The pre-surg purge - Part 1

I am currently busy worshiping at the shrine of the tidy goddess, Marie Kondo. 
Thank you for the KonMari Method.  
​It brings me joy.

If you have been hiding under a rock and haven't heard about this revolutionary book by Japanese "goddess of tidying" Marie Kondo, I urge you to check it out.  Or just come over to our house and I'll show you want I've been able to accomplish the past two weeks.

Before I even get started about what this book has done for me and our house, 10 take-aways from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing:

1. Only keep what brings you joy.  Simple, yet very complex.
2. Every thing has an energy and a place where it is happiest.  Clothes should be folded in little triangles [even my socks!!!]; everything should be vertical, not stacked; arrange items lightest to darkest.  <---THIS.  This is powerful to me.  It changes my whole outlook on what to buy and what I bring into my house.  I know it's silly, but I now consider how the items left in our house would react to a new pillow, new towel, new table, etc.
3. Thank the items you discard for their service; "Thank you JCREW coat for keeping me warm during the coldest of months"; "Thank you Old Navy dress for being cute for that one time I wore you before you shrunk in the wash"; "Thank you skirt for helping me realize that a trumpet shape is not flattering to my body type", etc.
4. Discard by item type - all the clothes, pile them in front of you and touch each item asking "does it bring you joy?" - all the books, pile them in front of you and touch each one asking "does it bring you joy?" - all the CDs, Movies, TV sets, kitchen utensils, towels, shampoo bottles, makeup, post-it notes, sharpie markers.........you get the picture.  Instead of organizing by SPACE, sorting and discarding by TYPE really gives you a good understanding of HOW MUCH STUFF you have and how many repeats you have.  [We aren't even going to talk about how many candles I have in the house...]
5. Empty your purse and wallet at the end of every day and thank them for keeping you organized and hauling all your crap around all day.  I'm not going to lie - this has been the BIGGEST improvement for me.  I never forget my chapstick or a pen or that letter to be mailed.  I have my purses and a tray set up in a hallway cabinet (that used to be full of blankets, batteries, rugs, scentsy cubes...) and now every day I can make the decision of which bag best suits my daily purpose and pack it accordingly.  This is also where I leave sticky notes of things to not forget, because I can't leave the house without my keys and wallet.
6. Store all similar items together.  All the towels together.  All the blankets together.  All the batteries together.  All the cleaning supplies together.  It actually does not save time if you have all of these things spread around the house - and you actually end up wasting money thinking you are out of scrubbing bubbles, but you had 3 bottles under all the bathroom sinks.  You will then have the knowledge of when you are truly out of something, because there is little to none left in the ONE location in which that item is stored.  GENIUS!  Why I thought I should have matches all over the house, or books strewn everywhere, or shoes in 3 different closets...WHAT WAS I THINKING?!
7. No one is taught how to tidy.  Yes, we are taught to clean our room, or when things get dirty to clean them, but not how to tidy.  Cleaning and tidying are NOT the same thing.
8. Once you have successfully completed her tidying cycle (could take 6 months or so to sort, discard, and organize) you should never have to tidy again.  It isn't the ongoing, everlasting cycle of tidying one "zone" at a time.  Once all the things that no longer bring you joy are out of your house, personal discernment and judgement about what to keep in the future isn't difficult.  She boasts that she has had no clients relapse back into their untidy ways.
9. You HAVE to do it in the order in which she instruct you.  The difficult stuff/sentimental stuff is at the very end for a reason. Trust her system.  She is a highly introverted (kind of weird) human that has spent most of her LIFE studying the art of organization and tidying.
10. Lastly - once people start becoming more and more confident in their decision and discernment skills, they have found that their entire lives have changed; weightloss, new job, new passions, new hobbies, new friends, new relationships along with the strength to cut ties with old jobs, old passions, old friends and old relationships.  I already feel lighter, but it could just be from the constant movement and lifting of heavy bags of clothes, books, donations in and out of the car! :)

THE PRE-SURG PURGE - PART 2 will be all about our house and what this means for me and my healing process.