Did Somebody Mention How To Feel More Joy?

I want to share how I have been inspired lately. It started with Wren’s purchase of a book from a thrift store and has since blossomed into life changing shifts.

It’s so simple it’s laughable, yet I just need to share my experience. I’ve been getting rid of stuff and putting things in their place, and I’m feeling alive and inspired.

Spring is just around the corner and with it comes renewed growth, blossoming and of course cleansing. The book titled The life-changing magic of tidying up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing By Maria Kondo has truly changed my life for the better.

It may be considered a pocket book, but unless I was wearing my Utilikilt I wouldn’t want it in my pocket. This small but mighty book highlights a simple method for decluttering your life and creating a more harmonious living space.

Lighten up!

The feeling I’ve had as a nomad is so precious. Moving through the world with only what I carry on my back is liberating. No collection of stuff to get bogged down with. But now that we’re establishing a homestead, we have gotten into the accumulation phase. With the lengthening of days, spring is in the air and I’m ready to lighten up!

If an item doesn’t bring you joy, let it move on.

This is the premise of KonMari (a play on the author’s name) method.

The method entails systematically going through your possessions and asking yourself if they inspire joy. If not let them move on as they are not for you anymore.
The stuff we have in life starts to own us after a time. It weighs on our psyche, it takes up space, and it can be a burden to keep up or maintain. Better to pare down, keep the essentials, and respectfully organize the things you choose to keep.

“In essence, tidying ought to be the act of restoring balance among people, their possessions, and the house they live in.”

Treat your things as if they mattered

In this book Kondo introduces the reader to practices like thanking your clothes for protecting you or saying goodbye to your place of residence. I really appreciated that she brought this up as it is all too easy to pass over how hard the things in our life work! It brings gratitude and respect to the mundane.

What I’ve found so impactful after our first foray into the purge mode has been a renewed inspiration for completion of projects. I’ve started noticing all the ways that through neglect and busyness I haven’t treated certain items with the respect and honor they deserve.

I’ve been hyper focused on cleaning up around the homestead, addressing the items we keep in our tiny home, the placement of these things and generally keeping less things around me.

“The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life.”

Decluttering the to-do list

This is a BIG on for me as I tend to over commit to things and leave many projects open-ended. Completing is a challenge for me. Perhaps the thrill and excitement is most present during the early stages or maybe it’s that I open myself to failure if I finish a task. Either way it’s one of the areas I need most growth in.

After starting to give away clothes, I’ve been motivated to move that window that hasn’t found its proper home and install the gutter that was waiting for a fascia board. I’ve moved that stack of materials that never made it to the top of the list and the wood that was being called to join its stack-mates.

This is purging things from my psyche, removing them from my To-Do list. Finishing these tasks has shown me how much weight they carry. I already feel lighter and more joyful. I feel inspired to keep it up and declutter my life.

I would self identify as messy, scattered and all over the place. I’m just creative I tell myself. RIGHT……

Well a week after Wren introduced m to Kondo’s work, I must say how much better I feel. I’m clearer, more inspired and genuinely happier. I can’t say why this works, but it has something to do with clarity and a crispness that comes form things being in their rightful place. Perhaps it’s simply order over chaos.

The book describes the KonMari method in more detail, but essentially it requires the participant to let go of all the possessions that don’t bring joy and organize those that do.

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Starting with clothes (easiest to part with) and ending with your pictures and mementos (hardest to part with) the method is designed to hone our decision making process as we make more and more difficult choices.

It’s important to engage in this process fully and fairly quickly. She explains how important it is to really make lasting shifts by making the change swiftly. Go all in for best results.

“Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard the rest.”

Discard, then organize

Kondo stresses the important of going through ALL items in a category before moving on.

She states how important it is to see all your tops on the floor in front of you before deciding what to discard. We all have forgotten items and it’s just not fair to deprive things of a useful and fulfilling life. If it doesn’t bring you joy when you pick it up, thank the item and allow it to move on.

She suggests discarding items in the following order

• Clothes
• Books
• Papers
• komono (miscellany)
• Mementos

Once you’re selected the items you’ve chosen to keep, take the time to organize them so their use and access is a joy instead of a burden. She goes into detail about keeping all like items together and methods for folding clothes.

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I felt inspired to share this simple and revolutionary life hacking tool

I’ve just begun the journey of decluttering. After only a week, I already feel lighter and happier and Wren is also very happy at my new tidying! I didn’t realize how all my stuff and unfinished projects affect my health and wellness. I’m hoping that you will consider this simple tool to live a better life and allow the items that are not bringing you joy to bring joy to others.

I’m certainly glad I’ve started on the journey!

What are your favorite ways to Spring Clean?

All photos from pixabay unless otherwise noted.