The workers at Goodwill know me by sight because I’m an almost daily donator. I’ve been following advice in a book by Marie Kondo called “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, the Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” that has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.
Kondo’s basic premise is this: If a possession does not bring you joy then it does not belong in your home. She does not believe in organizing anything until you have first gone through your home and discarded everything that weighs you down.
When I first heard of this concept I thought to myself, “Big deal, I donate unused things to charity all the time.” But then I read the book and realized it is deeper than I imagined.
Do you, for example, have a pair of jeans in your closet right now that only kind-of fits? They look great if you wear a particular shirt that hides your middle bits. Those jeans were expensive and you hesitate to part with them, especially since they have a lot of life left. Maybe by the end of summer, after your new and improved exercise regimen, those jeans will be great.
I had a pair of jeans like that. I had several pairs of jeans like that. Did they bring me joy? Not at all. Every time I wore them, I felt bad about myself. Every time I saw them in the closet, I felt guilty they didn’t perfectly fit, and that I had spent too much money buying them in the first place. They looked like blue jeans, but were actually the incarnation of negative energy, cluttering my closet. Giving them away made me feel free.
As I sorted my wardrobe using Kondo’s method I realized that although I had been in the regular habit of discarding old clothes, I hadn’t been tough enough. The question, “Does this bring me joy?” held me to a higher standard.
Purging my closet brought the wonderful benefit of revealing outfits that did bring me joy, but that had been hidden away. My husband said, “I haven’t seen you wear that in a while,” every day for weeks.
Kondo insists on a special order of tidying up. Instead of organizing room by room, Kondo has you sort cloth, paper, miscellaneous things and mementos. She believes novices are not advanced enough for the challenge of sentiment.
I spent two weeks discarding clothes, linens, afghans, cleaning rags and a winter mittens collection that had turned ugly. At the end of my sorting I was finally able to vacuum the floor of our coat closet, which jolted to mind, “Yuck! I’ve never vacuumed out the coat closet.”
Now I’m ready to focus on paper, which will be an exceptional challenge. Paper means everything from my home library, to the refrigerator warranty and all of its warranty friends.
Bring out the shredder and prepare the recycling bin. My desk needs a lot of magic.
Jennifer Bardsley is an Edmonds mom of two. Find her on Twitter @jennbardsley and at www.heraldnet.com/ibrakeformoms and teachingmybabytoread.com.
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