"To truly cherish the things that are important to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose"
- Marie Kondo
I know Pete (my better half) and I have had a fantastic Christmas. We've had a quiet one this year as we're getting married in less than 3 weeks! Because we've purposely kept quiet we've had an opportunity to reflect on 2015, what we've done and achieved and also take stock of all the possessions we've hoarded over the years. We were the last to move out home of Pete's siblings and because of that we were given (and we are very grateful for it) a lot of stuff to help get us started, some of it we used, and some has become the best "dust catchers" I've ever seen.
I recently read Marie Kondo's book "The life-changing magic of tidying". It has changed my perspective on life. I have been known to be a bit of a shopaholic especially when it comes to op-shopping (thrift shopping for my American friends). I love the thrill of a bargain and finding clothes that no one else will have! But I'd often look around our tiny 2 bedroom unit and sigh, exclaiming "we have too much stuff, I just want to live a simple life and not be surrounded by so much clutter". Pete and I would then dutifully go around cleaning and stuffing our possessions into drawers, cupboards, on shelves and under beds and couches. Surprise, surprise, within a week we'd be back to the cluttered mess.
Marie's book describes a method for cleaning, tidying and dehoarding, commonly known as the "KonMari" method. It describes taking out each possession you own, in a particular order, physically handling each item and asking yourself "does this bring me joy?" If it does bring you joy you can keep it, if it doesn't it either gets donated or thrown out unless of course it is practical and something you use regularly. I mean I really like my wooden spoons and I use them regularly but it doesn't necessarily bring me joy. Unless it's in the the form or a chocolate mud cake. Mmmmm.
Enough about cakes... Marie also makes a point of not gifting stuff to a friend or family member. The item is then just being recluttered somewhere else. I also love her view on gifts. I have many, many platters that Pete and I were given as engagement presents (it seems to be the thing to give, so I'd go for a bowl, salad utensils or a nice pairing (pearing?) knife for future engagement presents!). They were pretty and wonderful but the thing is, our tiny house can't hold enough people to use all those platters at once... So we have kept them in the cupboard collecting dust for the last 2 years. I feel really guilty about that but I don't have a use for them and I felt guilty throwing them out. Marie describes gift giving where the joy is in giving and receiving. Pete and I certainly did enjoy receiving them but the joy in that item is now over. I'd feel much better donating them to my local op-shop knowing that someone else will be able to purchase them and get joy out of that item.
I have honestly felt so much lighter since taking 4 carloads of stuff to the donation bin. We have taken so much stuff that I have been able to sell 2 bookcases, a bedside table and a filing cabinet. It has been quite freeing. I have also been able to rediscover so many items I thought I'd lost. Which has been a bit like a constant Christmas.
The KonMari method requires you clean in a certain order:
1. Clothes
2. Books
3. Papers
4. Miscellaneous (Komono)
5. Sentimental items
Each category has sub-categories but for the sake of keeping this post short-ish I'll just go through the big ones!
Sentimental items are left until last, because they are often the hardest to sort but once you've felt the freeing nature after going through your other possessions you can be more objective about these sentimental items.
For my clothes I also followed the method of developing a "Capsule Wardrobe". Though I haven't been able to get down to the magical number of 37 items, I am working towards it! I feel now that because my wardrobe is smaller I am able to purchase a few really good quality items as opposed to many average quality items. I still prefer going to op-shops to find my clothes because I enjoy the thrill of finding brand-names items at ridiculously low prices! I also enjoy how Marie describe hanging clothes, from longest to shortest and darkest to lightest but in their groups, so dresses, coats, jumpers, shirts, skirts etc.
Going through papers was a really visual achievement. Having just finished a Masters degree and having collected a whole filing cabinet full of papers it was amazing to collate them into 3 small A4 folders that now sit on top of my bookcase. When going through papers be sure to check how long you need to keep things like medical records and tax documents. In Australia I know it's 7 years for tax documents.
Miscellaneous was difficult, because it is everywhere... In drawers, in cupboards, in boxes and jars. It is everywhere! Marie believed you need to get everything in the one category together before you can go through it and I totally agree with her, but I did have a hard time convincing Pete of this. So I just set him off to tidy the collection while I waltzed from room to room collecting armfuls of junk I had accumulated. These things included:
- slime from when I was 7
- an assortment of keys that don't belong to anything
- ribbons
- key rings
- shot glasses (I don't even drink!)
- copious amounts of pens
- many Tupperware containers
- and rocks... Yes rocks. No I don't know why!
Finally, the hardest thing to go through, and something that I am still working on are the sentimental items. I inherited a lot of my Dad's photos when he passed away and I am glad that I have them, but a lot of them don't mean much for me but they were dad's so I'm still working on them.
I know this has been a long post and I am very thankful if you made it this far! Again Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Much love always,
Em xx