Feelings Fitness: Tidying Up!

There are so many aspects of the life-changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo that have changed my mind-set! I read the book quickly & started tidying up as soon as I could find a big enough window of time. Kondo suggests doing it all at once & not breaking it up into smaller sessions. 

The way I used to go about organizing was to go room to room, look at all of my stuff & then go out & get more storage units to organize it all.  After reading Kondo's book, I was reminded that " sooner or later all of the storage units are full..." Yes, my house was filled with full storage units.  Although they looked nice & organized with cute little labels, they were filled with lots of unnecessary items.  

I love Kondo's idea of "discard first, store later."  I was able to successfully discard 3 car loads full of stuff first & then organize what was left. The items left in the house at that point, for the most part, were either functional or "sparked joy."

As I went through each item, I asked myself, "does this spark joy?"  I allowed myself to part ways with gifts based on Kondo's saying, "The true pursuit of a gift is to be received. Presents are not "things" but a means for conveying someone's feelings." She also says, "keep things because you love them- "not just because."  This helped me part ways with gifts, pictures, greeting cards & much more.

​I recycled stacks of old grad school papers, workshop notes & donated stacks of old books. The idea that "I might read that book later" made me realize that later never arrives & those books/papers just continue to collect dust.  The information from old notes & books that was meant to stick & be used is within my being & those books will never be referred to again. This task left me only with books that "sparked joy" & with those I created a personal shrine of the books that I love.  

The one thing that I didn't follow was her idea of, "don't change the method..."  Oops, I did change the method a bit.  I don't believe that one-size fits all for anything.  I do believe that you have to honor your own personality & tweak it a bit to meet your own personal needs. For example, I will not be folding my socks!

Overall, this book allowed me to part ways with many items that just cluttered up my living space. I was, in turn, able to create a home that "sparks joy" & brings my family & me much happiness.