Hello Monday!
Let me tell you about what I am mad about today. I am MAD FOR TIDYING.
Nothing new here. I have always loved being tidy and organized. I get high when things are in their place. I was very certain that I was a pro at this. Come to our house and most people will say, “You have kids?” If it weren’t for their art work posted, pictures of their cute faces in frames, their sports bags piled in the laundry room and a garage full of skateboards, bikes and helmuts, it really doesn’t look like we have kids most of the time. Most people think if you have kids, you have clutter and stuff all over the place. We don’t have clutter per se and if we ever do, it’s cleaned up right after the “experiments” are done being put to use.
Yes, I like a clean kitchen before I leave for the day. I like laundry folded and put away. And our children know what’s up when they see a basket of clean clothes in their room. Put them away! I like all papers to be discarded if not in use. And yes, I clean and tidy before the cleaning lady comes. Go ahead, laugh and make fun of me and call me all the OCD names in the book. I’m totally okay with it. I own it. And even after all of that, apparently… my method of organizing and storing was actually not up to par. Why was I still feeling like we had too much stuff.
Well, this week, I feel super VALIDATED! There is magic in being organized. There’s a reason to my high. I just didn’t know I could be so much better at it. I didn’t know how wrong I was about some of my methods and why it was that I was frequently doing it over and over again!
About 10 days ago I was in Phoenix. Erik and I were at our good friend Joe Polish’s house. Looking around at Joe’s renovated house with uber cool decor, he announced that there was nothing in his home that didn’t spark joy. Interesting, I thought. Every single item made him feel some joy. If it didn’t, it wasn’t allowed in. Then he left the room and came back with a book. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. Holy tidiness with a cherry on top!
Using her KonMari Method for organizing, my life transitioned in like one day. No seriously… one day. And I wasn’t even finished.
“But Summer, if you are so organized already, why do you need to use this method?”
Yes, I am organized… or so I thought I was. It wasn’t until I realized that there were things I held onto for no real reason except that “someday” I might wear that dress, read that book or we might need three versions of the same screwdriver just because…
Marie Kondo does not teach the Have you worn this in 6 months? If not, give it away… type of organizing. I since learned that that kind of organizing only leads you to having to do it over and over again every 6 months or year. Basically, you keep falling into the same habits and always have too much stuff that you just don’t use. The KonMari method is entirely different and entirely more simple. My closet, kitchen, bathroom sink, cabinets, drawers, accessories etc….. is now only stuff that sparks joy. And just as Marie said, the others in your house tend to follow and get inspired after they see the effect it has on you. It wasn’t but two days later that Mike was discarding shirts that he loved once upon a time but no longer wore.
I’m mad about Marie Kondo and her book. I’m mad about her method. I’m mad about being tidy. I promise that there is something very magical that happens when you get rid of stuff that doesn’t spark joy. There is something so utterly refreshing and energizing about simplifying your stuff. There are little transformations that happen within you that spill over into your relationships, your business and your health.
Check it out:
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