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Post by peaceandfreedom on Sept 15, 2015 9:44:29 GMT -5
Good reminder, procrastinator, not to think about the " how" of organizing till the discarding is done. And I see her book as a dandy new tool kit of new ideas, many of which I like. Morgenstern, in the SHED book on a different thread here, calls it "points of entry," which are different for different people. So, I think kitchen stuff is a good point of entry (starting point) if that's what works best for you. For me, clothes is a better point of entry than the kitchen. Aren't we all such funny creatures!
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Post by ponygirl on Sept 15, 2015 11:20:12 GMT -5
I just finished the book. It appeals to me in a way that few other organization/decluttering books have. I think because the focus is on deciding what to keep rather than what to get rid of. It's about making room for the things you love and this really appeals to me. There are some definite cultural differences, but the general sense of this...I'm excited to try it. Edited to add: I did two mini categories going off of what I had read online and was shocked at how easy the process was. I had so much room afterward and it was like the objects could finally breathe. Exactly! When our things are released from their dungeons of imprisonment into the light of day...even they sigh relief! Another key point is the touching of each object. One can 'feel' whether or not it sparks joy. It's not an intellectual process, but a true metaphysical one. It's amazing and wondrous. It's working well for me and I believe it would work for everyone no matter the individual circumstance. Imagine...being surrounded by nothing except what brings joy to your heart! THAT is the end goal of working through KM.
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Post by ponygirl on Sept 15, 2015 11:23:57 GMT -5
Also like someone else said, her method of hanging items in the closet will not work for me, because my half of our closet has shelves on the left, then two bars, one high and one low. I have for years hung my clothes by color groups (all the reds together, all the blues together.) So, I need to do some thinking through of her suggestions to figure out what will work best. Something she wrote really hit me (I think later in the book). She suggested that you don't want to want to be considering how you will organize anything until you're finished with the category. I am not starting with clothes. Maybe for the rest of the world, that's an easy category. Not for me. I tested it on a subcategory of kitchen stuff. Maybe if I do clothes, I'll start with something less emotionally loaded, like underwear or socks. Handbags will be last A very key point is organizing at the end, for we cannot organize until we have determined what sparks joy and that which will remain in our homes. I'm already astounded at how many containers I have emptied. That is another crucial point...'everyone already has all the storage they need' no matter where they are, or how much space they have. This is so TRUE!
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Post by ponygirl on Sept 15, 2015 11:28:13 GMT -5
I have never been so excited in my cluttered-up life as having come across this book. It truly is changing my life. If anyone is hesitant about this, please don't be. Get the book. Read it. Read it again. Let this sink in...we want to surround ourselves with only those items which spark joy in our hearts. ...whether that is a favorite piece of clothing...or a wonderfully operating and useful toaster...or a favorite painting...or a beloved manuscript. Let go of all the rest. Everything else is not making your life better nor creating peace in your life. It's. Truly. Simple. And...so magical!
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Post by ponygirl on Sept 15, 2015 11:36:31 GMT -5
I'll give you a simple way to try this process. Everyone has a sock drawer, basket, or bin, right? Someplace where the majority of your socks or hosiery is corralled. Dump it all out. Yep. ALL of it. Empty the drawer. Look at the pile. Sad bunch, huh? Now, pick up one pair (or one sock until you find the mate!) and feel it...really look at it...sense it...does it spark joy? Meaning: Does this pair of socks make you happy when you wear them? (Yes! That sparks joy! Place in an area of items which will return to the drawer...with a new method of folding later.)
Or...do they need mending? (no joy), are they stretched or worn beyond comfort? (nah, no joy there), or are they the wrong color/wrong material? (just a mistake in a purchase, thank the socks for allowing you to know what is not your style and feel free to discard to release the socks...with absolutely no guilt...to someone else (donate) or to the recycle or trash bin (still no guilt).
Do this with each pair of socks or hose.
Now, isn't that amazingly revolutionary?
You only keep what truly brings joy!
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Post by joyinvirginia on Sept 15, 2015 12:14:15 GMT -5
Ponygirl, I did exactly that with my sock drawer, and it was great! I now have socks neatly rolled up like sushi rolls instead of the potato rolls konmari hates! Did it with my underwear drawer and tee shirt drawer. I'm doing little by little konmari projects.
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Post by ponygirl on Sept 15, 2015 16:03:26 GMT -5
Yay, Joy! It is so great, isn't it?! I've never rolled mine; but, folding them flat and stacking them wasn't efficient for certain! I've done my husband's socks, underwear and t-shirts, and wow...what an amazing change. Instead of him pawing through a stack to get to the one he wanted...which disrupted the entire drawer into a mess...he is able to select exactly what he wants...because everything can be seen at once~! It's truly revolutionary, . His stuff is more orderly than mine at this point. Try it everyone...guarantee it will change your life. One drawer at a time. :-)
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YaddaYadda
New Member
Joined: August 2015
Posts: 62
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Post by YaddaYadda on Sept 15, 2015 21:46:22 GMT -5
. I wish I had all my socks contained in a drawer. I have like four baskets of clothes heaped all over and no floor room to dump anything! I figure I'll drag those baskets up stairs where I do have room and dump once I get this floor under better control. My book just got mailed out today (boo hiss!!) so it won't be here by Thursday as I expected unless a miracle happens. I know for sure one stupid pair of socks is leaving as soon as I find the rest. I only have four pair right now so they must stay until I can replace them and I refuse to BUY!!!! NO MORE BUYING because I lost them!!
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Post by ponygirl on Sept 16, 2015 11:38:32 GMT -5
YaddaYadda, you are going to love this book and this process! Talk about a light bulb moment for me...really, it was more like a floodlight...you know those huge ones they use at movie premiers?! Yeah, like that! I commiserate about the clothes. I have that same issue...clothes everywhere...in many rooms/closets/baskets/on top of the dryer/etc. It's maddening. The beauty of this process is we can work through it even if we can't gather everything at once. Which, of course, is the most effective way to succeed, through the tried and true straight KM method; however, for those of us that are truly cluttered and hoarded, it's much more difficult. But definitely doable. Just do a basket at a time. You'll know instantly when you pick up each piece...handle it...truly touch it...whether you love it and it sparks joy in your heart. If there is any hesitation whatsoever, you will KNOW that it's not a 'joy-sparker' and can release it without guilt or reservation. It has already served its useful purpose in your life and can go on to serve another (donation) or be released to allow its energy to move on in another form (burn/recycle/discard trash). Powerful stuff, huh?! And so flippin' easy. There is no guilt. No worry. No needing to find the 'right home'.
The object will find its OWN right home once we release it from the prison and darkness with which we have kept it. Think about that for a moment...
What good is it for the object...being encased in a bin...or relegated to being buried in stacks of detritus at the back of a closet...or, even worse...not even WITH its owner...in a storage facility (gasp...for the object!) somewhere, dying a slow and suffocating death. That is not good karma.
If it's joyful to us...we keep. No matter how much...you'll make more passes through it once you hone your joy-discovery skills!
I can't wait to hear your reaction and others as they discover this process!
Best of luck to everyone!
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YaddaYadda
New Member
Joined: August 2015
Posts: 62
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Post by YaddaYadda on Sept 16, 2015 20:16:04 GMT -5
Thank you ponygirl. I am happy to report I got my book today, a day earlier than I expected!! I know exactly what you mean about feeling it and holding it and feeling joy. I have two journals I got that were made by others (from a swapping site I belong to) and they just make me SO HAPPY!!! They will definitely be kept for whenever I need a pick me up. Onto the book...
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Post by ponygirl on Sept 17, 2015 11:03:35 GMT -5
Thank you ponygirl. I am happy to report I got my book today, a day earlier than I expected!! I know exactly what you mean about feeling it and holding it and feeling joy. I have two journals I got that were made by others (from a swapping site I belong to) and they just make me SO HAPPY!!! They will definitely be kept for whenever I need a pick me up. Onto the book... The book will only confirm the process of knowing which things you possess truly bring you joy! Wishing you good reading! Meeting at work today...won't be online much the rest of the week.
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Post by ponygirl on Sept 17, 2015 11:06:34 GMT -5
The whole simplicity of the method is to keep that which you love and brings you joy. I KNOW that we all have things (many, many, many things...) that do NOT bring us joy. So, why keep them? Release them to bring others' joy...or to release their energy/spirit to go on to other journeys (recycle/burn/et al). Then...we are surrounded by only joyful possessions. MK says that most people reduce their possessions by 2/3 to 3/4. I believe that, seeing as how much I'm discarding...with glee, I might add. I hope I only end up with 25% of what I now have.
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Post by peaceandfreedom on Sept 17, 2015 15:27:54 GMT -5
You guys are SO RIGHT!! I did it!! I got out my large plastic bin where some of my winter clothes were stored. All are clean and ready to go. Go where?
Most of them are NOT going back into my closet. This is my first experience with KonMari-ing and it was just like you said--not difficult! I didn't count them but I think I have about 20 garments to take to Goodwill, plus a few more that I thanked and put into the trash because they are not good enough to pass on to others. I won't even tell you how many years I've had some of them. And, none of them are being transformed into everyday clothing either (what she calls "loungewear") as I would have done in the past.
WOW! I think this feels like success. I would say that 60-70% are outta here. Lurking in the far back corner of my mind is, "What am I going to wear this winter?" but I'm sure that question will be answered in due time. I still have another area where sweaters, etc., are stored, but think I'd better take a break from it for now.
And, I am releasing 4 hats too! I went through a time about 20 years ago when I thought it was fun to wear them. (And, it was.) But that was then and this is now, so out they go.
I still have not read the entire KonMari book, but I've read enough to know that this is a fantastic idea! Thank you all for telling of your success in this--it is so encouraging!
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Post by ponygirl on Sept 18, 2015 17:28:48 GMT -5
peaceandfreedom, I'm so thrilled that you're jumping in! It is easy! I loved reading your success. And, it IS success! I'm sure you'll discover that you will have plenty for the winter, or the Universe will provide what you need. The ease of release is what is so amazing. I, too, would have felt extreme guilt in the past; no more. Thanking the items for their purpose served to me, for whatever reason, is liberating. The beauty of the method is that there are no limits to it! It's all based upon the discovery of what brings one joy! Can't wait to hear more! I brought four more bags to donation this week. Yeah, still working on clothes. I can't believe how much I have and have hung on to all these decades. I should have given these things reprieve a long time ago, !
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Post by ponygirl on Sept 18, 2015 17:34:00 GMT -5
Think about it, y'all...all of the things we have imprisoned in our homes! Things in true dungeon-like states of dormancy. Go ahead...take out a storage bin of those clothes in the back of who-knows-where... Dump 'em out. Let 'em breathe and see the light of day. Smell that mustiness? That is the odor of stagnation. Pick up the one on top...the poor thing was the one on the bottom. See the wrinkles of despair? The forlorn limpness? I don't see the joy, do you? Imagine how relieved those poor garments will be when you release them from that prison of uselessness. Why do we believe that we need to corral these things in plastic prisons? They can't POSSIBLY give us joy...or they would be LIVING with us. I don't see the joy in the stuff jammed up, stacked up, piled up, completely hidden, and relegated to supreme obscurity. Where is the sense in that? Imagine the empty containers. Imagine the freedom from mental tending. (see Turning the Corner where I talk about this in more detail...the mental tending) Imagine what the empty space can now hold...from nothing at all...to those items in your life that truly hold joy for you... ...and deserve to see the light of day...everyday.
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