{giveaway} Decluttering for the Dead

My good friend and rebel Merrick Weaver is offering what might be the coolest class ever this fall. It is called Decluttering for the Dead and combines her loves of minimalism, Day of the Dead and Latin American Culture. It starts this week and I can not wait! 

You can read more about awesome Merrick and her offering below and even win a spot! Read to the end to find out how!

Tell us what you have been doing this summer.

This summer was spectacularly low key. We swam. Did some gardening. I got a massive wart from digging in the dirt and cured it with over-the-counter wart stuff. That seemed like a huge win.

We played. Slept. Most days, we didn’t go very far from our backyard. We spent some time up in the mountains. My kids are five and two. They moved into the same room together, so the expected shenanigans ensued. 

They’re happy to be nesting together and in cahoots. My parents hang out in Colorado during the summer, so it's grandparent time, and my sister had her first baby last week. She lives in Denver, too, with her man. So there was a baby shower and anticipating and making room for a new person. We got to see my brother, his lady and their daughter a couple of times which is super fun because they live in Dallas. They are expecting a baby in January. And there will be five cousins, ages five and under. 

We’re in that tiny person phase, so things are slow and steady. It seems like someone is always eating. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, repeat. There were also popsicles. And lemonade. I introduced the kids to Slurpees and that may have been my biggest parenting mistake to date.

Tell me about your experience with online classes and how did you decide to start offering your own online classes.

I went to the Mamascout School of Online Labs. Your classes blew the lid off my world a few years ago. It took me two years to fully get my groove, but the time spent priming the pump paid off big time during the last Dream Lab. My first Dream Lab made me realize my house was too big a shit show to actual dream about anything, so I got to tidying in April 2014. That turned into the Great Weaver Purge of 2014-15 (which is about 10% from being finished). I got so jacked up about decluttering and tried every method. I also don’t like doing things alone so I started secret Facebook “book club” so my friends could provide moral support. We don’t actually read books. I’m terrible at book clubs. Way too much pressure. At the end of last spring’s Dream Lab, I was ready to write an eCourse about minimalism and tidying and you told me I should do it because people were wanting it. And when Mamascout says “Jump!”, you say, “How high?”  My friend Axé named the first class Sprang Cleanin’ and we were off. 

Right now my friend Heather and I are doing a free fall decluttering series we’re calling Challenge by Choice. If anyone wants to sign up, they can sign up. The whole thing is really bizarre, because my background is in women’s, reproductive, and perinatal health. And now I’m giving talks on minimalism. 

Your next online class is called Decluttering for the Dead. What is this class all about? Who is this class for?

Decluttering for the Dead is for anyone who really enjoys talking about death and also wants to acquire a few basic Latin American craft skills. So, basically, everyone.

Day of the Dead/El Día de los Muertos is a traditional Mexican holiday. Fall is my favorite time of year. You’ve got Autumn Equinox, Halloween, Day of the Dead, my birthday, Thanksgiving, and then go right into the winter holidays. It’s a like a two-month party. I want to kick off the season right. I’ve had some new awarenesses during the Great Weaver Purge of 2014-15. 1) You can’t take it with you when you’re gone. (Seems to me that decluttering is a preparation for death. And if that doesn’t make you want to sign up for this class, then I’m out of marketing ideas.) 2) The whole purpose of letting go of the physical things that don’t serve us is to make room for what’s important. Carving out a small space to remember, talk about, and honor the people I love who have died is important to me. I want my children to be more comfortable talking about death. I want to be more comfortable talking about death. It reminds us how to live.

This isn’t a class just for families, although I’ll include age-appropriate activities for all living humans. There will be project ideas for people of every age, with actual pictures of my mediocre sugar skulls and shoe box altars. It isn’t about being pretty; it’s about being real. I’ll get into the history of the holiday and it’s sacred meaning. I also like the idea of marking Day of the Dead as an entry point to create the space in our homes that we need to enjoy the rest of the holidays with our living friends and family.

Will I learn to make sugar skulls in this class?

Yes. Like a boss.

What's rocking your world right now? Books, music, film, ideas? Tell us about something cool that we don't already know about!

Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger  is the best thing that ever happened to our family. We built a Little Free Library this summer (so glad I remembered, it was the most major project we endeavored and now we don’t look like lazy, Slurpee-drinking, napping weirdos who don’t do anything), and it’s been really amazing to watch our neighborhood get excited about it. If you've been wanting a Little Free Library in your 'hood, I really recommend doing it. If there's one already there, support it! Sir Fartsalot showed up there one day, and we never looked back.

Want to win a spot? Just head over to the FB page, Mama Scout Laboratory for Creative Living and leave a message on the pinned thread about your ancestors. Who do you want to honor and why. We will pick a winner by the end of the weekend.