– I hung out with my sister and her 3 kids today. I walked through Wal*Mart with them while she shopped. At one point my sister took the two girl to the bathroom, so I took the boy to look at toys. As we walked toward the isles of brightly packaged toys, my nephew stopped and said in a slight whisper, “Wow, they’re beautiful.” What stood out to me most was that even though he was in awe of all of the beautiful toys, there was no whining or crying when it was time for us to move on. He didn’t’ beg to could get any of the toys. I was really proud of my sister at that moment. She is raising her children in a way that they don’t expect to get something every time they walk into a store. This seems very counter-cultural these days in our consumer-driven society. That simple moment left me with a little bit of hope.
– I feel like the majority of the things that I’m reading these days, via my Google Reader, are the same talking points I’ve been reading about for the past few years. I realize that this has much to do with the fact that most of what I read is more opinion than news, but come on people, write about something new! I’ve come to the conclusion that for New Years I’m going to clean out my Reader subscriptions. Don’t worry, I don’t think I’ll wipe it clean. I’ll still hold on to the feeds that come from personal friends, but I think that, unless I have some relational connection to the author, it’s gone. However, like all New Years related decisions, there will probably be a clause in which I allow myself to keep newly acquired feeds for a certain allotment of time to determine if they are beneficial. Here’s an example: Lauren’s feed will be kept. Emergent Village’s wont. Here’s two tricky ones though: Josh’s feed will be kept even though I’ve never met him in person, but I think I can call him a distant friend. And Deb’s feed will stay even though I haven’t really interacted with her much, but because of the overall usefulness of the site. 7 out of 10 recipes I try come from her site, and man I dare you to not drool when you look at the pictures . So there you have it. Do you guys ever do things like this as a way to clear the clutter of your mind…and inbox? **That reminds me, I should do this with my Google Alerts account, too. Ahh, spring cleaning in December.
Where there are gardens and bicycles... 
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December 13, 2008 at 10:04 am
Maria
Just for the record, your sister is “blessed among women.” I’m trying to raise my kids that way, too, but it doesn’t stop them from drooling over the toy aisle and saying, “I want them all.”
Clearing out the reader is a good idea — right up there with cleaning closets, I guess. I’ve come to about the same conclusion — the blogs I keep up with are friends or people I relate to as if I really knew them, and a few really that are worth reading in any case. Otherwise, I skim a lot.
December 13, 2008 at 10:40 am
Steve K.
As the guy who posts everything on the Emergent Village blog, I’m sorry to see you go! But I definitely affirm clearing the clutter from Google Reader from time to time. That’s a healthy practice, even if it does mean less EV in your life 😉
December 13, 2008 at 11:39 pm
lauren
i wish i could have been there to hear Josh tell you how beautiful the toys are. i’m imagining it with a smile on my face.
about cleaning out… i do this with my friends list on Facebook. fairly regularly. and i’ve done it several times with my google reader. but i think we both know my list is never as long as yours.
December 14, 2008 at 10:16 am
scochenour
It seems that the consensus is to do some December cleaning. As I’ve thought about this the past few days I have realized that many of the feeds that I have kept in my Reader are from people who I expect to disagree with. I’ve got feeds from ultra-conservative people who post often, and I continue reading as a mental exercise for me. I use their posts as a way for me to continue to challenge me in what I am thinking/believing. On the other hand, there are people who post things that are often encouraging and hopeful for me. (@Steve K. – Emergent Village would fall into this category).
I feel as though I moving into a season of simplicity, and cleaning out the clutter is going to be a good first step for me. Clutter, of course, is not limited to things that are negative, just things that are in the wrong place and perhaps the wrong proportion.
December 14, 2008 at 10:46 am
cuyler
well, i’ll be honest with ya, my google reader is split pretty evenly between creator driven blogs (artists [generally cartoonists]) talking about their stuff and their experience, real blogs (like yours), and feeds for stupid cat videos. so, i had a clever li’l something something to tag onto the end of this, but it’s gone now.
and, my blog(s) don’t offer much in the way of originality. unless you could consider “not posting” to be something in the way of a post modern statement about originality itself, in which case that might be original. and in a way, i’ve felt a similar thing about my own blog, and that’s why i don’t post. i’ve had 3 or 4 ideas throughout this week alone and posts i could make, but each time i responded with “i’ve heard it before,” and then i don’t post.
December 20, 2008 at 10:08 pm
jovial_cynic
Well, I’m glad to know I made the cut. 🙂