I Marie Kondo-ed the crap out of my closet. Have you read the book ? I’m only on page 30 and I’ve already felt compelled to take action. I've had friends and clients tell me this book is SO ME for over a year now. I'm surprised it's taken me this long to get it into my hands.
I highly recommend you pick up a copy for yourself, but the general rule of thumb she’s presenting the readers, is to touch everything in your home (do it category, by category, not room by room) and if it sparks “joy” within you, then keep it and if it doesn’t then toss it. It’s that simple.
After I did my closet, I told my daughter we needed to tackle her room as well. Gasp....she was NOT into it. I think all children, have this mild-hoarder tendency and it's difficult for them to let go of things....and it's also hard as the parent to allow them to. Everything they own seems extra special...because they're your baby. You know? Anyway...we started on her room and I told her the goal was to keep just what made her happy. I was floored when she got rid of about 90% of her toys. Truly, 90%. I was astounded....but she seemed to get this "sparking joy/happiness" idea quite clearly and she actually commented on how good it felt. All she had left in her room where the things she truly loved....her stuffed animals, her books, her art supplies and her American Girl dolls....all the rest, she was excited to donate.
Doing the kind of work that I do, I am always searching for items that really touch my soul….there has to be a “specialness” factor to the things I bring into my home and my clients homes. I’ve always had this knack for being able to sense the energy of items, (especially those in antique shops!). I can either feel a neutral/clear energy to them or a dark/sad energy to them. I think a lot of it has to do with how it’s been manufactured and if it's an antique or vintage item, it has to do with the home it lived in before and what kind of energy it sucked up. Nevertheless, I always use this energy sensing in my work.
But, even with this sense of thoughtfulness when we bring new items into our home, we ALL have things around that are either
1. No longer serving us
2. No longer relevant
3. From an old chapter of our lives we need to let go of
4. Simply just garbage that has some how stuck around on our desk, countertop, basement or anywhere else we tend to collect clutter.
We often get caught up in the “what if” factor of things. Like, "what if one day I need this?" or "what if it hurts someones feelings that I throw this away?"….and those “what if’s” can turn into having these useless or outdated items in our space for YEARS. Additionally, on a deeper level we can apply this to our thought patterns, relationship patterns, eating habits and more.
It’s all the same.
These items literally begin to feel like weight, but you don’t realize they felt like weight until you actually throw them away….because suddenly you feel Lighter. You sort of have this sense of dance within you…a sense of freedom and possibility. You think bigger, you’re more open to opportunity, because what you have done by throwing away what is no longer supporting your highest good is you have told the Universal Powers That Be, that you’re ready to step up your game. You’re ready for the next level of your life.
What would your life look like as a whole, if you only allowed in what sparked joy?
The question I leave you with is…what are you ready to let go of?
Talk to you next week!
