Back to Organizing I Go

After just a little over a month, Portugal has broken me.  I had an interesting conversation with my friend Albert, who immigrated from Holland to Portugal, and he told me once people have left their country and have decided to live in a different country for a year or more, they become foreigners all over the globe, even in your home country.  I took that to heart because if I were to come back to the US, it would be hard to go back to the way I lived.   I’ve learned to live without a car as public transportation is quite good here.  I depend more on small businesses than big box concepts – which are less common here.  I consider the frutaria around the corner to get my fruits and veggies instead of going to Auchan, a large grocery store that is a 10-minute walk away.  I rotate which Pastelaria I go to for my pastry fix.  I bought my apartment here so that I wouldn’t be a part of the rental crisis here in Lisbon.  Locals cannot afford the skyrocketing rentals, and instead of blaming policies for the lack of legislation to protect rents or revising the tax laws to make renting easier for landlords, the right-wing party blames the influx of immigrants and is creating some tension here.  This is not a problem specific to Portugal but all over the globe.  People are searching for affordable living and places where their money can go further. 

The Portuguese are, in general, very friendly and accommodating.  However, they are concerned that the influx of people will alter their ways of life.  One of my friends told me not to smile as I walk down the street because Portuguese people think it’s odd.  I took this advice with a grain of salt and still let my light shine.  Older Portuguese people give me a side eye, but generally, my smile and “Bom Dia/Boa Tarde” (Good morning/Good Afternoon) as I walk past people, especially if I’m walking with Xola, are received more often than not.  Perhaps it’s my family’s roots in the South or having lived in Atlanta for the last ten years, but acknowledging someone’s presence is hard to change, so my practice of doing this will likely continue. 

Living here has also changed how I organize – my life and my things.  It’s not like I can drive to The Container Store or all the places I picked up organizing systems.  Amazon delivers here but isn’t as quick as the 1-2 day deliveries I had back home.  Sometimes, I get lucky and find things that have a 2-day delivery, but receiving deliveries requires you to be held hostage in your home to ensure that you don’t miss a package.  Couriers do not leave packages outside your door, so if you miss when you deliver or haven’t specified to have your packages delivered to a neighbor that may be home, you are out of luck.  The couriers will try to provide the next day, but after that…good luck getting your package.  I’ve had to reuse bins or repurpose things left by the previous owner to organize my things.  It’s expanded my mind – although it may not be the prettiest solution, my things are incredibly organized.  I miss organizing, so I’ll be doing much more here, especially helping expats organize their lives after a long-distance move.  I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I will also expand my professional organizing of tangible things to assist people with organizing their lives. 

National Palace of Pena

I had my life neatly compartmentalized while living in the States.  I’ve always had a 9-5 and had side hustles – Professional Organizing, Meditation facilitation/teaching, and coaching- which has been exhausting.  If you know me well, you know I am very efficient.  I will combine things in my life to optimize my time and energy, and I think the time has come to do that with my business.  So, instead of just organizing things, I’ll be helping people manage change in their lives (and business) and integrating meditation and life coaching alongside this. Life has a way of forcing me to adjust quickly in times of change instead of dragging my feet to resist the changes I need to make to soar to higher levels of self-actualization. When I do so, my life becomes significantly more accessible as opposed to resisting impending changes.  More to come on this, but simplifying my life and embracing the qualities that fulfill me and make me feel valuable as a human being has allowed me to approach life with pure intention.  My mind doesn’t overanalyze, and I can develop more creative solutions.  I’m excited to see where this goes.