FluBritt Goes KonMari - Episode 2

(Read Episode 1 HERE)

Today I want to share some of my favorite excerpts from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I have to say, that when I started reading Marie's book, I was very put off by it. I didn't like her voice in the book. In fact, parts of it made me feel the same way I feel when I get stuck in a multi-level marketing presentation. It was hard to imagine that the person in the book was the same quiet, gracious woman in the TV show. Overall, I gave the book 3 out of 5 stars, but these are the five-star gems I took away and have re-read several times:

"When you come across something that you cannot part with, think carefully about its true purpose in your life. You'll be surprised at how many of the things you possess have already fulfilled their role. By acknowledging their contribution and letting them go with gratitude, you will be able to truly put the things you own, and your life, in order. In the end, all that will remain are the things that you really treasure."

This was, perhaps, one of the most profound perspectives I gained from Marie Kondo. As I "tidied" my house, and came across items that I wasn't sure I should keep, I asked myself, "Has it served its purpose?" This made it a lot easier to identify some of the things I no longer need to keep, but it also gave me the chance to recognize the ways my belongings have served me. And of course, I thanked them for that!

This principle helped me to part with:

• My wedding dress
• My blessing dress
• Nicky's blessing outfit
• Scotty's forest animal quilt

"Truly precious memories will never vanish even if you discard the objects associated with them... We live in the present. No matter how wonderful things used to be, we cannot live in the past. The joy and excitement we feel here and now are more important."

This quote helped me with some of my sentimental items. I don't always need the item to maintain the memory. This helped a lot when I went through an old memory box. Therefore, I let go of:

• A box of meaningful children's clothes (hospital outfits. etc)
• Nicky's favorite baby blanket (I took a photo of it and clipped a 4" square to put in his memory box)
• My baby blanket
• Over half our photos 
• My high school Book of Mormon

"It is not our memories but the person we have become because of those past experiences that we should treasure. This is the lesson those keepsakes teach us when we sort them. The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past."

Because of this, Scotty and I chose to part with:

• Our racing medals

"...don't focus on reducing, or even on efficient storage methods, for that matter. Focus instead on choosing the things that inspire joy and on enjoying life according to your own standards."

During this process, I took a lot of time to consider how we store things. I've been exposed to a lot of messages that proper storage equals organization. Yet, I've spent my entire adult life placing things in labeled bins, and I've never felt like it has solved my clutter problems or made my home orderly.

After two weeks of KonMari, I have emptied:

• Seven large bins
• Four small bins

(These bins held things like blankets, Halloween costumes, holiday decor, things from Church callings I've held, arts and crafts supplies, old video game consoles, etc).

I also got rid of my gift box - the box I kept "go to" gifts in. Gift giving is important to me, and as I looked through the gifts I was storing, I realized, they were things I bought because they were a good deal, not because I personally selected them for people I love. I decided to get rid of the gift box because it's important to me to pick out gifts for people rather than find something random in the box.

"The process of facing and selecting our possessions can be quite painful. It forces us to confront our imperfections and inadequacies and the foolish choices we made in the past."

Boy, does it ever! As Scotty and I sorted through some of our sentimental items, we made the choice to part with:

• Scotty's mission letters

We realized that they had served their purpose (i.e. providing communication while Scotty was serving his two-year Church mission in South Carolina), and we don't feel like we need to re-read them or impose them on our children someday.

So far we have donated six vans full of our belongings, and we have filled our garbage cans four times (not including the things we've recycled), and we still have a huge pile of stuff on our back patio that we need to throw away or recycle. 

(Oh how I wish I had a dumpster for this process!)

I've purged our house many times over the years, but this time it's different. 

Marie says, "Tidying is our opportunity to express our appreciation to our home for all it does for us," and she is so right! My past de-cluttering efforts haven't sparked joy and gratitude like this time has. It's been very spiritual, and it has been such a good thing for me to do emotionally. I didn't even know I needed it!