A best seller on “tidying up”?
Now here’s a book to keep you busy!
The international bestseller “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” by Marie Kondo has inspired me!
I started out on the library’s reserve request list at number 6 a couple of months ago! It gave me a good excuse to procrastinate on my needed “tidying up” until I moved up to number 1 and could read the book.
What intrigues me is the author’s shift in focus away from “getting rid” of outworn, unnecessary, ill-fitting, never used, un-loved stuff.
Her message is that we should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of.
Yesterday I started on my clothes.
Taking each item in hand and asking “Does this spark joy?” was a new process for me.
So I now have two and a half trash bags to discard. And, today I will finish with my clothes.
Does tidying up your clothes seem like a good idea to you? Maybe you’ve already been there, done that, and gotten the tee shirt? (Did you eliminate one tee shirt when you added the new one? Just asking!)
I’m really glad that she said to leave the difficult categories until last: for me, that will be my books.
After all,
- as an ex-English teacher,
- ex-bookstore owner,
- and avid reader,
I am attached to my hoard! (even the ones I haven’t yet read, that I plan to and hope to read!)
Summer is over, and the fall brings fresh beginnings and new possibilities.
As Gretchen Rubin states in her blog, Happiness Project Blog, September is the other January. The back-to-school time for many of us does feel like a great time to start a new project. And it triggers a time of self-evaluation and reflection.
September provides a feeling of an empty calendar and a clean slate. The air seems charged with possibility and renewal.
Take advantage of the “clean slate” idea.
Do something that makes you happy!
What will that be?
8 Comments
good ideas
Barbara, thanks for joining in! I found the experiment fun and useful!
I can really relate to this topic. Having moved from a 2800 sq. ft. house with a big fenced yard, 2 car garage to a 500 sq. ft. studio, it is definitely a big adjustment for me. I got rid of a lot of stuff but still had to rent a storage building. That seems silly to me to pay for stuff that I am not using and may never use again but I am only human. Like you, Pat, I cannot bear to part with my books. So I am settled in for the winter and figure I will know by spring how it is working out. I am feeling some grief over losing the house also but I know that will pass eventually. I keep reminding myself I need to let go of some things to make room for the exciting new that is waiting to come into my life.
Mary Kay, that is quite a jump in living (and storing) space! I think you are right, though, to let the changes you’ve made settle in. And we both know that the process takes as long as it takes. Can’t really rush it!
Today I somehow got a real spurt of energy and cleaned out some MORE clothes, did some mending (5 pieces!). I feel such a sense of accomplishment after procrastinating for months.
Meg, it never ceases to amaze me how it takes so much less time to DO some of those procrastinated tasks than the time I actually spend in procrastinating (and making up excuses!)
Right on, Pat. I’ve figured that out SO many times. My Mom used to measure out the dry Ingredients for cookies a day or so before she had time to finish baking then. She knew she’d finish if she just started. This method works for me in .any areas.
Meg, your mom was on to something! It’s something about momentum and inertia. I often think it is easier to finish something than to start something.