Showing posts with label about moving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label about moving. Show all posts

Thursday, April 2, 2026

A Wider Perspective on A Big Purge

I’ve been following this young woman and her husband for way over five years on Facebook. They are an extraordinarily talented couple with big plans and accomplishments that continue to unfold in their lives and directly impact the lives of their community.  Labeling them as adventurous souls feels inadequate. When I read Liza’s recent Facebook post on purging their homestead - in fact, her childhood home - I felt compelled to share her powerful words. She was happy to oblige!  Her words go deep and, like every word she writes [unedited], inspiration abounds and the hearts of her readers are touched with Truth. She has described The Big Purge so much better than I did in my last post by taking this subject to the next level.  - Tina Levy 

Liza

Posted on Facebook March 13, 2026 by Liza Piza Balstein


For the past few months, I’ve kept a mantra in my head like a skipping record: everything and everyone has its place. It’s a small sentence, but it has carried me through. It keeps me grounded when things feel chaotic, and it reminds me that even when I can’t see the full picture, there is still a larger ecosystem that I’m part of and can tap into at anytime.


That idea has helped me as we began the daunting task of emptying this house that’s held more than forty years of belongings from several different lives. The sheer volume of things was overwhelming. Every room contained layers of objects—some sentimental, some practical, many forgotten. Sorting through it all forced me to ask a constant question: where does this belong now?


The things is, I'm stubborn. And I have done just about everything I can do to avoid the landfill. Throwing everything away or packing it up to be stored in some unit somewhere else felt like the easiest solution, but it also felt wrong. If something is still useful, meaningful, or necessary and we can't bring it with us, I believed there was still a place for it somewhere.


In the process of redistributing these belongings, I ended up having more than a thousand exchanges with people. Some items were sold, but much of it was simply given away. What started as a logistical challenge gradually became something much more human. Each interaction was a small moment of connection with someone from a different walk of life. A chair, a tool, a set of dishes, or a compost bin became the starting point for conversations and shared stories.


Watching something that had been sitting unused in a house for years suddenly become valuable again in someone else’s life-- especially to those living on tight incomes, people struggling to make ends meet, or individuals who didn’t even speak English as their first language, it created a powerful sense that even in this small way, with intention things can move back into balance.


Over time, the experience started to feel like more than just clearing out a house. It became a lesson in how imbalance works. Often, things in the world are not broken because they need to be destroyed; they’re simply out of place. One person has too much while another goes without. Useful objects sit idle while someone else struggles to afford them. When that happens, the answer isn’t always to discard or erase—it may simply be to move things into better alignment.


Many of the problems we face, both personally and collectively, seem to grow out of imbalance. We often respond by trying to eliminate or obliterate what feels wrong. But sometimes the better response is to reposition—to help restore equilibrium rather than start from scratch.

In a small way, it was my part in helping restore balance to the world. It turned disposal into connection. It reminded me that objects carry usefulness beyond the moment we stop needing them, and that people are often far more willing to help one another than we assume.


Most of all, it reinforced the belief that everything and everyone has a place. Our responsibility is not necessarily to control the entire system, but to participate in it thoughtfully—to notice when something is out of alignment and, where we can, help guide it toward a better place.


The larger picture may always remain partly out of view. But even without seeing it fully, we can still take part in the quiet work of restoring balance around us.

Let me know! Sending you all lots and lots of love! ❤ ❤ ❤



Wishing you Well in All Ways Always,


Eliza Epstein

Holistic Health Specialist

WWW.Wholesomelyhealing.com


Eliza Bailstein is a writer, teacher and Holistic Health Specialist at Wholesomely Healing LLC specializing in Mental, Physical and Emotional Wellbeing. She and her husband are traveling nomads who travel with their van and teardrop-shaped teeny-tiny home. Together, they co-founded Rising Light and have organized hundreds of hands-on workshops related to holistic natural health practices, communication and conflict resolution skill-building, joyful self-expression, and environmental regeneration.


You can read her insightful, thought-provoking essays by subscribing to her Substack: https://substack.com/@elizabailstein


And learn about their non-profit at BeamingLove.org and her business at WholesomelyHealing.com



----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------




Watch for next month's post from Tina about finding closure when it's time to "leave the building..."


----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't miss out on the vibrant world of unique bead artistry at Tina's Sedona! Subscribe TODAY for upcoming blog post notices, exciting marketing updates, sneak peeks at new bead artistry, and a Coupon Code delivered straight to your inbox!

Follow me @tinassedona Instagram | Facebook | Website | Pinterest | Youtube | Tiktok | Nextdoor

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tina's Sedona © All Rights Reserved




Saturday, March 7, 2026

The Big Purge

Something is in the air and it deserves some talking about. Relocation or maybe it's better called Migration. I’m wondering if it’s my imagination or if an inordinate number of people are uprooting to seek life elsewhere, even overseas. ( I realize that some citizens are fleeing our country.)

I’m not sure if it’s because Nathan and I have been through a cross country move that I am more aware of others pulling up roots and moving on. I am especially aware of young couples

Sunday, February 8, 2026

Envisioning Life “Out West”

Returning from Arizona in 2016 - [See prequel Jan. 2026 blog post] - Nathan and I began to play with the fantasy of relocating to the Southwest.   Personally, I began to consider what such a move could mean for me. Would it be safe for me to leave everything and everyone behind -  at retirement age and after 30 years in a community - and move cross country?  Would my husband and I hold our tight bond regardless of any adversity we might face in a new setting? We had both failed in prior marriages so I might have been terrified at the prospect of becoming a “stranger in a stranger land” if this well intentioned adventure ruined our marriage. To my surprise and great relief, all of these thoughts were brief and fleeting. After 20 years with Nathan, my guts had "a knowing" that this marriage was indeed solid.  This wasn't the first time that my guts had delivered this message.  

Snow Canyon, Ivins, UT near St. George


Our decision to leave the nest was so easy that it had to have held a cosmic force behind it.   In 2017, we began planning for when to sell the house, what to purge, where to live, and the logistics for getting there. Getting where? Would we become nomads? Where would we visit? Were we looking for a permanent home? We studied maps. We dreamed of the life we wanted to live. We decided to wander without commitment and to head for St. George, Utah, for starters. We hoped to stay for a year and make side trips of a couple hundred miles out from there. When we were “done” there,  we planned to center ourselves in another spot and repeat the cycle until we decided to settle down.


How would we get there? We started shopping for a big comfortable car that would take everything we could pack into it for the long drive to move cross country. Everything else had to go.  We started planning for a huge purge of our possessions. Watch for next month's post about our year long effort to lessen our load!


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't miss out on the vibrant world of bead artistry at Tina's Sedona!
Subscribe TODAY for upcoming blog post notices, exciting marketing updates, sneak peeks at new bead artistry, and a Coupon Code delivered straight to your inbox!

Follow me @tinassedona Instagram | Facebook | Website | Pinterest | Youtube | Tiktok

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tina's Sedona © All Rights Reserved


Monday, September 30, 2019

Back on track for Tina's Sedona

Well the Levy's have left St. George and landed for at least nine months, this time in La Verkin, Utah. We're hoping this might be the place to settle down for a year or more. Having no furniture, we have scoured local consignment shops and Facebook marketplace to furnish our compact, yet lovely, two story abode. High up on a hill, overlooking a valley of neighbors, we can see nearby mountain ranges and crisp night stars on a regular basis. The sunsets are also heavenly...

La Verkin, Utah, at sundown...
La Verkin, Utah, at sundown...

Viking Knit for future wearable art jewelry projects
Viking Knit for future wearable art jewelry projects

My new studio, while still coming together, is getting back into action and I'm chomping at the bit to make artistic jewelry one of a kind for upcoming holiday shopping. That said, and as many jewelry artists can attest, there is no toggle switch on one's creative flow. When that flow gets disrupted by life--especially involving a move of one's work space-- it's not always easy to flip the switch "on". I tend to be one of those artists so I've started busying myself by knitting wire for future wearable art jewelry projects, working my hands--and eventually my creativity-- towards "the zone". That night sky is definitely working on me... and here is my studio--still in transformation--along with a view that will continue to inspire. So much fresh air too!


Tina's Sedona studio in transition
Tina's Sedona studio in transition

Second story studio view in La Verkin, Utah
View from my second story studio

In the midst of our move, I stumbled into a lovely gallery--Gallery 873-- in Ivins, Utah, that prides itself on selling eclectic art in Utah. They have taken about a quarter of my collection on consignment. I feel very fortunate to have found a proprietor who sees me as a unique jewelry artist and is willing to price my earth tone organic jewelry accordingly. Two pieces have already sold! I have been envisioning a gallery setting for the past few years. At last, a setting that promotes artistic-crafted and southwestern-inspired jewelry like mine! Amen.

So if Tina's Sedona online jewelry looks a bit "light" right now, it is because, in addition to the consignment arrangement, today (9/30/19) I am attending a gallery event and selling additional pieces taken from the website. After that the unsold pieces will re-appear. Poof!


I hope you are enjoying my jewelry store blog. Thank you!


Tina Levy,

Blogging Jewelry Artist @ www.tinassedona.com

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Making Our Move

What you may not know about Nathan and I is that we left Florida in May 2019 to live in St. George, Utah, population 61,096, for four months, and then adventure on to a new location. Our vacation rental is ending soon and we will be moving to La Verkin, about 20 miles away. There will be much less traffic and much fewer people (population 4,398). What does all this have to do with my making artistic-crafted and southwestern-inspired jewelry?


Well, my artistic jewelry studio is preparing to move again. This has caused me to reflect on the studio I had in Florida and how challenging it was then to shed beads I would never use and take only what I had to have "for the road". That decision is serving me well right now as I am truly a mobile jewelry artist. This is going to be easy! I thought you might enjoy seeing my studio of past and present. The next studio is going to have fabulous mountainous views in La Verkin. Stay tuned! #tinassedona #southwesterninspiredjewelry #mobilejewelryartist #artisticcraftedjewelry



My Florida studio preparing to move.

My Florida studio in action before I painted my Sedona colors!

My final goodbye Florida photo... boo hoo... (but yayy!)

St. George studio in the guestroom. Hey, when its temporary...

But who cares when the view from my window is so spectacular?!