Cleaning Up

You might be living under a rock if you haven't heard of Marie Kondo.  She is a sweet, quiet, Japanese woman who is now the most popular person in America...maybe.  She is a professional organizer and her most recent book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, really is life changing. 

Marie Kondo has a TV show now where she goes into people's homes and helps them declutter.  Her theory is that your belongings should spark joy.  

Last week, Shelbie asked me to watch an episode with her because she was interested in the idea.  I love throwing stuff out.  I love being organized but Marie takes it to a whole new level.  By the time we started the second episode, we were cleaning out the basement.  That evening, after work, I started on my bedroom and bathroom and before the night was over, I had 7 bags of stuff to take to the thrift shop and about 4 bags of items for the trash.  I regularly de-junk but to hold each item and ask yourself, "Does this spark joy?", was a game changer for me.  Most of what I tossed were clothes.  My closet is half empty now, but when I wake up in the morning, everything I own is something I absolutely love!  

For three days, we moved through each room in the house, eliminating the things that didn't spark joy.  

It got me thinking about all the things we hold on to in life that do nothing more than clutter our lives. 

I did some cleaning out of friends and groups of friends.  How is it that I am a part of 23 groups on Facebook?  I don't even know how that happened.  I left nearly all of them. I even un-followed my support groups, all but one.   I loved the feeling I got from unloading so much stuff from my house and what's amazing, is the same feeling happened when I stopped being friends with the people who drag me down and groups that don't spark joy in my life.  I feel lighter.  I should have done it a long time ago. 

I also deleted a several apps I had on my phone and I put on some screen time managers and that too was life changing.  I'm down to just 30 minutes a day on all of the social media sites combined!! 

There is something magical about minimizing the clutter, in all the varieties, that changes how you see your world.