![]() ![]() This process has made me pickier, and by not frittering away cash on so-so things, I’ve been able to make more-thrilling purchases: a bold floor-length dress, a yummy quilt I’d eyed forever, an opalescent abalone shell to hold my favorite earrings. Now, instead of shopping vaguely and coming home with something I already have, I really know what to hunt for. It turns out that I own only one pair of sandals that I love, and have no really joy-giving jeans (who does? any suggestions?). #2 I’ve identified the true holes in my wardrobe. Digging through an overstuffed closet was painful. Now my closet feels richer, loaded up with good things that I’ll get a little thrill from wearing, whether it’s while riding the subway or dancing at a wedding. I’d almost forgotten about these colors in the daily race to get out the door. And there’s a lot of it-maybe because I grew up near the ocean, I have a weakness for turquoise and pink and love a color mash-up and summertime prints. It also felt like good karma: The best stuff went to a consignment shop, and the decent stuff went to a charity thrift store, off to see a new, hopefully better life.įor years, I’ve worn the same rotation of easy-to-grab, reliable pieces without dipping into all the color in my closets. Instead of panic, I felt relief-12 times lighter. Six hours later, I’d filled 12 bags with non-joy-giving clothes. I realized I had many things that seemed great in theory but weren’t actually my style-they’d be better on someone else’s body or in someone else’s life (examples: an überpreppy skirt or a corporate-looking jacket). This question of joy gives you permission to let go of off-color shirts bought on sale, dresses past their prime, skirts that always clung uncomfortably. Once I got to work, it was so much easier and more fun than I’d thought. Channeling Kondo, who says a prayer upon entering a client’s home, I lit a candle, said a little prayer, and started digging through the mountain of clothes. While I normally tidy my clothes only when I’m on a long phone call-distracted from the task at hand-today I wasn’t even supposed to listen to music. I gathered every piece of my clothing and put it in one giant pile. Lesson #4: Purging Feels SO Goodįrom then on, I followed Kondo’s advice to a T. Case in point: Henry tried to nab an old hat. Kondo warns that you shouldn’t show your family the discard bags, since they’ll want to stop you from getting rid of so much. Kondo asks that you consider your clothing’s feelings: Are they happy being squashed in a corner shelf or crowded onto hangers? Are your hardworking socks really thrilled to be balled up? It had sounded out there when I read it, but suddenly my clothes looked totally miserable. Everything had succumbed to a mixed-up messiness. With my eyes now open, I realized my closets had hit rock bottom. She advises beginning with clothing, since it’s the least emotionally loaded of one’s things (books come next, old photographs are much later), so as soon as I found a free afternoon, that’s exactly what I did. Instead, Kondo’s first rule is to tidy by category-deal with every single one of your books at once, for example, otherwise they’ll continue to creep from room to room, and you’ll never rein in the clutter. I’d always tackled clutter by room-take on the office first, the bedroom next. ![]() I might have been too lazy to declutter, but I was down for some reading-the book is surprisingly addictive. It turns out, tidying really may be the way to bliss. But once I read Kondo’s book, I got totally sucked in. But as a working mother I can barely keep up with the demands of daily life (laundry! groceries! deadlines!). Only then, Kondo says, will you have reached the nirvana of housekeeping, and never have to clean again.Īll of this sounded wonderful. Second, once only your most joy-giving belongings remain, put every item in a place where it’s visible, accessible, and easy to grab and then put back. First, put your hands on everything you own, ask yourself if it sparks joy, and if it doesn’t, thank it for its service and get rid of it. Kondo’s services command a waiting list a mile long in Japan, but for the rest of us, her book breaks down her radical, two-pronged approach to tidying. In case you haven’t, here’s the gist: with her little turquoise book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, Kondo set off a decluttering craze across the globe. ![]() I’d heard about Marie Kondo, a Japanese organizing consultant, from friends who spoke evangelically about her methods and how they’d transformed their lives. ![]()
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