SpaceClear Reflections

Let There Be Light

Posted on03. Sep, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

Guess which window was the first to get cleaned today after an embarrassingly long period of time (read: years)…?
Imagine how much more of the world might be available to us with a little bit of loving up (and elbow grease). I’m thinking I should change my tagline to: “Clearing a path to your true nature–one window [...]

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Starting Over

Posted on31. Aug, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

September. It’s my favorite month of the year.
More than just it being one of the most beautiful and bountiful months in New England where I live, September has always been a time of shift and new beginnings…
An invitation to show up, regroup, renew, start over.
But you don’t need to wait until September or New Year’s [...]

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Making Friends with Food & Eating (= Clearing)

Posted on17. Aug, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

“It’s the desire—not its fulfillment—that nourishes you, because it’s the language of your heart. When you listen to that language, you hear your self.”–Geneen Roth
If you saw my little One-Minute Clearing video clip, you might recall my saying this:
“Here’s the thing about clearing: It is really not about the “doing” at all. It is [...]

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Deb’s Story: Releasing the Log Jam

Posted on03. Aug, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

Sometimes you need a friend or family member to keep us on task. I got this email from my friend, Deb, sharing what happened after a little organizing support from her (non-attached) daughter:
“I thought of you again recently when my dear daughter Julia helped me to tackle my kitchen desk area which had turned into [...]

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Managing the Mountain of Mail (or Whatever Burdens You)

Posted on30. Jul, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

Another good question came the other day:
I am following your practice of clearing one item each day. My question for you is what about the stuff that comes into your home- like mail? I can never seem to get through it and it piles up – then if I clear only one thing, a [...]

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Self-Storage or Storage of Self?

Posted on23. Jul, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

Dan Pink, best-selling author of A Whole New Mind, confirmed this staggering statistic I’d heard some years ago as part of my research for Your Spacious Self:
“The self-storage industry is bigger than McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s combined.”*
Ouch.
Whether this fact is still true or not (I wouldn’t be surprised if it were), it still shocks me.
Then [...]

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Airing Out The Heirlooms

Posted on20. Jul, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

Just read a terrific New York Times article about the effect heirlooms have on on our lives entitled “How to Lose a Legacy” by Ellen Lupton. Humorous, colorful, timely – this article does a good job of naming the behaviors and beliefs that keep us holding on to dusty relics of our past.
Some of my favorite lines:

An [...]

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Going with the Flow

Posted on11. Jun, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

“Nothing that you want is upstream….The stream of well-being is a powerful stream… When your stream is moving fast, and you’re not flowing with it, it’s beating you up, and it makes you grumpy…” –Abraham-Hicks
This video speaks for itself. One of the best… simple… amazing… teachings – delivered in less than 10 minutes!
Here’s to experiencing more flow [...]

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Tips for Traveling (Really) Light

Posted on08. Jun, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

Do I hear road trip?
The downside for anyone traveling in the US these days is that some airlines are now charging hefty sums for baggage. It’s not a deal killer if you can think light and manage your packing really well.
In 1987 my husband and I spent 5 months traveling around the world. It took [...]

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Birdsong + Coffee + Back Porch = Heaven

Posted on28. May, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

The title comes from a swoon I posted on my Facebook Page last week.
Actually it read: “Birdsong + Coffee + Back porch (after spring cleaning) = Heaven.
I had spent a good part of the previous day scrubbing and cleaning and decluttering our back porch – the catch-all spot for wayward winter accumulations. I was grooving [...]

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Living the Answers

Posted on25. May, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

This is the last in a series of posts on reinventing ourselves,* excerpted from Your Spacious Self. Enjoy!
Quitting the career and job that defined me for two decades detailed in the last three posts* led to a long period of fumbling in a foggy netherworld I call not knowing. I still find myself visiting that [...]

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Connecting the Dots

Posted on21. May, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

This post is the continuation of a series on reinventing ourselves. It follows this last one: “Making Friends with Not-Knowing.” **  Enjoy this excerpt from Your Spacious Self: Clear Your Clutter and Discover Who You Are:
Just days after this big moment of clarity, a book about clearing spaces was delivered un-beckoned to my front door [...]

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Making Friends with Not-Knowing

Posted on18. May, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

This is the continuation of my previous post: “Stepping Out of Comfort into Not-Knowing,”  which tells the story of how and why I quit a successful teaching career of twenty years – on purpose.
What happened next? In today’s post I share the goodies that could only be revealed to me by hanging out in the [...]

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Coming Clear: Confessions of a Packrat

Posted on11. May, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

“I want to shed my waste with quiet reverence like the pine…
Keep me mindful of what I take into my home, the items brought to substitute
for real living…Help me slowly to surrender all excess.”
–Gunilla Norris, Being Home
I’m a packrat.
There, I said it.
Yes, squirreled away in the dark recesses of my house I still have boxes [...]

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Inviting Wonder

Posted on20. Apr, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

The iPad just came out last week. I don’t know about you, but I find this video [see below] really trippy… and cool!
What’s one thing you can do today that inserts a little wonder into your life?
It doesn’t have to be razzle-dazzle either.

Photo credit: Bing Imgaes/Sunflower

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Social Networking: How Much is Too Much?

Posted on09. Apr, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

I am fascinated by the world of social media and social networking. I love the implications of “tribes” finding each other and connecting around common interests. I love writing too, and this playground gives me lots of opportunities to practice.
At times, however, I wonder if it’s too much juggling: too much checking to see who’s [...]

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It’s Amazing

Posted on19. Mar, 2010 by Stephanie Bennett Vogt.

What is one song that is certain to lift your spirits?  Change your mood in less than one minute? Give you goosebumps?
I have two.
1.  “Golden” by Jill Scott. Not only do I feel uplifted by her deep, resonant, powerful voice, but expanded in a very spacious way. She’s such a goddess when she sings it. [...]

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