Tonight’s conversation in my head started out like this..

“Do I keep the tangled mess of cheap green ornament hangers that I just wrestled from the Christmas tree, or just chuck them in the garbage and spend a buck next November and start fresh?”

Every year that I toss the tangled green mass of hooks into a ziploc bag, I set in motion a micro-dread feeling that persists, albeit under the radar, the whole year through. The dread diminishing the fun of ornament hanging with the unpleasant chore of untangling that wire mess. “But I’m recycling,” try to convince myself. It’s a Catch-22 and the only thing I’ve caught is a no-win dilemma.

But then it hits me…

I could come up with a cool storage hack that would alleviate the stress of the tangled mass. I could then post the solution, all while feeling good about my green recycling self. Maybe my ornament hanger solution could save the world in the tiniest way! If even one less family lost a second of precious memory – making time fussing over the green wire mess, I would be a Pinterest hero!

Okay maybe it’s not that earth-shattering. Then it hit me.…

It’s the creation of solutions to make life’s hassles less hassling that makes me feel best. It’s why I love organizing, arranging, setting up things and resources and ideas for better living. This is my calling. So off I went, conjuring a solution to neatly store the green ornament hangers. I envisioned my husband’s delight next year, when upon opening the ornament box to begin the ceremonial trimming of the tree, he would exclaim, “Honey, You make Christmas great!” Well, that may not happen, but I surely will smile with a sweet satisfaction, knowing that I took a little bit of time to make life easier, and it didn’t cost me a thing. I think that this is the type of habit the very wealthy people have… taking care of the little things, so the big things take care of themselves.

Plus I’ll have another dollar in my pocket.