“Discard everything that does not spark joy” – Marie Kondo
I’m currently reading the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and my mind is being blown. I’m only twenty pages in and I feel empowered to take on the organization beast. Anyone who knows me, knows I am always organizing and purging something. And therein lies the problem, I am ALWAYS organizing and purging. It’s like Groundhog Day with Bill Murray, over and over, everyday for the rest of my life!
Last week I was starting to feel a bit insane about my cluttered house. I was desperately seeking a solution to get off the carousel ride. January and February are my slow months, so I am home a lot. On one hand, it’s wonderful and relaxing. On the other hand, it’s stressful. I have too much time to notice all the things I hate about my home. Specifically, the clutter parade. I didn’t have it within me to give it another go-around knowing that it was going to look the same a week later. So, I decided to give up and embrace the mess. That was, until this book unexpectedly fell into my lap.
So, how is this different from all the other organization books and articles? Well, I can’t tell you all the reasons since I am only a few pages in. But! I can tell you this, it’s not a “one step at a time” method. It’s a take the bull by the horns lifestyle change. The conventional wisdom found in most organization books are band-aids masking as the solution. They teach you to do a little at a time or go room by room, trapping you into a routine that never ends. Seriously, it never ends!
Marie Kondo believes in tidying up in one fell swoop. Yes, take your entire house and deal with it head on – all at once. The idea is that once you take this aggressive move, you’ll stop the never ending cycle and never revert to clutter again. Too good to be true? Well, we will see.
Stay tuned and wish me luck!
