Blog tipping is when you "tip" people to a great blog!
Kim writes a wonderfully thoughtful and spiritual blog called Starry Sky Ranch covering many topics from homeschooling to healthy living to simplifying.
The blog post that introduced me to Kim was this wonderful essay on the irony of how complicated it can be to live simply. As a mom who homeschools 8 kids, she really knows what she's talking about!
Living a simple uncluttered life in today's world is a constant battle to keep impulses under control and keep values clear. There are temptations everywhere you turn. Let's face it, as human beings our instincts are to gather and acquire. It was for survival in the past...and now we have created a society that is centered around exploiting this instinct for profit. (aka rampant consumerism)
We love novelty, and boy have we exploited that! I'm so guilty of it myself...I want that new Docupen...and I want that shower rod that bows out. I hear of the latest cool new thing and my instinct is often - I want that! It's a constant battle to try to only actually get those things I really need. I have to constantly monitor my own impulse to gather stuff and to hang on to it! I actually cried the other day when let go of a last box of clothing I was keeping for sentimental reasons. I'm glad it's gone now...but it wasn't easy!!
Now imagine trying to achieve simplicity having 8 children who are susceptible to the same influence? This remarkable woman has changed careers, changed locations (moved to a working ranch!) and homeschools her kids! And it's still not easy!
Here are some excerpts from Kim's post on Simple Living that I really loved - the bolding is added by me....or you can read the whole thing at Simplifying.
..."In our quest for saner living we take any number of steps that feel most right to us such as eating more naturally, homeschooling, making what we need, and doing without. What comes next is often bewildering. We no longer are running to the store for milk and eggs, but instead we are called to the barn twice a day or more to attend to our livestock. Instead of running children to school and back, we are now creating personalized learning programs and checking math problems daily. Instead of spending our hard-earned cash at the box store we are spending our time sewing, cooking, and so on. Bottom line, they say - simplicity can be 'complicated and exhausting'."
"The flip side is that the energy expended in simplifying is often more satisfying than the time savers we have been told will enhance our quality of life. It is the process of taking care of ourselves and others that is as important as the care items themselves."
..."Many of us assume that in order to organize we need more stuff - crates, storage systems, new homes, new wardrobes, new careers. I have been known to fall into that rut, paralyzed with the *stuff* I have collected and the lifestyle we had created and unsure of how to begin the climb out. Buying more stuff makes you feel as though you are making some progress. We are accustomed to initiating change with purchase. A better step, says the book, is to take inventory of your life and your home and determine which parts of same are contributing to your overall happiness and which are dragging you down. Then begin to cull the latter - ruthlessly. You may eventually be led to make some of those other changes - in location, in vocation - but you will be in a better position to do so at that point." ...
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Her point here is absolutely true. I had to be ruthless in order to get what I want...a space with great energy that I can function in and be focused on my goals and not have to spend my time dealing with stuff I don't ever use in my way all the time!
Enjoy your visit to the Starry Sky Ranch...she has great pictures too!
Well I didn't go that route (though I do try to educate families via this blog) so the next best thing I can do is tell you about this brilliant resource created by a retired cop who was the Sexual Predator Coordinator for Broward County, FL. He has created an AWESOME Squidoo lens providing links to many FREE resources to educate parents and help parents educate their kids. It was created in support of the Polly Klaas Foundation which is "Dedicated to the Safety of All Children." 
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