I recently have been interested in the concept of minimalism. Minimalists believe in only surrounding yourself with things that spark joy within you. Marie Kondo, the writer of the internationally famous book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, describes her method, the KonMari method, which helps clear clutter from your home and life.
She writes that, “a dramatic reorganization of the home causes correspondingly dramatic changes in lifestyle and perspective. It is life transforming,”. She continues to explain how a properly tidy home can put your life in order. My goal for using her tidying up method is to achieve an open, simple, and clear living space, inspired by a minimalist way of life, that will allow for my life and mind to be open and clear, as well as eliminating clutter and stress on my mind and body.
The KonMari method starts with a category-by-category approach to tidying up a space. She describes how using a room-by-room or day-by-day approach only leads to tidying up indefinitely. One needs to have a drastic tidying up event all at once in order to make a long lasting effect on one’s life. This is the first and biggest part of the “magic of tidying up”.
I am going on a journey through each of her categories, in order, starting with clothing, books, papers, komono (miscellany), and lastly, momentos. Her categories are in order from easiest to most difficult, since it is harder to part with things that hold emotional value to us. If the amount of items is too overwhelming she describes subcategories under each category to break up the process a bit more. For example, clothing could be divided into tops, bottoms, accessories, etc.
First, one must pile up all of the items that are hidden in the house within one category or subcategory onto the floor. Then, physically handle each item and simply ask yourself “does this spark joy?” She explains in depth of how we communicate with the things we own. As soon as we have physical contact with an item we immediately feel emotion. In terms of tidying up we need to ask ourselves if the emotion we feel is joy. I am going on this journey to see if I surround myself with things that truly bring me happiness, joy, and peace, and to see if it will affect me personally and change my life forever.