I too bought The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. She has some interesting things to say. After trying her method of discarding, I realize certain things…
- Objects really do have power.
- It is surprising what brings you joy and what doesn’t. You don’t always know until you go through the process.
- It is wonderful to let go of things.
- It is healing to allow yourself to have an individual response to something.
Even though I am not finished with her entire method, I do feel differently in my house. She says that asking yourself if an item sparks joy will help you process your past. I think she’s onto something.
I realize we are coming up on the holidays, and maybe I should have saved this post for January, when we are all interested in organizing! However, the holidays are a great time to think about what “sparks joy” for each of us. We are all individuals, so it will be different for each of us. We typically think about acquiring as the method for sparking joy during the holidays, but we should also think about discarding as another method for increasing joy in our lives. In the KonMari method of discarding, when you let something go, you say “thank you” to the item. You acknowledge that the item has helped you in some way, and you acknowledge that you do not need the item in order to go forward. You can appreciate it and let it go.
I think most of us carry too much around with us, whether it is material possessions, or unresolved problems. In order to prepare for the holidays, can we let some things go to make room for new things to happen in our lives? We do not need to punish ourselves by keeping things that make us feel bad. We have all made mistakes. We have all done things we regret. We have all suffered pain. It’s ok to let go at a certain point. It is ok to let joy come in.