"Let us build memories in our children, lest they drag out joyless lives,
lest they allow treasures to be lost because they have not been given the keys.
-Antoine De St.-Exupery, c. 1940

Susan, Pat, Julie, Woodie, Pam, Jenni, Celia, Dave, Deb, Grant, Kath, Laura, Roberto, Lenny, Colin, Don, Ross, Peter, Linda and Mike welcomed Ken to his first meeting.

Mike opened the meeting space with a brief round of introductions and explanation of the meeting format. The group then began posting and arranging topics, creating the day's agenda. Following is a brief recap of the discussions:

Stuff - George Carlin's "A Place for My Stuff" Video and General Decluttering discussion...
The group listened to an audiotape of George Carlin's comedy routine. Some advice from the discussion was to pay attention to your emotional attachment to your possessions. Also talked about how to avoid accumulating more stuff as gifts from other people. Pulling names out of a hat for Christmas gift exchanging is one idea that has worked. Also noted was as you cut back on the gifts you give other people or get yourself off of the "giving train", the "getting train" starts to dry up...

The Future of Real Estate...
The group discussed a recent article in Worth magazine that Don brought in about the future of real estate. The main point is that people should think twice before moving there money from the currently down stock market into real estate. Some people are predicting that real estate is going to be the next "speculative bubble" to burst. Don't overextend yourself in real estate "as an investment". Also, real estate trends are very geographically based, so generalizing can also be dangerous.

Update on Grocery Shopping...
There was a follow up discussion of a previous month's topic about using up the food cluttering your kitchen vs. automatically going to the grocery store on a frequent basis. Pam related that after that topic, she and Woodie checked out the back of their cabinets and freezer and found a lot of stuff and are working on whittling it down. One lesson in this is that "spontaneous" purchases at the grocery often end up sitting at the back of the cabinet unwanted once they get home. Also, Linda related that she no longer worries as much about "having nothing in the house to eat" and shopping in a panic mode. Also noted is that you can save money at Club Stores like Sam's, but you can also cause your family to overeat, especially since there are so many tempting bulk buys on stuff like chips, candy, etc. The group also discussed buying organic foods.

Emotional Simplicity...
Society does not allow time for self-reflection, there is more emphasis on academic intelligence rather than emotional intelligence. But knowing yourself is the beginning of wisdom. The lack of emotional intelligence leaves a void in your life, and this leads to people trying to fill that void with material possessions.

Rolling Thunder Democracy Tour...
This is series of national events, one day in each participating city that celebrates democracy and local political activism. The date is June 15 in Chicago and there will be speakers, workshops, informational booths, organic food, and music. The highlighted theme for Chicago is Agribusiness and the food chain. It will be in Union Park near the United Center. There is an admission charge. Volunteers are needed (admission fee is wavered). Colin is interested in getting a group of VS Chicago people to go, and possibly spread the news about Simplicity and VS Chicago.

New Road Map Foundation Transition...
Mike gave an update concerning NRMF desire to pass on the care and feeding of YMOL to a third party in order to move on to other adventures. It can be difficult to let go of something you are so close to, and yet sometimes a change of leadership is needed for an organization to keep growing and developing into its full potential.

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(Reported by Pam Bessler)