Resolve 2013: Organizing: Start small & intimate

Note from Jessa: Today we have author and bellydancer Linda Mercury suggesting ways to GET ORGANIZED. If I tried dancing in my office right now, I’d break an ankle in all this clutter!

GET ORGANIZED advice from:
Linda Mercury
Author of the Blood Wings Series from eKensington
Dracula’s Secret | Dracula’s Desires | Dracula Unleashed

Often lost in the mist of “get organized” tips and tricks is one inescapable truth. Organizing is an act of profound self-love.

Organizing reduces anxiety and promotes a harmonious life. The smallest act of creating order from chaos will soften your shoulders and create a space for you to flourish. That’s why I recommend you always start organizing in your bedroom before anywhere else.

Your bedroom is where you dream, dress, love, cuddle. It is the most intimate place, where you are the most vulnerable. Forget the bit about having other people over. Invite yourself to the feast, first.

Bio: Linda Mercury left behind her varied careers as a librarian, art model, and professional clown to pursue writing. She’s interested in writing, romance, Middle Eastern History, reading, organizing, cooking, hand-made silk Turkish rugs, and the Nike of Samothrace.

Find Linda: Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Another Jessa note: I like the idea of starting with an “easy” room first. My bedroom is so small, it only gets somewhat cluttered. (Just don’t open the closet!) Today I’m posting with Jamie Brazil on her resolution of taming her closet. Oh man, I hope I can offer something coherent.

Stops on the “Resolve 2013” tour: January 1-9, 2013

Maggie Jaimeson – Take a Vacation
Jessa Slade – Get Organized
Paty Jager – Volunteerism
Linda Mercury – Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life
Jenna Bayley-Burke – Eat Healthier
Cassiel Knight – No More Procrastination
Cathryn Cade – Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions
Su Lute – Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss
Jamie Brazil – Shrink My Closet

Resolve 2013: Virgo shames us all

A note from Jessa: Today, author Jamie Brazil wonders why I have so much trouble with organization. I’m tempted to drag her into my office to show her! At least I don’t have a pink flamingo on my desk!

GET ORGANIZED advice from:
Jamie Brazil
Author of Lost and Found, Virgo Edition

A long time ago, I had my birth date examined by a professional astrologer.  Her computer software revealed that I had nine planets in Virgo, and my true calling in life was hotel management.  Nothing about writing or publishing.  Get thee to a Best Western!  Decades later, my experience in the overnight hospitality sector is staying in hotels… not running them.  (Though the ongoing training of dogs that sniff out bed bugs in hotels fascinates me, Bloodhound fanatic that I am.)

I digress.  The subject at hand is organization. Mine.  Apparently, all the Virgo influence in my chart equals superior organizational skills.

It also translates to being completely anal.

When it comes to putting things back where they belong I can be a little obsessive, but the reality behind that personality quirk (a.k.a. control issues) has a lot more to do with moving 18 times as a child than astrology.  I don’t like not knowing where thing are.  And it pisses me off when stuff gets lost.

Fast forward a couple decades.  I married the love of my life in 2004.  He’s a sentimental pack rat who doesn’t put his toys away, and seems to have hundreds of note-strewn scraps of paper orbiting his person most days.  As much as I’d like to think that my vows to him included the phrase, to love, honor and organize, they didn’t.

I truly do not understand how he can work at a desk that is pure chaos. If I look at it too long I start to twitch. He claims his desk reflects the nature of the Universe and Buddhism, but all I see is a jumble of notes and clutter seeking order.  Still, I don’t touch his desk… much.  I confess, there are times I just can’t help myself.

My resolution for 2013 is to leave my husband’s creative chaos alone. I’ll look the other way.  Organize the garage, or the garden shed. Maybe even get out of the house for a bit… I hear the Best Western down the road is hiring.

Let’s connect on Goodreads and Facebook!

Another Jessa note: “desk reflects the nature of the Universe and Buddhism” Ha-ha! I’m so using this line from now on: “My desk is a study in entropic decay. Deal with it.” Today I’m posting with Linda Mercury on her resolution to live a creative life.

Stops on the “Resolve 2013” tour: January 1-9, 2013

Maggie Jaimeson – Take a Vacation
Jessa Slade – Get Organized
Paty Jager – Volunteerism
Linda Mercury – Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life
Jenna Bayley-Burke – Eat Healthier
Cassiel Knight – No More Procrastination
Cathryn Cade – Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions
Su Lute – Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss
Jamie Brazil – Shrink My Closet