In the KonMari method of decluttering and organizing, the 1st category is clothing and accessories. I have completed that. Because I am “tidying forever”, i.e., I cull things over time, I didn’t have much to discard. I took 8 items of clothing to Goodwill and threw away 2. In her book, Marie Kondo talks about her clients taking multiple garbage bags of clothes to donate. I guess I am not like her typical client. In fact, this is one of the differences I have with Ms. Kondo. I think it is OK to tidy “forever” (ongoing) rather than doing a big complete purging in 6 months time. According to her way of thinking, I will miss out on some of the magic.
I did surprise myself with one item. I had in the back of my mind that I would get rid of a vest I have had for a long time, but when I held it as she instructs, it did “spark joy” so it is staying.
I have found it helpful to ask the spark joy question in other areas. I received some nice oven mitts for Christmas. When I made room for them in the kitchen drawer, I asked that question of other pot holders I had in the drawer. I took 4 of them to Give ‘N Take, and threw away two really old ones.
Also, when I hung the new picture in my bedroom last week, I asked myself if the picture I was replacing (and owned for over 30 years) sparked joy. It did not, so it went with the clothes to Goodwill.
The next category is books. We own a lot of books. The good part is that half of them are my husband’s thus off-limits to my project re Marie Kondo. The bad part is that she wants you to spread all of your books on the floor and hold each one asking the “spark joy” question. You can do them by subcategory if you have lots of books. I think my problem area is going to be cookbooks. Any way, I don’t have time to do the books for another couple of weeks at least.
The 3rd category is paper (not including love letters and cards, sentimental items). Here I will probably really bog down. Ms. Kondo says “Paper never inspires joy.” So, how do I decide what to discard? Get rid of as much as you can, she says. She would get rid of all of it, but she admits you have to keep certain documents.
The 4th category is miscellaneous. There is a Japanese word that encompasses this stuff and is probably better understood by that culture. She gives examples of subcategories like makeup, kitchen implements, etc. As you might guess, it is very broad but if you use her subcategory order, you still have some direction to keep you from floundering.
I would say the Kondo mindset is helpful, but I don’t think I will ever stop culling over time. I do feel like I am getting rid of things that didn’t contribute joy to my life, but mostly I already like the things I have.
