March 15, 2016

It Didn't Change My Life, But It Does Spark Joy

I confess, I haven't been writing lately. I've got a book over half done, but it doesn't "spark joy" at the moment.

So, what have I been doing? Well, I spent weeks "Kondo'ing" my house.
My Kondo'd T-shirts
Are you familiar with Kondo'ing? The verb arose after Marie Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up became a big NY Times bestseller. Well, it didn't change my life, but my house is definitely neater, we got rid of a TON of crap, and the book definitely makes you think about things in your life that "spark joy."

I got the book more than a year ago, but was overwhelmed when I started reading because she suggests tidying your whole house in one go. (What??) I couldn't understand how that could possibly be done. But when I picked up the book again in December, I found one tiny mention of the process generally taking about 6 months. (Oh! Okay, now I get it.)

Since I don't have a 9-5 job, and I'm taking a break from my writing, I actually managed to get through the entire house in about 7 weeks. (Although we haven't touched the garage yet...) That includes everything from clothes, to paperwork, to food/kitchen stuff, to photos.

I didn't follow all her rules to the letter, but I roughly followed biggies which are basically:

1. Only keep things that spark joy: This rule really helped me get rid of a lot of things that I was keeping primarily out of guilt (e.g. old gifts, or clothes I'd bought cuz they were a great deal, but then never wore, etc.). However, I find this rule impossible to follow for everything. I mean, spatulas, spare batteries, and cough medicine don't spark joy for me, but you need to have that s**t handy.

2. Go through everything in the order laid out in the book: She has a specific order for tackling your copious amounts of stuff. (Start with your clothes; the last item is photos.) This was helpful since I made a big list and went through, Kondoing each type of item one by one. So satisfying and addicting! I hardly wanted to do anything the last 2 months other than stay home and throw stuff out!

I wish I'd taken photos of everything we got rid of. There were many huge garbage bags, tons of recycling, and two massive piles of stuff that we donated.

Kondo also suggests having everything where you can see it. For example, in the pic above of my t-shirts, I now have them "standing" on end so I can see everything when I open the drawer. Her reasoning behind this is that then you end up surrounded by things that bring you joy. I found this to really work great - I can see all my clothes in one glance, no more digging to the bottom of the drawer to find a certain shirt, my clothes aren't as wrinkly anymore, and I love the rainbow effect when I open the drawer. Since I did my clothes first, it's been almost 2 months now that they've been tidied, and I've had no problem maintaining things this way.

I even Kondo'd Rita's toys. As you can see, she wanted to "help." (I recommend doing this while the dog is NOT present. I had to throw out the way-too-beat-up ones when she wasn't looking!)
Rita attempts to help Kondo her toys
One other bonus was that the tidying made me get to some projects I'd had stuffed in drawers for ages. Like... I'd been keeping cute dog cards I received over the years, thinking "some day" I'd do something with them. Well, I finally went and bought this cute photo hanger and put up some of my faves.
I also have a selection of B&W cards that I love, so I can switch them out with the color ones every once in a while for a change.

I must say, there's some nutty stuff in the book (this gal is REALLY serious about her tidying, as you can imagine) but, overall I found it very helpful.

If you're looking to tidy up your house, I'd definitely recommend checking out the book. Even if you don't follow every single bit of her advice, it's easy to make her recommendations work for you. And you might spark some joy!

Speaking of Joy...
Our blogging buddy, Flea (aka "The Good Flea), from the Jones Natural Chews blog has cancer. Which sucks. But she's facing it with her usual humor and strength. She's also selling leather bracelets via Etsy to raise money to help with the bills. There are various words you can get. I got mine - it says JOY on it.
Perfect, right? I have it sitting on my desk so it can bring me joy even when I'm not wearing it.

Please send good thoughts and prayers to our friend Flea!

Thanks to BlogPaws for hosting Wordless Wednesday! Thank you for letting me be wordy! You can check out all the blogs in the hop here

50 comments:

  1. Mom Kim here - I may just have to check into that book - I plan on selling the house I am in later this year and I need a really good plan of attack to getting this house ready(cleaned out).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, it would definitely be helpful if you're going to be selling your house. It helped me clean out so many drawers, I was able to get things way more organized and neat looking!

      Delete
  2. Love you collection of cards! So cute! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love my cards too! And they were just ignored in a drawer for YEARS!

      Delete
  3. I haven't read the book but I must have read a review as I remember the "spark joy" part. I did a lot of cleaning during my unemployment, but I still feel overloaded.You have given me the urge to get rid of something again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love getting rid of stuff. It's kind of addictive once you start!

      Delete
  4. Hey, you have my mom's name on your bracelet! Organizing is good and I bet she has some good tips. It would be great to see everything when you open a drawer. Now the challenge will be to keep it the way it is now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your mom has a great name! So far I've been able to keep everything the way it is. I like it so much this way, I think it will be pretty easy.

      Delete
  5. I will definitely check out the bracelets. Cancer sucks and we lost 2 to it throughout our 24 years of dog ownership. I admire your organization - too bad you don't live closer or I could give you more to do - just kidding. That hanger for your cards is adorable and such a neat idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha. Yes, my friend offered to "let" me come organize her kitchen. :) I passed....

      Delete
  6. I love that idea. It's pretty much what we did when we moved into the RV. But I still have so much crap in storage, I need to do more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It does seem like there's always more to do... We still have a lot of stuff that we'll need to get rid of someday, but it's our old collections from when we were kids (dolls for me, Matchbox cars and hockey cards for him) so we need to research some of that stuff - maybe sell it to another collector or on ebay. That will have to wait for retirement!

      Delete
  7. You've inspired me, Jackie! I've been meaning to do this for years and even though I'm not one to keep things I don't like, I still have some clearing and cleaning to do.

    This spring is a great time to get rid of some things while doing spring cleaning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The spring is a great time to do it. I kept telling people, "I know it's winter, but I'm spring cleaning." It's fun once you get started!

      Delete
  8. Hmmm Im so untidy but maybe I should give it a go

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've always been fairly tidy, although I can get lazy and be pretty messy at times too, but she claims in the book that her methods cure you of being untidy.

      Delete
  9. In spite of a massive yard sale last fall I am overwhelmed with stuff that does not give me joy. I'm stopped by the fact that whenever I get rid of something I don't need, the next day or two I need it. I have irrefutable evidence of that happening.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, that's a bummer when that happens. So far I haven't missed anything that we got rid of, so I'm still feeling pretty good about it all!

      Delete
  10. We are planning a yard sale this spring - maybe I should read this book to weed out more stuff to try and sell!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I bet it would definitely help you find some more stuff to add to the "sell" pile!

      Delete
  11. Every once in a while I get the overwhelming urge to Kondo (although I have never heard the word before today). I like the part about only keeping items that bring you joy.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love the idea of sparking joy and getting rid of extra stuff. It has been on my mind recently, and like the thoughts behind doing it this new way. Will definitely check this book out- thanks for sharing it. I always feel better when I declutter and 'lighten up' the house, but like the positive spin on this one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always feel better when I declutter too - and I love the JOY angle of the book.

      Delete
  13. I am TOTALLY getting the book! Thank you! I followed Fly Lady for a long time, and that was helpful, but I fell off that wagon. This book sounds just right.

    Thanks for the encouraging mention! Time for a nap. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I don't know Fly Lady. Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your nap!

      Delete
  14. That sounds like an amazing book that I need to buy for my husband. I swear I can't get that man to throw away anything! I am a lot less attached to my stuff, although I do tend to keep everything for the dogs. When I do throw their old toys away, I have to make sure they are not in the room, too! LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think this book will work on your hubby! My hubs used to HATE to get rid of stuff. E.g. We've been hauling his college text books around with us, move after move, for years now. But the finally got rid of them! They don't spark joy! He was as hooked on Kondoing as I was and couldn't wait to Kondo his own stuff after I started working on mine.

      Delete
  15. "I hardly wanted to do anything the last 2 months other than stay home and throw stuff out!" Made me laugh so suddenly and so loud that it scared the dogs! Your post is perfect timing for me. I HAVE to get going on cleaning out and now I have not only inspiration, but a book to guide me. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I seriously got so addicted! I've been missing my kondoing since I finished the house - but I realized yesterday that my emails need to be kondo'd too! I had over 20K emails in my inbox! Just barely started going through them, but already got rid of over 3K.

      Delete
  16. Haven't read the book but I listen to a lot of podcasts about simple living etc. etc. so have heard all about it. The decluttering process is taking time in my house, mostly because I live with someone who could easily be a hoarder and because I have some pretty big emotional attachments to my stuff. However, I donated 3 more garbage bags of stuff yesterday. I am being very, very mindful about any new things that come into the house. I think people should do this at their own pace, I started about 7 months ago and am still slowly getting rid of stuff. It is amazing that you did it in 7 weeks! Good for you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since I don't have a "day job" and I put my writing on hold, AND since I got completely obsessed with it, yeah, I was able to do it all in 7 weeks - but unless someone is retired (and obsessed like I was) 7 weeks is probably a stretch for most folks. That's great that you donated another 3 big garbage bags. And I know what you mean - it does make you more mindful of new stuff coming into the house.

      Delete
  17. I see that book all the time and hear good things. I like the idea of keeping things that spark joy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, the joy part really makes it better than the usual "here's how to best organize your stuff" methods.

      Delete
  18. I ordered a a bracelet yesterday from Flea. I can't wait until it gets here!

    I love the idea of following a tidy protocol. I would imagine that it would be really cleansing on a psychic level. Trouble is, I am pretty damn tidy already. I'm not sure I'd have anything to pitch!

    Jean from Welcome to the Menagerie

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sounds like a very inspirational book. I love to purge! It's so freeing, it's amazing how much crap one accumulates.
    Love & biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is amazing how much crap we can all accumulate! It feels good to have gotten rid of so much stuff!

      Delete
  20. I should have read that book before we moved but there is still time since we are still unpacking.... ARGH!! I love the hanging picture cards!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I felt like I should have read it before our last move too! We moved a lot of stuff that we ultimately just got rid of!

      Delete
  21. I definitely need this. I need to make time to just get rid of stuff. As always time is my issue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it takes a lot of time to do it the way she recommends in this book!

      Delete
  22. With the addition of a new love interest, combining households has forced us to Kondo the entire lot of stuff, especially duplicates. With limited space, it's more than a necessity. I expect it will take till the end of time to finally get through it all but with each step of progress (or as I like to think of it, 'eating the elephant one bite at a time') I find a lightness in spirit toward the closets, rooms, cubbies, as well as the dreaded black-hole of a garage! ღ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, adding a new love interest means adding a lot of new stuff. :)

      Delete
  23. Great post! I did a mini cleaning spurt when I got back to Alaska a few days ago. I got rid of over three garbage bags, mostly clothes--why was I keeping so much? Was it for the idea of who I used to be while wearing a particular shirt or skirt? Whatever the case, I started on my rather large book collection and chose about 30 books to donate. After that I ran out of steam because truth be known, all my books bring me joy (!!). Yet because I'm reading more and more eBooks I know I will probably never reread many of the very books that once brought me joy. It stressed me out so much that I had to stop and stuff chocolate in my mouth (is that mentioned in the book?).
    Cheers and have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did end up getting rid of a bunch of books, I must admit. I only kept ones that I really LOVE or that I thought I might read again, or hadn't gotten to yet! (There are a lot in that last category!)

      Delete
  24. This was a cool post and I might just have to do that with my t shirts as I have so many of them and only wear the ones on top. I went through my house a couple years ago after my friend died and I had to clean out her house it was a nightmare so I thought if I die I don't want people going through my stuff and saying WTF so I purged but that was two years ago and I need to do it again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ya know, it's funny but my mom dying is what prompted me to do this too. My mom had us kids to go through her stuff - but since we don't have kids, I figured I better start paring it down on my own!

      Delete
  25. hello pooch smooches its dennis the vizsla dog hay hmmm altho i suspekt their is not mutch daynger of my toys or ennything else arownd heer gitting the tidy up treetment i am going to mayk shoor to keep a kritikal eye on mama or dada (but mostly dada!!!) just in kayse they start to git enny funny ideeas abowt culling my stuffies!!! ok bye

    ReplyDelete
  26. Actually you sold me at the beginning with the photo of your T-shirts. With last weeks warm weather I was digging in my shorts-and-T-shirts drawer every day and it's a total mess. I'm gonna get that book because if the only thing I organize is my clothes it will be worth it. Enjoy your writing break - but don't make it permanent! I look forward to your next book :D

    ReplyDelete

We love comments - even just a smiley face or a LOL will make my day. (Yes, my days are pretty easily made.)

PLEASE NOTE: Comment moderation is turned on for posts over 2 weeks old, so if you comment on an older post and don't see it show up right away, that's why.