I am driven crazy by cords! I always keep them because I never now if I will need them again or not.
First a couple of tips from Marie Kondo. Take ALL of your clothing out and put it in one place to sort. Whoa! I have done a version of this but I think I grouped it more so that I wouldn’t have to go digging for my underwear. I like this method though, so you can see what you really have. I only keep seasonal clothes in my closet and put the off season clothes in a different closet so I do sort as I’m changing seasons. What I’ve done lately is stay out of the stores and off of the internet for clothes.
Marie’s method of piling works for all of the following categories.
Clothing
Books
Paper
Komono -The miscellaneous detritus of life from kitchen, bathroom, garage, etc. That has got to be a huge category.
Her main message is to keep what gives you joy and organize, discard or donate the rest.
I have kind of learned to do that with clothes. If I don’t absolutely love the piece, no matter if it is on sale or not, I will not buy it. I want to look good and feel good wearing it. I tend to hang onto clothes for a while until I buy new clothes.
We all have something that we tend to hang onto. For me it’s paper and sentimental items. I must learn to release. I do have a solution for paper though and that is ScanSnap. When I get enough money, I would like to buy one. It’s the perfect solution to wanting to keep the piece of paper around.
How did we as a society get to this point of having a reality TV show on how to tidy our homes? Better yet, a show on how to plough through the rooms piled high of stuff we’ve accumulated over the years, not to mention, another popular show about hoarding, which is an animal unto itself.
What if the perfectly organized home is all an illusion. I do like the idea of clearing the clutter because I think that clearing it also clears clutter of the mind. I think it is important that we don’t construct identities on the perceived expectation of others and look at ourselves, our homes, our vacations, our children, and our closets as projections of our best selves. Perfection is overrated and we are never going to achieve it one hundred percent.