Reflections from the process of tidying

I've been a big fan of Marie Kondo's work. The concept for this blog is partly inspired by her theory - if it sparks joy, keep it. If not, let go of it. However, the actual practice of following this philosophy for every item I owned is deeper than I ever thought. Here are some of my reflections through following the process.

1/ Keeping only things that spark joy raised an uncomfortable truth - about 80% of the items in my pile of stuff were things that didn't spark joy. Yet, I found myself coming up with a hundred justifications for keeping the item - I may need it later, it would be a waste to throw it away, it's perfectly usable still, my mom got this tshirt for me, etc. The biggest lie I told myself - I'm confused about what sparks joy. The truth is I wasn't confused, I was scared to let go of the things that don't spark joy.

2/ For the things that did spark joy, the answer was pretty immediate. I didn't have to think. As someone who prides myself on being a reflective person, this was a truth hard to digest. Whether it was my favourite tshirt, or a pen I particularly like, there were some objects in my pile that were a no-brainer - of course I would like to keep them. There were others, however, that I would pick up, cock my head slightly, rub my chin and make up a mental essay on why I should probably keep this item. Mostly these were all the items that did not spark joy.

3/ While Marie claims this is a one-time process, for me it's an iterative one. I try to go through all the items in my house maybe once every year, and suprisingly, my skill of determining whether something sparks joy or not is improving. I'm finding it easier to let go of things that don't spark joy, also because I've become better at trusting my own judgment.

4/ Anxiety comes up anyway - whether I believe something will be of use to me in the future, or whether there's a part of the past that I don't want to let go of. It's about having the courage to let go, even with the anxiety present.

5/ The things that spark jjy are not necessarily the most expensive ones. For me, it was an illustration I particularly liked, or a sparkly highlighter I bought. Taking time with these small things that bring joy was a game-changer. It taught me to appreciate the things I already have.

I'm not there yet- I still sometimes hold on to items that don't spark joy. However, I can proudly say, after about 3-4 iterations, I have a much clearer sense of what sparks joy and what doesn't. This is a process I will continue on my own, till the day I can truthfully say I am surrounded only by items that spark joy for me.