A while back I discovered something

at Thriveonline.com entitled "Wellness, Ten Ways to Slow Down."

Naturally I was drawn to the

list. Oddly, or not so oddly, the cue to "simplify" was found

in two of the suggestions:

1. Simplify your belongings.

Go through your bookshelf or a drawer and put aside everything you don't

use, everything you don't love. Then donate it to the needy.

2. Cook a simple soup dinner

for a friend. Enjoy the soup and your friend.

Then a few days later I was

reading through a new book entitled "First Wives' Tool Kit, A Survival

Manual" when I found these words: "In making a new life, it's

important to let go of the clutter of the past. Coco Chanel once said,

'Every day throw something away.' Almost every day we add to the accumulations

of our lives. If every day we could discard something we most likely would

come out even."

Let's consider suggestion number

one first, as in "simplify your belongings."

I'm sure you are probably aware

of the word "correction" as it is so frequently used in reference

to the stock market. You may be aware of it as I am, but often confused

In a nutshell it would appear

to me that the bulls take the market, seemingly every aspect of it, and

run with it, usually too far, in some areas anyway, and that's when the

correction must take place and the bears get to offer a bit of input.

Please know I do not propose

to be any kind of market analyst. In fact, to many who are just that,

I'm sure my comments may seem downright foolish, but bear with me. What

I think a bull market really means is that we, the consumers, are buying

like crazy.

If you will recall, I have

been writing about the need to simplify our lives for several years now.

And I'm not the only one. Go to any book store and take note of all the

books on the market offering suggestions for doing just that and you will

find the whole country is waking up to a need to simplify.

So how do we do it? On the

one hand we stop buying and make do. On the other hand we stop doing and

be still.

We have slowed down our buying

but not anywhere near as much as we need to slow it down. American consumers

should not just be tired of buying but angry at ourselves for buying products

that do not last anymore.

It appears to me that almost

nothing is designed to endure now. The designers and manufacturers have

gradually taken control of our lives and we have let them. We let them

dictate what's in and what's appropriate and what will help us keep up

with not just the Joneses who live next door, but the Californians who

live on the other side of the country.

There's only one way to "correct"

this and that's to stop buying and make do. Right? Are we there yet? I

don't think so. What will a real grass roots correction do to the stock

market and to our economy? I don't know, but we are on the way to finding

out.

Those who are reluctant to

slow down and simplify need to remember that even plastic gives out sooner

or later. I keep hearing that we are not in a real recession because folks

are still spending albeit with plastic, but they are still spending. Add

to that the number of layoffs you hear about almost daily now and ...

just think about it.

Now, let's skip to the Coco

Channel comment: "Every day throw something away." I have no

idea in what context she actually made that statement, but I find it interesting

that she said it. Certainly those in the fashion industry perform over

and beyond in their efforts to keep us buying and buying and buying. Naturally

we have to throw away in order to keep buying. Naturally? Or sadly?

There is a huge difference

in throwing away or discarding clutter and really simplifying our lives.

Now