Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Give It Up!: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less
    Give It Up!: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less
    Give It Up!: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less
    Ebook157 pages2 hours

    Give It Up!: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less

    By Mary Carlomagno

    2.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    “Refreshing, inspiring, and honest….One book I’m not going to be ‘giving up’ anytime soon.”
    —Nicole Williams, author of Earn What You’re Worth

    Give It Up! is author Mary Carlomagno’s inspiring chronicle of her 365 days spent learning to live better with less—when she decided to give up one modern convenience (eg: elevators) or indulgence (eg: alcohol) every month for a year. A joyous celebration of voluntary simplicity, Give It Up! offers a solution and a liberating new outlook to shopaholics, jaded consumers, and spirituality seekers overwhelmed by the unnecessary clutter in their lives, in the most uplifting self-help guide to better living since Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 14, 2010
    ISBN9780062034700
    Give It Up!: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less
    Author

    Mary Carlomagno

    Mary Carlomagno is the founder of Order, a company that specializes in clutter control, urban apartment solutions, office spaces, and life transitions. Before founding Order, she worked in book publishing and retail. She and her husband live in Hoboken, New Jersey.

    Related to Give It Up!

    Related ebooks

    Personal Growth For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Possessed By Possessions

      Mar 8, 2020

      Possessed By Possessions
      6 min read

    • Article

      Mums Without Mums

      Mar 10, 2020

      Having a child is a pivotal moment in any woman’s life. But this milestone can be hard for those who have lost their own mothers. Naturally, most women will seek advice from someone who has done it before, particularly when it comes to raising thei

      3 min read

    • Article

      Home Sweet Home

      Aug 13, 2020

      Home Sweet Home
      4 min read

    • Article

      The 7 Emotional Clutter Blocks

      Jun 27, 2019

      The 7 Emotional Clutter Blocks
      5 min read

    • Article

      How to Just Say No to Binge Spending

      Aug 22, 2017

      A client once confided in me, expressing concern over her mother's string of bad luck. Her mom was distraught over learning that her two-day hospital day was denied by her insurance. In addition, she had a bug problem and her landlord forced her to p

      2 min read

    • Article

      Clutter, Be Gone!

      Dec 28, 2020

      Clutter, Be Gone!
      4 min read

    • Article

      Tidy home TIDY MIND

      Apr 13, 2021

      Tidy home TIDY MIND
      3 min read

    • Article

      Be Kind To Your Mind

      Aug 24, 2020

      After months of uncertainty during a global pandemic and as we start to emerge from lockdown, it is no surprise that 42% of us are feeling more anxious than at the start, according to a YouGov and Kloris CBD survey. The World Health Organization also

      1 min read

    • Article

      My Day On A Plate

      Jul 1, 2023

      My Day On A Plate
      3 min read

    • Article

      Eat Mindfully

      Oct 6, 2020

      Eat Mindfully
      1 min read

    • Article

      Go On Retreat At Home

      May 19, 2020

      Go On Retreat At Home
      5 min read

    • Article

      88 For Inspiring Us To Clean House

      May 30, 2018

      Margareta Magnusson Author Death cleaning—known in Sweden, its country of origin, as döstädning—may sound morbid. But it’s really an act of love, says Margareta Magnusson, the 84-year-old first-time author of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleanin

      1 min read

    • Article

      A Friend In Need

      Oct 15, 2021

      A Friend In Need
      1 min read

    • Article

      Hit REFRESH

      Jan 8, 2020

      Hit REFRESH
      16 min read

    • Article

      Decluttering in Retirement (or at Any Age) Frees Space and the Soul

      Jun 7, 2018

      Death cleaning, a common practice in Sweden, sounds harsh. But the purpose of dostadning is to ease the burden on relatives and friends by getting rid of your stuff now, instead of leaving them to deal with your clutter after you die. Margareta Magn

      2 min read

    • Article

      Financial Wellbeing

      Nov 24, 2021

      Oh, the complexities of money! Money can be linked to feelings of power, exhilaration, and being in control, but it can also cause fear, guilt, shame and envy. Did you know your relationship with money started at a very early age? If your parents arg

      2 min read

    • Article

      Not To Do List

      Jul 29, 2019

      Not To Do List
      1 min read

    • Article

      Need To Know

      Jul 2, 2020

      ✢ Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) affects around three-quarters of a million people in the UK. ✢ It is a distressing mental health condition where a person has intrusive, obsessional thoughts and repetitive behaviours, known as compulsions. ✢ OC

      1 min read

    • Article

      Have An Early Dinner

      Aug 6, 2020

      Find yourself sitting down to eat after 8pm? According to new research**, you could be seriously hindering your weight-loss goals, with findings showing that eating late at night can put you at an increased risk of being overweight, as your body is l

      1 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Give It Up!

    2.5/5

    34 ratings7 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      Being published in 2006, I can see how this was interesting back then. Now, there's an abundance of people doing 30 day challenges all over the web. Didn't learn anything new from this.
    • 2/5
      It was more like a cute essay. Not the least bit enlightening. Giving up a cell phone and TV for a month difficult, bah.
    • 2/5
      About the best thing that I can say about this book is that at least it was short!Some of my the main difficulties I encountered with this book: There was no unifying theme, general premise or conclusion; this is a straight-up twelve chapter book, each chapter representing a month of the year, and in each month a different item given up for the duration of that month only, to be resumed anew once the month is over. The author is prone to hyperbole and over generalization. For example, in her first month, she gives up alcohol (purportedly) but says she avoided social outings during the first two weeks, and slipped into having a drink per outing during the last week -- which basically means that, if the timelines are true, there was essentially one week during which she went out with friends and abstained from drinking. But, oh my! the fuss she makes about it -- apparently the peer pressure was constant and overt with friends badgering her about her nutty resolution to go without booze for month! (It certainly did not make me want to be part of her social network, that`s for sure!) Another issue is that there is no follow-up -- after January's experiences with giving up alcohol and the alleged lessons of finding that one or two drinks per social outing is the optimal amount, there is never any mention of drinking again. No looking back during the month of no coffee or the month of no chocolate to say 'well, at least I can drink wine!' And finally, I simply did not like the author's tone or the persona of the author as it appeared through the lens of this brief, fluff piece.
    • 4/5
      The longer I read this book, the more I realized that thislady is in real trouble. She drinks enormous amounts of alcohol andcoffee, watches tv for thousands of hours a year, eats out all thetime, and talks constantly on her cell phone. From a simplelifestyle point of view, she needs to do way more than give upthings for a mere month.
    • 3/5
      Made me more aware of the subtle dependency that exists in my life and gave me more awareness of my options.
    • 2/5
      Interesting concept, but it fell short, for me.
    • 3/5
      intriguing idea. She gave something different up every month for a year. I did this myself last year and it was interesting. It made the year seem longer, and each month longer as well. I didn't do too well some months, better other months. I'd try it again another year to see what I would choose to give up. The writing was so-so, though.

    Book preview

    Give It Up! - Mary Carlomagno

    Introduction

    We must be the change we wish in the world.

    —MAHATMA GANDHI

    When I set out to write this book, my intention was to eliminate unnecessary facets of life, in essence to determine what I could live without. Accustomed to the frantic pace of the world around me, I had a nagging feeling that something was missing. Each day was much the same, providing the everyday routines all dependent on the same rituals. Reading the entire newspaper was out of habit, not out of need. Habitually checking voice mail and cell phone was more than just a convenience, it had become obsession. Shopping had reached an all-time high, where multiple versions of the same item were purchased again and again without my realizing that that item already hung in my closet at home in other colors. I was in need of a change.

    One morning, while trying to decide which pair of shoes to wear, I was behind schedule and was clearly going to be late for work. To make matters worse, while reaching for my black sling backs, an avalanche of designer shoeboxes hit me squarely on the head. For some people, a subtle signal can lead to a change in life; others need a stronger message. In my case, it was being literally hit over the head with my own shoes. This was my wake-up call.

    Later that morning, I plunked down $4.20 for a mocha grande at my local coffee shop. I reached for my cell phone to check voice mail and make a mental note of the meetings planned for that day; I wondered how my life got so complicated, with too many distractions: too much stuff and too much technology demanding attention and taking my focus.

    Raised as a Catholic, I was required to observe Lent by sacrificing something that was dear to honor our faith. What are you giving up for Lent? my three older brothers would challenge. For forty days, we would give up candy, soda, or dessert. Reading about Lent as an adult, I learned that according to the Church, sacrifices made during Lent should be life changing. In fact, some believe that those who truly experience Lent emerge as a completely new person. Standing in the coffee shop that morning I recalled the experience of Lent and began to wonder if I could give up any of these things that now seemed so essential. Would it be possible to live without a hundred boxes of designer shoes, costly microbrewed coffee, expensive handbags, or the ever-present cell phone that fueled my everyday existence?

    Perhaps eliminating these items and habits would create an appreciation for everything that I was already so fortunate to have. Each month for one year, I would choose one of my favorite things and give it up cold turkey. This would be my year of living better with less.

    Each monthly choice has a personal and significant ouch factor for me, a profound feeling of discomfort that accompanied the mere suggestion of living an entire month without chocolate, elevators, or television. My selections were designed to push me out of my traditional comfort zone, where a change in habits would force uneasiness, questions, and finally scrutiny. My insatiable desire for stuff was stimulated by a consumerist society that encourages purchasing faster, newer, and better products.

    Consumers like me get instantaneous gratification, however fleeting, through the latest cell phone, iPod, or digital camera. We wear our trendy shoes while ordering a computer that will arrive at our door the next day. We try a new diet plan and strive to lose fifteen pounds in one week without exercise. We drive custom-built SUVs off the lot with no money down. This self-improvement craze has created a frenzy of makeovers to make us better. But what if we were to turn the tables on this trend and make ourselves over from the inside out, not the outside in.

    As I challenged myself over the course of the year, each month presented its own surprising and unique revelation. Giving up shopping made for a more creative personal style. Without a cell phone, I learned how to communicate better. Taking the stairs instead of elevators made me more aware of my physical body. The recurring lesson each month distinguished the difference between deprivation and sacrifice. With sacrifice, a conscious decision is made to go without; deprivation sets up a helpless longing, a feeling that I rarely encountered.

    This year of living without forced me to put my habits of accumulation on hold, ultimately giving way to an awareness and enjoyment of the things in life that I was blessed to have and be part of: reading poetry, taking a walk or bike ride, or enjoying a great meal with friends. For me, the biggest lesson of all was not about what I had given up, but what I had gained.

    January

    ALCOHOL

    I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.

    —FRANK SINATRA

    When I woke up on January 1 with flannel on my teeth, a tribal pounding in my head, and a feeling of mental queasiness that could only be remedied by a Denny’s Grand Slam breakfast, I uttered those famous last words, I am never drinking again, followed by those other famous words, I mean it.

    Even though at that moment I was in no position to make clear decisions, I needed to regain control of my life or at least my ability to stand up without the room spinning. Push had come to shove and I was ready to strike a deal. At that point, I would have done just about anything to feel better.

    This roller-coaster ride was the end result of mandatory fun planned by my friends. We attended the mother of all New Year’s Eve parties, in one of the largest bars in New York. Judging by the line out the door, it seemed likely that one, if not all, of our soul mates awaited inside. Once through the door, we quickly grabbed a table by the bar, where we made our presence known to both the bartender and our potential soul mates. We simultaneously made our way to the bottom of many glasses and to the bottom of as many pickup lines. Finding our soul mates soon became less and less likely.

    Adding insult to injury, the party was not only physically taxing, as evidenced by the worst hangover of my life, but expensive as well. The all-inclusive cost for the night of fun was equivalent to that of a pair of Bergdorf loafers I had been eyeing. Open bar, food, noisemakers, and music were promised along with the implied message that you were going to have the time of your life. The reality was that except for one French-fry plate, all of the above were conspicuously missing, with the exception of my favorite cocktail, the dirty martini. Always a believer in getting my money’s worth, or in this case my loafers’ worth, I bellied up to the bar again and again.

    According to www.familydoctor.org, a woman is considered to be drinking excessively if she has more than seven drinks per week and more than three drinks per occasion. A man is considered to be drinking excessively if he has more than fourteen drinks per week or more than four drinks per occasion. I had surpassed my drinking limit with the New Year’s cocktails alone. At last count, the score was Martinis: 7 Mary: 0. Clearly my parameters for a night of casual drinking were completely out of balance with reality. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a drink is generally considered to be 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits. Each of these drinks contains roughly the same amount of absolute alcohol—approximately 0.5 ounce, or 12 grams. And while it seemed reasonable to follow the recommendations of the medical profession, I wondered how in the world I was going to stop drinking for an entire month.

    Temptations popped up everywhere like Viagra ads on the Internet. Even so, as the month began, I was overly confident. At first, the mere smell of alcohol seemed repugnant to me. This challenge should not be hard for someone like me, I reasoned, who has excellent decision-making abilities and tremendous willpower. After all, it was not for the rest of my life.

    My first obstacle presented itself while reviewing my weekly calendar, which had the words drinks with … written at the bottom of almost every page. Would it be possible for me to have a conversation with a work colleague or with a girlfriend at a bar and order club soda? I started making the phone calls.

    There were two choices: Ask if I could reschedule for after February 1, when the drinking would resume and I would be normal again, or keep the date and rely on virgin cocktails to keep the conversation going. My first three phone calls resulted in three rescheduled drink dates for February when, according to one of my friends, I would come to my senses. Another friend suggested, Let’s wait till we can both have fun. So, with three for three on the rescheduling, February began to look like one big drunken month. Even though an occasional friend would applaud my efforts, their disbelief in my ability to pull it off reinforced the better you than me adage.

    The fourth call to my brother was illuminating. He is a self-described food and wine snob who once asked me on the way to Sunday Mass what kind of wine would be served. He had managed to get a reservation at New York’s Veritas, which has a world-class wine list. I called to tell him that I would still be happy to attend, but that I would not be drinking anything alcoholic, including wine. After a moment of silence, he suggested rescheduling the evening. Neither one of us could see the point of having this amazing meal without wine. Rescheduling this dinner made me realize the many roles alcohol played in my life.

    As a marketing professional, I attended cocktail parties, award dinners, and launch parties several times each week where cocktails, wine, and champagne were served from the moment you walked in the room until the event ended. Would I be able to let those drinks trays pass me by and carry on conversation with co-workers and clients?

    Even if there wasn’t a work-related party, it was easier to meet with colleagues after five for drinks than to get them on the phone during the day. It seemed that no one had the time to talk at work anymore. Drinks after work became a necessity for bonding with co-workers and talking to colleagues. We found ourselves spending more and more time in the office, and by the time we were ready to leave, heading to the bar at the end of the day was as important as the first cup of coffee at the beginning. How else could we talk about our co-workers, since they sat right next to us, all day long? The bar was our neutral zone, our Switzerland.

    I rescheduled two January drinks dates with people from work without too much explanation. It was much easier for me to say that I had a conflict than tell them the real reason for the postponement. The path of least resistance became my road map.

    Once all of the rescheduling was taken care of, I found myself with almost all of my evenings free. I eagerly looked forward to unwinding from the hectic routine of holiday parties, last-minute shopping, and endless eating and drinking. I became a recluse for those two weeks, avoiding any situation where I might be

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1