FluBritt Goes KonMari - Episode 1

I first heard of Marie Kondo's book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up almost five years ago when a friend reviewed it on Goodreads. I took my friend's review as validation that I didn't need to read it. In fact, the very title of the book repulsed me. Over time, I heard more and more about the book and read more reviews from friends, and most of them found it "meh" or didn't like it at all, so I continued to thrive on the fact that I would never feel pressured to read it.

Over the past few months, in my prayers, I've been asking Heavenly Father what I can do to simplify my life. "Just help me find one, simple way to make my life calmer!" This has been especially important as I've tried to work toward lowering my blood pressure. Whenever my blood pressure tests high (which for the last year has been always), my doctors have asked, "Is there anything you're worried or stressed about right now that could be increasing your blood pressure?" and my answer is always, "There isn't anything specific - I feel pretty normal right now," and then when asked to describe what I feel like, I have to admit that I feel tense and overwhelmed all the time. That's normal to me. It's how I've always felt, even as a child and a teen.

I recall my AP psychology teacher calling me out on this in high school. We took a stress assessment in class, and I scored so high that he kept me after class and asked me why the heck I was so stressed. I said, "I'm not!" because I had no idea I was stressed. It was (and still is) my norm. Now I have a daughter who acts just like me, and I can see it so much clearer now. I'm always on edge! And she is too! Something needs to change!

When Marie Kondo's show came on Netflix at the beginning of the year, it was pretty easy to not pay any attention to it. I'd long ago learned that her "thing" wasn't for me. Then late one night, while Scotty was gone playing basketball, I got this little nudge to watch Marie Kondo.

I made it through about twenty minutes, and frankly, I was a little bored. I didn't have the patience for it, but I thought it was nice to see Marie Kondo in action. She seemed like a sweet lady and not the militant individual I imagined going into houses and demanding that people get rid of their junk and live a minimalist lifestyle. Even though I admired her calmness and her peaceful presence, I was still full of defiance. I watched her make the first couple take all their clothes out and go through them. After that, I stopped the show thinking I wouldn't come back to it. Then I went upstairs and started flipping through my shirts in my closet. I didn't even realize I was doing it. That's how Marie Kondo gets to you!

Despite my Marie Kondo aversion, I have always liked the idea of holding an item and seeing if it sparks joy, so I decided I would do that with my clothes, but I was going to do it my way. Then I thought. "You know what? She has a good point about putting all the clothes in a pile so you can see how much you have. Maybe I'll do that after all."

So pretty soon all my clothes were on my bed and I was holding things and thanking things, and I realized how beautiful it was to express gratitude to the clothing items that had served their purpose. I ended up parting with over half my wardrobe.

As I finished this quick process, I had the impression to keep going with other things. "This is it," my heart spoke to me, "This is the answer to your prayers! It's Marie Kondo! SURPRISE!!!"

So I kept working, and over the course of the past two weeks, I've gone KonMari on most of my house. I continued watching the show, and I even read the book!

I want to write about some of the experiences I've had and some of the things I've learned. I'm not trying to convince anyone to read the book, watch the show, or "tidy up." The reason I want to write about this is because my prayers were answered - not because I want to endorse any particular way of organizing one's living space (in fact, you'll learn very quickly that there are parts of the KonMari method that I am completely ignoring... stay tuned...) I also just want to share my experience with things coming to our lives during the right season. Five years ago, Marie Kondo's principles weren't what I needed, so I'm glad I didn't pick up her book just to hate-read it. It opened my heart to it at the right time!

"You... have been led by fate to read 

[this book], and that probably means

 you have a strong desire to change 

your current situation, to reset your 

life, to improve your lifestyle, 

to gain happiness, and to shine."

-Marie Kondo