Showing posts with label new lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new lifestyle. 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



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


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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!


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Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Getting “The Itch”

Sedona

As I shared in my December post, when I returned from my first visit to Sedona in 2015 I held a creative energy from which there was no release.  I then shared my Southwest experiences with Nathan in the hopes that he would develop an interest in visiting. I was doubtful that he would, though, because he had lived in California and had already traveled in the West.  I wanted it to be “new” to him!  It turned out that, other than a visit to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon years before, he had not explored Arizona. It also turned out that I didn't have a clue about the vastness of what is considered to be "the West". I grew up in Maine, ya know?


So, the following year, I was thrilled when we flew out to explore Sedona and beyond. Imagine my alarm when, as we drove into the outskirts of town, Nathan began to shout “Stop the car! Stop the car!” I thought he might be sick to his stomach. But when I did manage  to pull over, he jumped from the car with his camera and quickly headed for the looming reddish orange bluffs!

the aha moment

It was a whole different trip than my last. We hiked and explored Sedona shops & galleries.  We discovered nearby Payson with its Travertine bridge within Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, blindly selecting several trails - purposely unmaintained I might add - that took us four hours to complete. What were we thinking??? 


yes, that's me
waterfalling from "the bridge", but wait there's more!

We also travelled up to the South Rim for a few days. On day one we walked the Rim Trail amongst a throng of visitors. That night, my dormant brave side told me that I needed to experience those canyon walls. So on day two, with Nathan impressed by my gutsy attitude, we hiked down into the Canyon for a limited distance and then took at least twice as long to come back up. It’s steep, ya know, and we were taking pictures during breathing breaks.  LOL 


elmo, the professional stowaway

If you have ever hiked this trail can you prove it?

For me, the Canyon Rim hike just added fuel to the thought of actually living in the Southwest and having ready access to mountains that were calling to the spiritual side of me.  Besides, my body was welcoming the physical challenge of exploring those rocks. 

  

After ten days of “mountain highs” hubby and I returned to Florida and a clock in the ether began to tick - with intuition emerging at weird intervals - towards the possibility of a cross country move. “But where would we want to live?” was the question that began to haunt us throughout the next year. 

Arizona turned out to hold so much more than just gorgeous Sedona. 😎😎😎 - to be continued



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Saturday, April 13, 2024

The Spring Desert Enfolds Me

We live in the Sonoran Desert which is blooming like crazy this time of year and early next week we will head back up to the Mojave Desert to see the flora bloom there. Who would guess that we would be desert dwellers in our golden years?

The Drama of Design

The question is always "who am I creating this for?" And inevitably the answer always results in "I am creating this for me." Otherwise, the tendency to run in circles trying to address every possible critique leads to frustration and adds to the production time. This is the dilemma I have been dealt with building a tabletop piece in preparation for submitting to another juried show. Unlike anything I've done before, this piece represents a science fiction interpretation of the Sonoran Desert. Unlike designing and creating a piece of jewelry, this table top project has required a series of components that need to contribute to the big picture of a very surreal desert which I am building. What an adventure it is! Having just submitted my paperwork for jurying of my piece, I should hear from Tohono Chul by April 16th on whether or not my piece has been selected for this Summer's exhibit of the "Exotic Sublime | treading softly".

NOTE - The beaded pieces contained in this depiction of a futuristic Sonoran Desert reflect my first attempt at designing my own creations in French Beading – excluding the Asiatic Lily designed by Lauren Harpster of Bead and Blossom. With her permission, I have included my creation of it in vivid colors of my choice. I have also redesigned its body to “nurture life” via an attached umbilical cord of sorts extending to an adult insect of my design. I have also altered the Lily’s stem work to include a “youngster” emerging from an additional pod which I added to the flower’s structure.  

Guess what? This piece is not finished and, if selected, must be delivered in early May! LOL I will cover the tabletop board with fabric and attach everything to that when I return from our trip to AZ/UT. For now, I am letting it go. It will be easier to let go when we leave town and get to our mountainous destinations. In case you're wondering, we are driving via Flagstaff to Monument Valley, the Arches, Moab, Bryce Canyon, Page (not far from Marble Canyon where we stayed last spring) and a few other majestic spots along the way. We will clock over 1300 miles on this nine-day journey.

This post is going to be a short one as we leave in three days. I am still deciding on whether or not to bring a new, very small, hand sized, "fun" project from my beading bucket list with no demands for completion. I am 90% sure I will leave home without one this time.

As you can guess, next Month's Blog will be about our trip. You will also get results of my Tohono Chul submission! Until then, enjoy this time of year and get outside.

Best to you all,
Tina


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Monday, February 12, 2024

Winter 2024 from Tucson


Happy Valentine's Day
Strange as it may seem, and as in love as I am with life and my hubby, I am not a huge fan of the heart theme that plasters everything from cellophane to cereal. So when I want to express my sense of heart-ness I tend to create my own shapes, mostly free hand. I consider them such an important symbol that, for me to produce any, is a rarity. Here are a very few from those creative moments in hopes of filling your upcoming day with True Love.







Should I sell online again?
I've been hearing from a few of you that this long distance relationship isn't working well for you. As you may know, I sell through several retailers in and around Tucson. This has allowed me to focus more on my artistry than marketing. But it feels like the shift is coming back, where people I am coming to know and those who have purchased from me before are feeling left out on accessibility to my creations. If you don't travel to Arizona, there is currently no chance to purchase my works unless you contact me for a commissioned piece. SPECIAL REQUEST- If you are one of those people who misses browsing my site and discovering uniquely designed gifts for yourself and others then please let me know as I'm considering reopening my online shop at Tina's Sedona with items priced suitably for direct purchase from me. If you have not purchased from my business then I would appreciate you visiting my work to make your decision.

Settling in - at last
I cannot believe that it will be 5 years in May since we left Florida and moved to the Great Southwest. Ups and downs, ins and outs, have -at last- led us to a peaceful, non-nomadic life once again. I know that's true because we have begun to paint interior walls -at last- in colors that reflect who we have become during this phase and in this place. And it is beautiful. Terra cotta and greige stone colored walls are a nice fit for living in the Sonoran Desert. Subdued spring green has been slightly sprinkled in our kitchen adjacent to a wall where we breakfast in the shadow of terracotta sandstone. The bedroom is next! I think that lovely spring green is somehow going to filter into that space. I'm picturing purple and mustard accents making an appearance but I don't know just where. (Dark purple doors sound like fun.) Oh, but to finally have a choice of colors in which to live! This all feels so wonderful, just like the Tucson sunsets. And all of the colors are being drawn from this one piece that Nathan bought locally at an estate sale.





Tucson Gem Show Update
Congratulate me! I stayed home. I beat my addiction this time. 'Nuf said.


A Shameless Promotion
Last month I promised you a story on this but I failed to notice that I don't present to our local textile Guild until February 27th so there is a delay in reporting on my "ta-dah moment" in beads. The least I can do is provide you with a small peek... and "yes" that is tiger eye!

(You really should be following me on Instagram.)


My wish for you...
That you are staying warm and dry wherever you are this winter. It has been so cold in Tucson that I bought myself a new pair of slippers!

Tina


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