Been reading and trying to implement the charming The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. A group of us are all obsessed at the moment. Her philosophy is that all the slow, constant decluttering or tidying techniques don't work for enough people. It needs to be a fairly quick and thorough process so you can see visible results quickly and get your space as you'd like it. There are two parts - discarding, and then storing what you keep. Her main criteria for keeping something is whether it gives you a spark of joy. There is more to it than that, but something has resonated with me at this point in time.
One of the things I've been pondering a lot out of the book and the process is my vision of my ideal lifestyle as it concerns my physical space and the possessions within. It has led me to realise a lot of ideal life plans were formed when I was young and single and haven't been deeply examined since.
So here are my new thoughts on the matte:
I want to wake up in a house that doesn't stress me out because of the clutter. I want to be able to see, appreciate and show off the beautiful things I own and I want to be without furniture and other things I didn't choose and don't particularly like. I want to be able to spend my time playing with N. and know he has a safe environment to explore- and know that when he tears everything apart it will be easy to put it all back where it belongs. I want to be able to to have guests come over at a moment's notice and not feel ashamed of the place. I want us to have lazy Sunday brunch on the deck, looking over colourful flowers and nice smelling herbs. I want to have a dedicated creating space where I can leave the sewing machine out. I want to have birthday parties for N. that spill out of the house into the garden and make stupidly elaborate cakes for him. I want his memories of his childhood home to be of warmth and happiness and colour and space not mess and clutter and his mum complaining or stressing about it.
That's my manifesto, I guess, for the new house and guidelines to keep in mind when I'm deciding what to keep and new things to buy.
Oooh that is a good manifesto. I really like the spark of joy idea. It kind of matches what I try to achieve in my wardrobe declutters. Good luck with it :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I floundered for a while trying to get that vision but once I started on the right track it came very quickly.
DeleteThe book is good, although with a few moments of "really?"
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