Life is full of different experiences for me. As much as I yearn for “hiking” adventures, I find I have many more “non-hiking” adventures! There are times I think to myself that I should write a book about all the insane things that happen! Other times, people I love say that I should “write a blog” about this or that. It’s hard to “just write” about something if it doesn’t move me or inspire me in some way. So, that is why there are such gaps in my blogs. Not that I’m not doing something worthwhile; it’s just that I don’t think it’s interesting enough to write about.
I’m working on creating success in my entire life.
I am working on improving my house. Now, I am not a completely organized person. People I work with would be surprised to hear this, as at work, I am a neat freak. I let it all go though at home! Well, in places people don’t see. I realized that I have a lot of storage areas in my home that accumulate bins and boxes full of clothes, household decor, kitchen items, linen, books, etc.
It is my mission that before I leave for my thru hike in April of 2020, my house will be pristine. There will be no clutter, no mismatched socks, no random tools sitting in the hallway to the basement, piles of papers in the office or clothes that don’t fit and everything in my house will “spark joy” in either me or my husband.
There, I said it out loud. Now it shall be. Really. No, REALLY!
I have started a process called “Konmari” a few months ago. I read the book by Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.
The book is small and easy to read. I read it out loud to my husband before we went to sleep each night for week or so. He is totally on board with our de-cluttering and it really helps to have your spouse involved.
The book suggests you sort and purge by category. Not by room. You begin with organizing your clothing. The author tells you to place ALL your clothing, ALLLLLL your clothing, in ONE PLACE. That meant I had to empty clothes bins from the attic, pull hangers of clothes from the guest closet, boxes of clothes from the basement, clothes from the dresser drawers in my guest rooms, even clothes I had in my trunk in case of emergency. I followed the rules and I wasn’t messing around.
The author even has a special folding technique that keeps creases to minimum and maximizes your drawer space. I can’t even begin to tell you how much joy it is to open my sock drawer and see all my socks all folded (not balled up because that stretches the elastic) neatly! There are no mismatched socks or socks that have holes! Even my undy drawer is neat and folded! Ahhhhh! Such a small thing makes getting dressed in the morning so much easier!
We are still working on clothes. There is a much smaller pile in the basement left to finish. Luckily or unluckily we have a spare room in the basement that no one sees that we can do this in. If the clothes were piled in the living room, I’d be done by now, I’m sure! I’m nearly done, but my husband has a way to go! You cannot Konmari for another person, they have to do it in their own time! That’s hard when I see something of his that I think should be tossed or donated and he is struggling to decide!
Once we are done with clothes, we move on to the next category. I think the process of Konmari is to purge categories that have the least sentimental value to you first. So if you are REALLY attached to your clothes, you might want to start with something you can easily let go of. Leaving the most sentimental things to purge last.
I am excited about this process although it takes some dedication and time out of our weekend to do it. It does feel exceptionally rewarding to see something that was a cluttered mess become neat and tidy! I can even use that clothes rack in the basement as the treadmill it was meant to be!
Also, I’m feeling a bit better so I will be venturing out for a short hike this week sometime! I need to get back into shape to climb those mountains on the AT! Time’s a ticking!
Happy Organizing and Happy Trails!
trailchaser2020 