Margaret Arnold • January 4, 2025
Wisdom from Simple Things

Finding Silverish Simplicity during the holidays wasn’t easy for me but not in the way you might expect. Like the changing weather from snow, frost, rain and finally fog, the holidays were changing, too. Worrying took many forms: monitoring our children's travels, welcoming a great niece, saying goodbyes to a college friend, the beloved sister of one of my dearest friends, and my husband's cousin.


As I navigated my own illness alongside these events, I realized the overwhelming feeling wasn’t just the events themselves but the meaning and memories of each that created my own fog during the holidays.

But like a dear dependable friend, it was finding the wisdom of little things, simple things, my “go to” things that got me back on track to think about the end of the year and the hope of 2025.


The following insights are from a trusted "go to" source and one of the best podcasts I’ve listened to all year – “The Year of Wisdom” which aired on January 1, 2025, on The Daily, from The New York Times. In this thoughtful year-end episode, hosted by Melissa Kirsch, the deputy editor of Culture and Lifestyle, Ms. Kirsch gathered wisdom insights from her New York Times colleagues and readers told in their lovely voices.


While I highly recommend listening to the full podcast, I'd like to share the moments that particularly resonated with me and helped me break through the fog. Consider this longer-than-usual post my way of making up for a missed week – and trust me, these insights are worth the extra reading time. Happy New Year!


... finding the wisdom of little things, simple things, my “go to” things ...


Philip Galanes, columnist of The New York Times “Social Q’s”


What Makes Good Advice

“The mark of really great advice is listening so closely that you’re almost the same person with the person who is asking for the advice. In my experience, the best way to do it is not to think, what should I do, but really, listening to (name here) telling me about her situation and thinking, (name here) and I have this problem. We share it now. What’s the most helpful thing I can say to her to help her march toward a solution that’s going to work for her?”


Thoughts on New Year’s Resolutions

“The most common one that I hear is about diet. So if you eat 10 crappy cookies, rather than saying, let’s reduce those cookies to zero, let’s instead find the best cookie you can possibly find at the best bakery. Let’s do the legwork. Let’s find the cookie that is really going to turn you on and eat two of those in a week."

 

Advice for Humanity for 2025

“Let’s make 2025 the year of listening, less talking, more listening. I think it really pays off, and it also pays dividends. And I’m going to try to listen more.”


Jancee Dunn, writer for The New York Times “Well” newsletter


Don’t Chew Ice

“I interviewed eight dentists and the majority of them — I think six out of eight — first thing out of their mouths — I said, what do you want people to know? And they said, don’t chew ice. It was overwhelmingly their number one tip.”


Decluttering Mystery Chargers and Cords

“This is about decluttering — always a hit in the early part of the year. Let go of that dusty box or bag of mystery chargers and cords. We all have it … separate everything into piles, and think of all the things in your house that have cords or chargers. Go through and try them. If they don’t work, it’s likely that they don’t. I don’t want to be presumptuous. Then it’s time to drop them off at a place that accepts electronic waste.”


Feeling Cynical? Collect Moments of “Moral Beauty”

“That is a concept that was created by a researcher named Dacher Keltner, and he wrote a book called ‘Awe.’ … if you’re losing faith in people, the world, politics, whatever, he says, to take 15 minutes out of your day and pay attention to the moments of kindness all around you … There’s a lot of that out there if you pay attention. And you really only need about 15 minutes, and you can collect 10 things. And they reset you and remind you that a lot of people are good.”


Excerpts of the best advice from The New York Times readers in The Year of Wisdom:

“… when someone says, thank you, just say, you’re welcome … actually accept a ‘thank you’ with ‘you’re welcome.’”


“… everything is temporary, and I hope that applies to the head cold that I have right now.”


“… keep a list of wins … for example, my parents are in their 80s, and each time I talk to them, I consider it a win, just to be able to hear their voice and talk to them.”


“… when you put on your lipstick, use your finger* to spread it over your lips. It gives a very fresh, natural, and pouty look. And it’s what French women do, apparently. I can’t believe it.”


“… If you focus on the wound, you will continue to hurt. And if you focus on the lesson, you’ll continue to grow.”


“…never be afraid to enter into a new venture, but always be aware that you’re going to pay a dumb tax.”


“… motion is lotion … the more active I am, the less my back bothers me.”


“…raise the child you have, not raise the child you want.”


“…Such chaos that we are living in now, but nature continues in all of her glory.”


Silverish Simplicity Links

My favorites from this week to start 2025:


P.S. Remember my post about local loyalty programs and Gold Bond Stamps? Well, the simple joys of community connections continue! At the start of the Christmas festivities, I won the local meat raffle not once but twice in one night — proving once again that local contests bring the most delightful surprises and support good causes (in this case our local high school theater and activities). Fun and laughter with family were had celebrating the holidays including sharing and bringing home some Kimball-style winnings.


*Instead of your finger to spread the lipstick, use the Spatty I mentioned in November 9 post!


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Past Blogs

Saying Goodbye to Boxes, Keeping the Memories

By Margaret Arnold • July 26, 2025
Thirteen years, seven rental properties, and countless storage boxes later, my oldest daughter finally has a home of her own. Through college, medical school, and residency, we continued to store belongings that didn't fit or belong in the cramped spaces of her temporary living situations. Passing along her belongings felt like closing one chapter and opening another—most of all, it represented the end of her grueling training years and the beginning of truly settling down in a lovely home and neighborhood. Her move got me reflecting on my own relationship with storage and my journey toward "Silverish Simplicity." In our former family home, we had one large storage area and two guest bedroom closets filled with plastic totes and banker boxes (see picture below). I even stored empty totes—a sure indication I was planning to accumulate more rather than less. With our move nearly four years ago and the natural process of downsizing while launching our children into their first homes, the number of boxes and totes has dramatically decreased. More importantly, I have no reason to purchase new totes, and I celebrate each time I empty a box or bin and it moves on to family members who need them. ... THE NUMBER OF BOXES AND TOTES HAS DRAMATICALLY DECREASED ...
Flower container pot with a bag of tools

Next Needed Thing: Grandpa's Summer Visits

By Margaret Arnold • June 28, 2025
My spring and summer to-do lists fondly remind me of my father. When my husband and I started caring for our long-time family home and 30 acres, spring's excitement came with overwhelming feelings. Early there with four young children ages six months to five years, I found myself in tears facing all that needed to be done, including a large pasture that needed mowing. My dad — a master gardener and hobby farmer — saw my tears and what was needed and stepped in. This began a 15-year summer routine to help with pasture mowing. Our family fondly remembers those early summer mornings when Grandpa arrived in his little tan truck, sometimes before 7 a.m. We'd chat over coffee at my kitchen table (youngest daughter remembering him sitting in "my chair"), then off he'd go to mow his adopted pasture. He loved to mow and, like everything our energetic father did, approached it as if he were running out of time. Oldest son recalls: "I'd bring him lemonade, and he'd drink most of it quickly. Then, without stopping, he'd throw the almost empty cup back at me and keep mowing." Oldest daughter added: "He was so focused that when we delivered lemonade, I was scared he might run me over." ... SPRING'S EXCITEMENT CAME WITH AN OVERWHELMING FEELING ...
A tote bag is sitting on a counter next to bottles of cleaning supplies.

A Happy Cleaner: Four Decades of Family Moves & Experiences

By Margaret Arnold • May 17, 2025
When my four children were in elementary and middle school, an annual Christmas card and letter that arrived each year gave me a glimpse of the life stage that awaited our family. I recall the usual family news but what struck me about this particular holiday update was the amount of moves her four children made in those college and post-college years and the loving assistance she provided. Little did she know she was modeling how I wanted to be, and have been, for my children these past 13 years and 18+ moves (counting three for my husband and me). From college dorm room to first apartments and now to first homes, I have had the joy of helping my kids settle into their spaces. What an exciting time it is for them! A key role I’ve played during these move-ins and occasional move-outs has been that of a cleaner. I like to clean – I mean I really like it. Not only do I enjoy the physical work I especially like the mental and organizational challenge and doing this domestic task better, deeper and, in the last three years, more sustainable. A KEY ROLE I'VE PLAYED DURING THESE MOVE-INS ... HAS BEEN THAT OF CLEANER.