Use It or Lose It

You've heard the phrase - "use it or lose it" - applied to brain cells and muscles.  Professional organizers have a similar philosophy for decluttering closets and anything else, really.  For example, fabric.  Last week I got annoyed at my scrap bin for having an insufficient amount of interesting fabric, and I am now in the process of downsizing to just the delightful ones.

But why stop with the scrap bin?  I have a quilt retreat coming up and we're going to have a "freebie" table.  I'm taking this opportunity to do a wholescale inspection, sorting, and weeding of ALL my fabric.  I have too many different sections of fabric and if I can simplify and consolidate, I'll feel more inspired and free.

So while I'm off doing that, let's see what the pigs are doing.

 

 Once upon a time, I told them a story about going to a seminar.  The speaker was talking about the amount of money that people spent on themselves, and said that only 5% was spent "above the neck".  This was not to be taken literally, for the speaker wasn't referring to cosmetic surgery, dental work, makeup, or hair care.  He was talking about the care and feeding of your brain.  Now, I'm not sure if he had data to back up that claim.  Still, I thought it was a valid point and it stuck with me all these years.  And it evidently impressed the pigs as well, as you shall see...

This little piggy enjoys listening to The Great Courses.  So does journalist Bob Schieffer.  Bob probably buys them, but this piggy gets them from the library.

 

This little piggy is really sociable.  He likes bricks-and-mortar learning.  Nothing like going to class with other students, bellying up to a desk, and using colored markers for doodling, er, highlighting important notes.  

When this little piggy saw that previous little piggy, she exclaimed "Good Gracious!" because attending classes is expensive! 

This little piggy takes free online courses from Coursera.  She has her choice of 217 courses from 33 universities around the world.   Sometimes she spends so much time on these that she neglects her sewing and blogging.

 

These little piggies like Mother Jones.  This is where they learned about the terrible working conditions at online order fulfillment warehouses.  

 

And this little piggy likes museums.  Eek!  Didn't anyone ever tell him you're not supposed to crawl into the dioramas?!?!?!