Tag Archives: The Courier Sentinel

Rub A Dub Dub, Is It Time To Scrub – Your Pack Rat Ways.

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Something About Nothing by Julie Seedorf – Column published in the Albert Lea Tribune and Courier Sentinel week of September 24, 2014

declutter

It’s that time of year. Leaves are falling from the trees and we are preparing to hibernate in our houses for the winter.  For some, fall is a time when we clean, throw and purge all the stuff that we accumulate in our homes. We are always paring down and cleaning out the junk. The problem with getting rid of junk is that for some reason, we always accumulate more junk.

Right now I can imagine many men are blaming their wives for the accumulation of that which women call treasures and men call stuff.

I must admit I am married to a man that doesn’t accumulate a lot of manly treasures in his garage and in the basement. The carpenter tools he has, he uses. The clothes he has, he wears. His treasures are his golf clubs and a bowling ball that has been sitting in my basement for many, many years untouched, except by me when I move it to sort my stuff.

He doesn’t care what is on the wall in what he views as his room in the house, where he catches up on football, golf, basketball, racing and whatever sport he can find, along with all the “CSI” shows and John Wayne movies.

Recently we were out of town during a time when there were supposed to be some bad storms. Before I left, I wondered what I might want to hide in my basement in case the house blew away. I couldn’t think of a thing. My only worries were my cats, as they are my babies now that my human babies no longer live here. If my house blew away, would I miss my stuff that I think I wouldn’t miss?

If that is the case and nothing that I have materially in my house would bother me if it is gone, then why am I still holding on to it and keeping it? I am working on the theory that less is more, and am wading, again, through the stuff that I might use some day.

Helping with a recent relative’s move and the stress that I saw put upon their children at trying to sort out their lives of their parents makes me more determined to get going on letting go of stuff.

It felt like my birthday and surprises as I opened my stored boxes.  I forgot the treasures that were stuffed away in the boxes. When I say treasure, I don’t mean treasure that would mean anything to anyone but me, such as the plaster of Paris handprints from my children that they made in grade school. Or my mother’s rosary tucked away for safe keeping.

Our treasures are stuffed in boxes where we can’t see them or enjoy them in our daily lives. I remember packing my mom’s dishes — dishes I had never seen. If I had discovered one when I was young I would ask why they weren’t being used. She would always answer with the words “I’m going to use them for good.”

Good never came, and she never enjoyed the beautiful dishes she was given over the years, some as far back as her wedding. What good is stuff if it’s stuffed away?

Another of my bins in the basement held newspapers of the first few months that I wrote this column. Why did I keep them? I must have been going to make a scrapbook, but it never happened. I didn’t keep them because I thought my writing was so great. I kept them because I couldn’t believe someone actually let me write a column for a newspaper.

I emptied box and bin and the shelves became emptier. The closets are emptier as I tossed and, yes, boxed, but for charity. I have watched how hard it is for the older generation to move to assisted living, to nursing homes and elsewhere. I have listened and seen the tears that what is precious to them have to be left behind. It is hard to watch someone hurt because they are moving on, but the stuff that represents their lives cannot move on with them.

I have to admit that in my household it would be twice as challenging if we had double the stuff because the male member of my household was a pack rat, too. I know how hard it is to try and convince him to get rid of the bowling ball. I tried to convince him to let me make it into a lawn ornament and if he decided to take up bowling again, it could sparkle all the way down the alley. He didn’t have a vision for that. Judging by the stubbornness of the bowling ball keeper, the bowling ball making its home in my basement multiplied by more he-man stuff could have been problem for our children down the road.

I do know people who have the opposite problem that I do, the male member of the family is the pack rat and the garage is full, the basement is full and his man cave is full. At least I don’t have oil and tires and whatever it is that men collect hanging out at my house.

I have tried to get my husband to accumulate stuff over the years, going so far as to buy him some stuff that he never appreciated. I must admit that I only did it out of guilt. If he had as much stuff as I did he couldn’t give me a bad time about it. We could have been pack rats together, but, sigh …, it wasn’t meant to be.

I guess if I can’t convince him to be a pack rat, then I will have to join him. I will have to empty my shelves, my closets, especially my basement. My kids have been gifted and taken possession of anything meaningful to them from my household. I want it to be simple and easy for them, when I no longer can remember what it is I need, and think I need what I don’t need. Did you get that crazy sentence?

The stuff I keep and accumulate today might make someone’s life harder tomorrow. Do I want to do that to someone I love, or do I want the transition to be easier for all of us someday?  I don’t know. Ask me next year, there are a lot of garage sales coming up.

What Would Happen if God Became Our Business?

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When I wrote this column I was skeptical about publishing it. I like to be fluffy because in our world today there are so many serious and sad things. For some reason this was on my heart to write. My editor pointed me to this song on youtube by Delbert McClinton. I hadn’t heard it before but it seemed to fit and make what I said a little more lighthearted. I am posting the video at the end of the column. Thanks for your patience.

Something About Nothing by Julie Seedorf – Column from Albert Lea Tribune September 15, 2014

I rarely write about religion and politics. I prefer to stay out of controversial subjects but for some reason as I was struggling with a topic for this week’s column, and reading a morning blessing by Susie Larson, Christian speaker and author, it sparked a thought and it seemed I should write about it.

This thought came to me after reading her morning blessing: What would happen if God became your business? And when I say the word business, it is just that, a business that we throw ourselves into and run, work hard at and takes precedence above other things in our lives.

The words that sparked that thought were these: May your heart of compassion grow for those who suffer in unimaginable ways. May you pray as passionately for them as you do for yourself.

I thought about my prayers. They always seem to be a dash here and a dash there in between my business and other daily activities. I may sit for a few moments in the morning and in the evening and dash out prayers in between, but business usually is a priority. I am in the business now of writing to help support myself. I do what I accuse many institutions of doing: I put finances first and God second.

I get fed along the way during my day by snippets and prayers from Susie Larson and other Christian writers and speakers who speak to my heart. But what would happen if I turned that around and made God my business. What would happen if I worked at prayer as hard as I worked at writing? The thought then crosses my mind that I shouldn’t have to work at prayer. If my mind seems muddled writing this it means I am also having a hard time wrapping my brain around this thought.

Some churches might say that they are in the business of God. Many are, and others may say they are in the business of God, but like me, finances are their business, as the churches are now run as a business and the rest takes second fiddle. What would happen if prayer and God took priority and finances took second place?

We have all heard the stories of being dropped from church rolls because no money had been dropped into a collection plate from an individual in a long time. We have all heard the stories of not being able to participate in an activity in church because it is too expensive. Many churches now are a business, run like a business and certain protocol and traditions that need to be followed take precedence over teaching about prayer and praying. They no longer rely on prayer and God to know that he will provide. They rely on accountants and tax people to keep the doors open.

That may seem harsh, but then I am being harsh on myself, too. My business is important, and so I pay attention. I am focused and not easily distracted. I am able to put other things aside and focus on the priority of making my business a success.

Larson said, “Pray as passionately for others as you do for yourself.”

I don’t know unless I have hit the bottom, if I pray much for myself. Maybe I do in bits and pieces, to help me to do a task. I know I prayed for inspiration for a column this morning and what came to me were the words: What would happen if you made God your business?

I think of my Grandma sitting in a chair by her window always praying the rosary, every day, a couple of times a day. I think of the priority in my family while I was growing up, church, prayer at meals, prayer at bedtime and family prayer. I think of my aunt every night sitting down with her bible for hours, reading and praying. Prayer was a priority no matter what was happening, what TV programs were on or what was taking place on a Sunday morning in the community.

Were their lives better because of it? I don’t know. Was my life better because of it? I think so although at the time I didn’t. There was something grounding about prayer. Perhaps those days’ churches were businesses too like the business my father ran, but I was too young to know.

There is a difference now.  Our businesses are social media, sports, jobs that make money to put food on the table and whatever else we work hard at, we are passionate about, and we believe in. We work hard at those things we are passionate about.

We might look at people who indeed make God their business, such as those who write books, speak and influence people lives, with skepticism. Do they get lost in the monetary part of their business and forgot the prayer part, too? We have seen that happen, and we have seen the scams.

Whether you believe in God or a higher power or a different form of religion than Christian, have you asked yourself what would happen if you worked as passionately at prayer as you do at your profession that feeds your family or the hobbies that feed your passion?

If you belong to a church, ask yourself if they are as passionate about prayer as they are about putting money in their coffers?

And then look at yourself, because I think that is what my message while reading Susie Larson’s blessing this morning is possibly about. What would happen if I were as passionate about prayer as I am about my business? If we all asked ourselves that question and pondered it, would the world change for the better?

Teachers Matter, Thank A Teacher Today.

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teachers photo: Teachers teachers.jpg

Column: Something about Nothing, by Julie Seedorf- Published September 1. 2014

Mrs. Lewis was my kindergarten teacher. Mrs. Weir was my fourth-grade teacher. Sister Mary Donald was my eighth-grade teacher in Catholic school. Mr. Schmidt was my history teacher my junior year in high school. Mr. Bailey was my speech teacher and drama adviser my senior year in high school. All of these people influenced my life in a positive way.

Long after I left kindergarten, Mrs. Lewis kept in touch. She was at my high school graduation party even though she lived in another community and had retired from teaching years earlier. Forty years after Mrs. Weir shared her knowledge with me and my classmates in fourth grade, I ran into this former teacher. She knew who I was and what I had been doing with my life. Sister Mary Donald, at a reunion of the Catholic school 35 years after my friend and I had spent our time in her eighth-grade class, shared with us that she prayed for us every day. Without telling her who we were, she remembered us.

Of course there are times when you wonder what they remember about you. Was it the fact you were a good student or the shenanigans your class might have played on the teacher? I didn’t ask, and they didn’t tell.

My son’s first-grade teacher on his graduation from high school presented him with a large piece of art he had made in her classroom. She had kept it to give to him 12 years later. She did this for other students, too. Teachers care.

Today is Labor Day. It is a day dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers. As with many traditions that are passed on from one generation to the next, we honor those traditions, but in the space of time perhaps the reason for the tradition is lost.

In our times we think of Labor Day as the last hurrah before school or the end of summer and the beginning of fall. That is why today I would like to write this column in honor of teachers who came before, and who now dedicate their time to shaping the lives of our next generation.

There is no doubt in my mind that many of the teachers I had during my grade-school years and my high school years have had an influence on who I have become today. Ask around and find out if any of your friends have teachers that influenced their lives.

If you think about it, our kids spend more time during the school year with their teachers and coaches than they do with their parents. How can that not affect their lives? Teachers are the people who educate and see that our children know what they need to know academically to carve a good future for themselves.

I can read. I can write. I can do math, though it wasn’t my teachers’ fault that I am a little challenged in that department. They couldn’t do everything, such as making someone that is totally uninterested in math, a math whiz. But because of them I can do the basic things I need to do to succeed in the world and in business. I also learned right and wrong from my teachers. They taught values and morals.

Tomorrow is the start of a new school year. I have not heard one teacher bemoan the fact they are going back to school. I hear excitement in their voices. Teaching in 2014 is not an easy profession. Not only do teachers have to take care of seeing that their students are challenged academically, but they also have to contend with more social issues, more state issues and a changing society where respect for those teaching our children is not always shown by students and parents.

Where would we be without teachers? We have lost many good teachers to jobs that pay more for their skills. There has always been the argument that teachers only work nine months out of the year. I am not a teacher because I chose not to be a teacher. I chose to work 12 months out of the year. We all make choices and if we did not choose that profession then we have nothing to complain about. If you have a teacher or a friend who is a teacher, you know the many hours they put in off the clock, preparing lessons that will make your child better equipped in the world today.

If we didn’t have schools and good teachers where would we be in our society? We would be a pretty uneducated bunch. If you are a teacher and are reading this, you don’t have to be a saint, but remember, for many students you are the adult who they look up to. You are the adult they spend many hours with. You are one of the adults in their lives who will shape who they are, and your example counts.

So, today, on Labor Day, if you know a teacher, say thank you. If you have a child in school, support their teachers. It takes a working team to raise our children to be responsible, literate adults in today’s world. Thank you to all teachers for your dedication, and have a great year