Tidying Up

Two weeks ago I finished reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo.

I am all about throwing things away and everything having a very specific home. Because of that, I put this in my library queue. In the four months it took for me to make it to the head of the line, I heard many things that made me almost release my hold. The most un-Tammy-like thing I heard was thanking each object for its service – both at the end of each use and when giving it away. That was way too Woo Woo for me. Despite the reservations, I was still happy to receive notice that it arrived. I decided to treat it like all other books: take from it what will work for me either as is or modified.

The strategy proposed by Ms. Kondo is to do the entire tidying up in one day. Even though I was unemployed at the time, that didn’t work for me. I did all my clothing in one go. I’m not mentally ready to do the work to sell all my dance costumes, but every other item of clothes was scrutinized. If it didn’t fit now and I didn’t enjoy wearing it, it was gone.

There was one pair of grey pants I’d kept for nearly a decade because they fit regardless of my size. I’d only been keeping them because I couldn’t find anything to replace them. I hated those pants. This book gave me the courage to go pants shopping (again) to seek a pair I enjoyed.

I hate pants shopping. All pants are designed for women with hips. My hip bones point straight forward, so any excess material designed to accommodate hips gathers in the crotch.

Not the look I’m going for.

Thanks to the book’s inspiration, I finally found a pair that fit! I bought them in three different colors. Then I went home and put my despicable pair in the donate bag. Before I did, though, I tried the suggestion of thanking them for their service in my wardrobe for all these years. I found it brought up memories of the times I’d worn them. It turns out that the thanking was for me, not for the pants.

My closet is now thinned out, as is my jewelry collection, my makeup, and my books.

It felt wonderful letting things go. I still have other areas to go through, but I think the techniques had a lot more merit than I originally gave them credit for.

What un-you-like thing have you ended up enjoying? or Do your things have an exact place in your home?