. We don’t think we should try to make as much money as we could. Nothing pious about this, but how much money does a human need?

Bankrate: And that’s why you turned down lucrative offers for the company?

Craig Newmark: We’re not anti-commercial, we’re not pious, it’s just that … I ascribe it to nerd values, that say, “Hey, if we’re making a comfortable living, after that it’s a lot more satisfying to change the world a little.” And we get a lot of feedback that says we are changing the world just a little.

No time to ramble on (like I haven’t already?!) but I’d be remiss if I didn’t encourage anyone reading this (those of you who aren’t coming from Maura’s site) to go to her site and take 5-10 minutes to see Maura’s post about her trip to Honduras.

A New Chapter (for me)…

Check out the text box in the top right hand corner of the page!! ===>

Woah!!! Big News… Stop the Presses, right?! Well, for me, this is big news.

I feel liberated by the fact that Sharing My Castle in the Clouds is now officially my personal blog. What makes it official? Because I said so…It’s my blog and I’ll write what I want to (kinda catchy…)

Meanwhile, the business blog for Time Well SpentTM is in the works. Oh, gosh, “Puh-Leaze” do not hold your breath. That is way too much pressure for me. One of my objectives (which ultimately serves my mission) is a conscious effort to reduce stress, not add to it. Unfortunately, there nevers seems to be a shortage of stress, particularly in this society (oohhh, a topic to explore in a blog post).

Regarding my business concept, don’t worry…(I know you were about to go into a panic about the latest regarding the pre-launch…). Rest assured that it’s still my focus. I’ll keep sharing the latest on the business-front here until the Time Well SpentTM site launches.

Just think… Now, my posts here can be a bit willy-nilly, kinda cooky, heart-on-my-sleeve, sharing the latest, w/e… What’s that? The posts were kind of willy-nilly, whatever, switching between business lingo and personal moments of enlightenment already? Let’s just chalk it up to the fact that I’ve been sharing my authentic self here, first with my inner circle of friends and family, and ultimately with a growing group of new contacts, those established virtually and those established the old-fashioned way, through real-life, flesh and blood meetings of like-minded people sharing similar values-driven goals. (Note that the cyber contacts are actual human beings, too, at least that’s the assumption I’m working with…)

Wrapping it up for now as housework and family bills beckon. No, this short post is no indication that my posts will suddenly be shorter. Those of you who know me well know quite well that brevity is not a strength of mine. It’s my blog and I’ll be wordy if I want to…  

Until next time, those parents out there, hug your kids, because you love them and because they’ll be back to school soon (wahoo!). N.

DeCluttering For Good Continues ~ New Requests Added

As I have been gathering clutter and hearing about even more ideas for creative repurposing of all things that classify as clutter, some new items have come to my attention. You can check out the complete list of small items anytime via the link above or just click here!

For your viewing pleasure and to inspire you to DeClutter For Good, here are some needed items along with some pics of potential things to make:

Neckties ~ From Vintage to Holiday-Themed to Ties That Don’t Suit Your Fancy anymore…

Recreations By Joy on EtsyDotCom

From RickRackRubyDOTblogspotDOTcom

I’m Back…A Day in Philly was Time Well Spent

Well, after a week away with the family on a first-ever trip to Pennsylvania, I have a myriad of thoughts and ideas racing through my brain (nothing new there). I’ve learned a few things, added just a bit of both historic and geographic perspective to my creative palette and look forward more than ever to getting busy with the next phase of the pre-launch of my triple-bottom-line enterprise! Here are a few of those perspectives, just to keep things thought-provoking and reflective without being too overwhelming…

My husband, the 3 teens and I spent one day in search of the famous Philly Cheesesteak (trying to keep it mellow, here). Hubby Rob had the great idea to tour the city via their double decker bus which was a great idea. I can’t recommend it enough. The tour system is structured such that riders have unlimited use of the bus all day, with another bus always coming along every 20 minutes. There are over a dozen stops. You can get off at all or none of the stops as suits your fancy. Here’s just a taste of what I learned along the way (can’t speak for the rest of the family!):

City of Brotherly Love ~ Embracing Differences ~ According to the tour guide (wish I caught his name), Philly’s best gift to society is that it truly embraced religious freedom. Signs of different religions are evident in the art throughout the city. Significant today is the manner in which the citizens have taken that respect for religious freedoms and differences and seem to apply that across a range of social topics, embracing cultural and financial differences for example.

A Peek at Things to Come ~ Stay Tuned…

Well, July was a crazy month, to say the least… Crazy, crazy, crazy… Isn’t that all we ever say?? I’m sure hoping that some of the planned activities for Time Well Spent will include some much-need Time Management and Lifestyle Choices workshops… In the meantime, I’m just going to have to fall back on the crazy, crazy, crazy mantra for a few more weeks (September and Back to School ~ Can’t say I’m not looking forward to that!).

I’m sure those visiting the site are anxiously awaiting the Back of the Napkin stylings of my space… Well, it’s on my to-do list. In the meantime, here’s a quick description of the areas not yet described, a peek at what is yet to come! (Click here to view the post that gives the original sketch of the entire space.)

The Private Room ~ A space for small group parties like Scouts, Bdays and Girl’s Night Out crafting as well as meeting space for members to use when they somewhere to meet with a client that’s a step up from the local coffee shop. I also envision offering the use of this space to local mission-driven organizations for board meetings on a space-available basis.

The Common Area ~ the space will be multi-functional which is environmentally friendly in and of itself. The majority of its use will be for retail sales of repurposed products, including the works of artist members through a consignment-based plan. We’ll be featuring environmentally-friendly products in the space as well.

And, read on for my envisioned piece de resistance…