It took a long time, but earlier this year I was finally able to move back home. The accident was three years ago, and since I needed to move back with my parents so that I could have 24 hour care we packed a few bags of my clothes, enough to do for a few months. However, with all of my complications, every time I went downtown to the hospital for an appointment we would head over to my place and pick up some more things. With more and more of my things being brought over to my parents house over the years I amassed quite a huge collection.
Over the years, with all of the downs I experienced, I indulged in a little retail therapy to cheer me up. There were long stretches of time when I couldn’t leave the house so online shopping was my go to method to perk me up. Everyone I knew was traveling and going out and I couldn’t join in, but even though I was stuck inside the house, I could still look cute!
So my wardrobe grew. I had also lost a lot of weight after the accident and then again when my diet changed. My body also shifted and I started carrying weight differently. With all of these changes, my older clothes no longer fit, especially my pants which meant more new clothes were needed. Now that I am back home it is time to clean out my closet and to sort through the old and the new and decide what stays and what goes.
I somehow need to find a place for all of this!!! Too bad the closet is already full 🙁
The KonMari Method
There are several ways to clean out your closet and start to declutter your life and the KonMari Method is probably one of the most popular one these days. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was written by Marie Kondo and it describes the method that she has used with clients to help them declutter their lives permanently.
In the KonMari Method, tidying is considered a “Special Event” in that it should all be done in a single period of time. By completing it in a short amount of time you end up with your house (or closet) in order as soon as possible.
So what do you need to do in the KonMari Method??
- Take the time to sit down and examine each item you own
- Decide whether you want to keep or discard it
- Then choose where to put what you keep
That’s the KonMari Method of tidying in a nutshell. But of course there is much more to it than that. There is an order to this method where discarding objects must come first. You are told not to start putting things away until you have finished discarding. This way you don’t become distracted partway through the task.
We should also be focused on choosing what to keep, not what to discard. In the KonMari method we look at each item and ask: “Does this spark joy?” If it does it stays, and if it doesn’t it goes. Since most people store things all over their house, you are asked to sort by category meaning to bring all of your clothes together and then decide what to keep and what to discard. You can do this for subcategories as well (i.e. tops, bottoms) and then move onto the next category.
Marie understands that there are some things in our lives that have functional, informational and emotional value to us and that they might be harder to part with. That is why she recommends starting with the items that are easier to make decisions about. In fact she suggests you go: clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous items and lastly mementos.
The items that you hesitate over, Marie recommends reassessing the role that it has played in your life, to thank it for that role and to then move on.
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up was a really interesting read! Now, I didn’t completely follow the rules set out in the book because by the time I finished with my closet I was exhausted and I started to get a headache. So while I only stuck to my closet, I did take everything out and sort through it.
Next week in part 2 of this series I will let you know how I did.
Thanks for reading
Charlene xoxo