i’ve had the plan to read the life changing magic of tidying up: the japanese art of decluttering and organizing by Marie Kondo for quite a while. i’d been putting it off, letting the excitement come to a rolling boil. sometimes it’s fun to want something real bad and put it off just long enough so that your want for it grows to it’s fullest and THEN jump in head first. i spent car rides listening to random podcasts on the topic, talking to friends about it, and watched youtube videos before i even checked if the library had it in stock. i promised myself i’d finished the novel i started over christmas break first and that was punishment in itself. anyway, i finished the novel. checked out the book i’d been literally dreaming about, and started reading. i carried it around with me all week, so pleased with it’s petite size and cover.

I read it in a few days, and thought it was almost over hyped. although that’s probably because i’d been hearing so much about it over the past few weeks and felt like i already had a good understanding of the concept. the concept being: your house should be filled with things that bring you joy, and ONLY items that bring you joy. as for getting to that state of equilibrium, choose what in your house literally sparks joy while holding it – and choose to keep it. (opposed to “choosing” what to give away). donate the rest. (although she says “depose” or “throw away” a lot in her book which made me cringe every time) (she also talked about ripping out your favorite pages in books you only sort of like, gluing them into a notebook, and throwing away the rest of the book. my gosh. that’s horrible advice and made me not like her a little more than a little bit)

anyway this past monday i did the first step: clothes. i woke up early, took a shower and even did my hair – just so that i would be in a good state of mind to do a scary thing. then i took out everything clothes realated i owned and dumped them on the floor. i picked up each one, felt for the joy, and ended up giving away half of my closet. (some to goodwill, some to my mom so she can deal with it, and some i sold at buffalo exchange) it felt great !! half way through i forgot i was supposed to be personally thanking each item i was choosing not to keep, thanking them for the time we spent together and what they taught me. upon realizing i almost tumped over the bag and started again, but decided blowing a general kiss in the bag’s direction would be good enough. blah blah. up next books + knickknacks + papers + sentimental mementos.

anyone else read this little cutie and put the methods into practice? anyone inspired yet? side note, anyone have any good podcasts to listen to now that i’ve literally listened to every one with “tidying up” in the title on itunes. HA !!