And that’s when you realise

Time flies. It has been a little over two months since I started the Konmari exercise here in my home. It has also been a little over two months since I quit my job as a children’s theatre programmer (or ‘curator’ if you want the fancy title) because it wasn’t contributing to my journey up the mountain. As Neil Gaiman would put it and he gives a lot of thought to these things plus he is quite an intelligent man so I am inclined to believe him. I also believe that, to quote Tolkien, not all who wander are lost.

Books

As I am standing in the middle of the spreadeagled library that was once my living room, with piles of sorted books surrounding me and tripping me up at every turn, it occurs to me: Marie Kondo doesn’t give a hoot about books.

Onwards and upwards!

It has been quiet on the Konmari front over here. My last weeks at various (freelance) jobs were demanding. I wanted to leave everything behind properly since I didn’t want to burden my former colleagues too much with my departure. That resulted in a final sprint that left little room for anything else in my mind, as lots of space is also taken up by managing the minions. It also resulted in a slightly slacker attitude towards maintaining the organisation in my house, and in the end some upkeep was needed. It wasn’t so bad as it could have been, however, and I am glad for it.

Tally

The current number of full garbage bags that I threw out (or am about to throw out):

– 6 bags of clothing (donated)
– 1 bag of socks, tights and underwear
– 1 bag of accessories
– 1 bag of cosmetics

Gave away:
– 1 pair of regular pants
– 2 pairs of capoeira pants
– make up remover, 2 bottles
– various lotions etc. (package for friend)
– various jewelry
– bath set
– face cream

Sold:
– kids’ walking bike, pink

UPDATE: I will continue the tally in the widget on the right…

 

Make up bag

See that bag? You see it? Creams, soaps, moisturizers, shampoos, make-up etc. Me. ME! Admittedly, I tried out quite a few creams and lotions etc. over time but I never figured this. As a pretty low-maintenance (where looks are concerned thankyouvermuches) person, I don’t use much in the way of cosmetics. Which goes to show because I am tossing all of this out.

The other world

In which I name one omission in Marie Kondo’s work, but it’s a big one.

Gah. No I have not yet moved on to the books. I haven’t even tackled the socks yet! Currently I am in the process of rounding off two jobs, one short one but important to me, and one that I have held for a while and I want to close it off nice and proper. In the mean time, as they say, life goes on. The girls are free from school this week, for example. How very convenient, right when I need to hurry up and finish these jobs. There is going to be a lot of tv-tainment for them, I fear.

Magic!?

In which I dive into the magic of a tidy house, and take my declutter effort to the next level. Stay tuned!

Context

From the original ‘We need a plan!’ blog in which I identified context as one of the things we need to identify in order to devise an effective strategy for my Project Declutter:

Location & Planning

The location for my Project Declutter seems pretty clear: my home. However, it doesn’t stop there. There is more to declutter than just the surroundings in which I live. I need to simplify more. I am still trying to figure out if it is a good or a bad thing that my main location for decluttering is something I carry with me at all times: my own mind.

Goals and objectives

Time to identify the goals and objectives, as set out in our initial plan. This is always harder than it seems but since it forms the core of our project it is worth spending a bit of brain space on it.

Main goal:

To not let clutter, physical and/or mental, get in the way of my awesomeness.

That includes:

• Clearing my house of unnecessary clutter and keep it sufficiently clear and organised for me and my minions (and my guy) to live comfortably.
• Clearing my thoughts and subconscious perception of things that clog up a free stream of creative and constructive thoughts and solutions.

Ah. One of those things.

That means that these objectives must be met:

1. All things in my house are either in use, to be used in the (near) future, or kept for sentimental reasons.
2. All things in my house have a home where they belong, where they are safe and sound, and where they will be put (back) after each use.
3. I have developed habits that enable me to reach the objectives above and keep them in place.

Let’s start with these.