I found the book in a purse under our bed. I emptied out my purse some time at the end of the school year (except for the book, obviously) and left it on the bed in my rush out the door. My deflated purse slipped between the footboard and the mattress, fell to the ground, and didn’t appear again until this weekend when we moved the furniture around in the bedroom. Funny that I remember this now.
You never know how you lost an item until you’ve find it again. Only then does your memory kick in, the cruel mistress.
I can now say I’ve read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up in two formats and paid for both. Not to brag, or anything.
On Thursday I begin the process! I’m ready and frankly annoyed that I have to redo my intentional home list per Marie Kondo’s recommendation to “visualize your destination” before embarking on a whole-house purge.
I’m not completely redoing my list. There’s still a huge list of projects to tackle–seriously, go look–but my list focuses more on what to do rather than how I want to live. I list a quick room description and then follow it with a detailed project list. Helpful, but not positive. Not always inspiring, either, and I’m a list person! For the last week I’ve been gathering inspiration pictures on pinterest, trying to figure out what I like and why. I thought that would be easy, but no. My tastes have changed over the last 3 years and figuring out what I like and how to make it work for a family is…boring.
There. I said it. Searching for pictures on pinterest for the house and doing all this prep-work is boring. I’m ready to start tossing things!
Note to my husband: No, I won’t toss out that ridiculous t-shirt. I promise.
I feel the need to read this now. I just put it on my Kindle. Your William Morris project inspired me so much. I made a lot of changes in my home and how I approach the things that come into my home because of you and that project. I’m so interested to see what comes of this. I’m going to read the book and follow your progress. I’m hoping I can take cues from you and make some much needed progress on purging things from our home and getting it to the place I want it to be.
You can do it, Toi. We’ll do it together! :)
I’ve borrowed this as an ebook twice from the library. There’s always a waitlist so I think I just have to buckle down, buy the book and get started. I like her writing style as well but starting with ALL of THE CLOTHES is enough to kick in my procrastinating. Do I really have to get all the clothes packed in the attic and pile them on the floor? It reminds me that I am not a fabulous Parisian woman that only owns 8 wardrobe pieces that I wear all year long…You will definitely be our real world inspiration on this topic. Just admitting how boring the prep work is helps inspire us to get started already too!
I’m not looking forward to pulling out all the clothes either. Ugh ugh ugh! I’m dreading it, really.
I am only about half way through her book. Writing style grates on me a bit so I only read a few pages at a time. I was a little overwhelmed thinking about the clothes too. On Monday, my mudroom was driving me crazy so I decided we were going to start and first item was shoes. Every pair of shoes that all 5 of own were dropped in family room and everyone was told to grab what they still want and wear. What was left is now in a full garbage bag ready for donation, and I have a mud room you can actually WALK THROUGH! It feels so good. I think if I stick to one category like shirts or shorts at a time it won’t be so bad. I don’t think I can do shirts+sweaters+tanks+tshirts+jackets all at once though. I will need smaller categories or the mess I am making will overwhelm me.
Agreed!!! The visualization is harder than it sounds, and not as exciting as one might think. It’s WORK, and not the freeing work I envision the tossing to be. Kondo’s method is kooky but I think it just might be the one that ultimately works for me. I’ve tried The Joy of Less, Simplify Your Life, and many others…but none ever addressed the guilt of giving stuff up in a way that spoke to me (So much guilt!!) the way the KonMari Method does. I can’t wait to thank my items and set them (and me) free…
Visualization is so hard! It’s more than just saying “I like this.” You’re sharing who you are, what your goals are, and how you envision your family operating at its highest potential. Pressure!
THIS is why I feel like I need to sit this out and maybe avoid this book altogether. I (not-so) secretly hate our house. I LOVE our neighborhood and feel guilty hating the house because it really is nice and everyone else in the family loves it, but it was built in the 1990’s and I simply will never make it into the plaster walled, original wood floors and scuffed woodwork style of home I love. And I don’t know how to fix that.
I can check things off a to do list and organize closets and toss and donate a plenty but if I spend too much time thinking about how to make this house MY home, I get overwhelmed. My vision turns into 4 alarm fires and wrecking balls.
This is also why I should probably be participating.
Hah! Your last sentence took the words right out of my mouth. :)
Maybe it’s not as complicated as you think? My vision statement is about three sentences…. I guess I should check the book and see what she says about it.
Or, maybe it’s not as easy as you think? ;)
I’m going as detailed and specific as possible so that I have a firm guide on what I want, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. I realized that was my failing at WMP. I focused too much on tasks. Another way to put it is that I focused on what I was tossing out rather than on what I wanted to keep.
So. I’m totally a cheater on all this. I read the Amazon synopsis and then, because I was in the middle of a move, just started tossing things. Pure bliss. I know I need to read the book and do it right but if you get really bogged down by the prep, maybe just toss/release something that makes you feel guilty because it truly does create a surge of lightness and will make you want to keep going.
I’m a cheater as well, I started without the prep work. Now the book is arriving today and both my mom and I are going forwards with the full on process. I loved your WMP posts, and looking forwards to this as well!