Tidying Up: Step One!

One of my goals this year was to read more books, and one that I recently picked up was called The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

At first I thought it was silly, but I read a few pages before taking the plunge on the purchase and decided I could use a new perspective on decluttering. I should preface this by saying that I absolutely LOVE getting rid of things. I can't stand having things hanging around that are in the way and that we aren't using. The hard part is figuring out a reason to get rid of things, and that's what this book gave me.

The reason is simple: Does this item bring me joy?

It sounds really hokey, but if you really sit and think about it, it makes a ton of sense. That favorite shirt you wear around the house feels great when you put it on- it may be ugly, but it's soft, it makes you feel tingly when you put it on, and you want to take care of it. It's all about appreciating the items you keep around you and being grateful for the 'work' they do for you. 

The second part of it is that everything has a place, and you take better care of things that bring you joy. She recommends 'tidying' in a specific order: Clothes first, then books, papers, komono (miscellaneous items) and mementos. Basically, you get better at discarding things as you get more practice, so you start with the least sentimental things first. Also, you don't concern yourself with other family members' things- you do yours, and maybe it will inspire them to do theirs, but that's really not your business. I particularly like this, so I don't feel the need to pressure Bean to declutter. I do take care of my daughter's closet though, since I have to do her laundry and she's two.

So I pulled all of my clothes from the hall closet and the closet we used upstairs when we were remodeling our master bedroom, and I put them all on my bed. 

Within 15 minutes, I had gone through everything and made this pile.

The process is simply picking each item up, asking the question, "Does this bring me joy?" and either keeping it or putting it in the discard pile. Almost everything from those two areas went in the discard pile, but some items were difficult: the dress I wore to Liz's bachelorette party, the Matron of Honor dress from her wedding, the dress I wore for our engagement pictures. I took a minute with each of them, remembered the fun times and the fact that they are all not my style, don't fit, and I have pictures of myself wearing them, so I don't have to keep them in my closet.

Since I had been thinking of doing this project for a few weeks, I had already been looking at things in my closet as I got dressed every day and asking the question. So I was able to quickly clear out my closet: dresses, shoes, and all! I have so many empty hangers to look at now!

I piled it all up on the floor, then went through my reusable shopping bag stash and picked out all the ones I can't stand using (they bring me zero joy) and used those bags to pack everything up.

I still have a couple of areas to finish before I make a huge donation drop at Goodwill.

Also, I feel the need to mention that part of my motivation and reward for this work was something I've never done before. I've been wanting a nice, soft leather jacket for when it gets cold, and I decided to shop around a little since it's summer thinking I could get a better deal.

Serendipity stepped in when I found this jacket for less than 1/3 of the original price (it was still expensive but I would never pay what the full price was), and they only had my size left! I didn't really like any of the other jackets I found, so I slept on it, and bought it.

When it came in, I wore it around the house draped over my shoulder so I could feel the material and smell it. For the first time ever, I'm looking forward to cooler weather so I can wear it!