The KonMarie method

Blue_Doggy

maddiemay wrote: »

It occurred to me the other day that the reason I keep putting off getting the TV man in to install something more stable (freesat probably) is that my bedroom is in such a pickle that I wouldn't want him to go in there:o, not like the hoarding programmes, but too untidy.

Oh, maddiemay this is just the pickle I am in - the central heating broke at the beginning of 2013 (hot water is ok though) and there's no way anyone could get to more than a couple of radiators until Kondoing is finished. My oven broke last month, and until the hall and kitchen are tidier I'm too ashamed to have anyone come in to the house with a new one. Thank goodness for microwaves.

Best wishes to everyone who is having a busy pre-festive month. I hope all those who are feeling a bit under the weather soon feel better.

mavvymoo

Hello all Has been quiet around here I just thought everyone was kondoing so quick they never had time to post :rotfl:

I am keeping the kondo going and counted my clothes in the wardrobe and wait for it drum roll please

---

36 items :eek::eek:So happy with that and maybe a few more to be kondoed into 1 of the 2 bin bags waiting to go to the chazzer

Decided the CD player can go thats in the spare room I have been keeping it for the radio ----wait for it to listen to when I am decorating in that room :oHow crazy is that.The CDs all went yonks ago and I have a DAB radio in the kitchen which I can plug in anywhere I want :rotfl:Why didnt I think of that before Duh !

Mav x

uk_american

Hello from Essex! Still here, still kondo'ing. The last time I posted I was about to host a psychic medium (lovely lady, we're now connected on the book of face). Then I bought a buy to let and had to take care of paperwork. Then I had to go to Dublin for work so had halted the Kondo'ing due to a stream of wonderful people coming in to feed/entertain the cat. Finally I'm back this weekend but hosting a couple of couchsurfers from Spain later this week so no big clear outs this week.

My OH's mum makes us (2 children + 1 step + their 3 partners) an advent bag each. We're all age 35+. While some things are quite useful (kitchen sponges, cat treats, a lotto ticket), the majority are put right into a charity bag. I appreciate the effort but need to be vigilant that nothing new makes its way in. Plus, the charity shop near me prices things appropriately and you can tell that the customers are truly appreciative of their efforts.

In case anyone is looking for gift ideas, I bought this book used off of the bay of e and took it on my trip.
Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui Paperback – 24 Sep 1998


by Karen Kingston (Author)


I'm only halfway through but impressed so far. Very complementary to MK, even though she pre-dates her. Many interesting insights as she is a feng shui expert. It's not really my area, but I can buy into her writing. She speaks about how she goes in to 'feng sui' a place and that clutter clogs her energy, that it's like heavy cobwebs disrupting thing. Also, she speaks of how negative energy done regularly and daily is imparted on to one's surroundings, as is traumatic events, even from past occupants, so that these things require a good cleaning and positive, clean energy to create good vibes.

Happy KM'ing and min'ing for those still at it.

PollyWollyDoodle

Well ladies, gents and lurkers - I have finished the KM circuit. I'll come back to that word in a minute!

I have been through every drawer, box, shelf, cupboard, wardrobe and nook and cranny in the house. I've found some unexpected treasures ad an awful lot of sh ... Stuff. I really wish I'd kept some sort of record because judging by the empty drawers, wardrobe and shelf space I think I've thrown out around half the contents of my home.

It has NOT made me a minimalist, I still have photos, ornaments, pictures, plates etc on display, the difference is that they all mean something to me. It has not (sadly) made me a naturally tidy person - I still have a tendency to put stuff down on the nearest flat surface, but now everything has a home so putting it away is easy, and it starts to bug me if things are untidy whereas before i hardly noticed.

Overall it's taken about nine months but it could have been much quicker, RL got in the way and I procrastinated. Now, I said 'circuit' above - I don't think you ever really finish this. I look at categories that I did early on and think 'why did I keep that?' So I think the throwing-out will go on. I'm bringing much, much less into the house. The biggest difference? I can FIND things!

This has honestly been life-changing, I'd already Kondoed my full time job so can't credit MK with that, but setting up in self-employment has been eased considerably by being organised. I could waffle on, but you all know. Carry on Kondoing and have faith, it really does work. Oh, and I have not regretted a single thing I've thrown out so far!

dragonette

Great to hear about the process you've all been making (bringing less in is still progress )

I am very lucky to have 2 friends coming in to clean for me this week - I do pay them as it's a regular thing. This has helped hugely with the cleaning tasks I'm unable to do atm but also forces me to tidy more often. The girls can't tidy as they don't know where everything lives, and I want to tidy so their time is used for the cleaning help I need. It's working out well so far. Fingers crossed that in the new year I'll be more up to clearing things out or even (gasp!) kondo'ing by category. I'm sure I have more that can go

The display case is for all the pretty things I took off the bedroom surfaces. Sadly the walls in this flat are incredibly friable and pictures are a bit dicey let alone shelves. So a tall display case on its side under my bedroom window will house them instead. Oh, I need to finish crocheting Christmas presents, thats why the kondo'ing had stopped!

mrs-moneypenny

Morning all
Well done Polly on completing the first main sweep of kondoing. Brilliant achievement.
I'm not all the way through yet but it is making such a different to my life already - I do believe that by getting rid of lots of excess I've made room in my life for the new things that have entered - don't know for 100% that I wouldn't have been offered all the extra hours I'm now getting at work but it's funny that it arrived once my mind had opened up to the idea of wanting them, I haven't actually asked for any of this it was all brought to me. I'll never be minimalist but I'm enjoying opputinities far more than possessions when it comes to gift receiving and hopefull the stuff I'm giving to the CS will make them money and bring joy to those who buy it.
but for me for now I'm seeing the truth in this quote.
"The most important things in life aren't things"

Have a joyful day all
Work is calling, and I'm finding so much joy in that.

GreyQueen

Morning all.

Loving the testimonials and well done to PWD for having gone through everything in her house.:T

I read that Karen Kingston book several years ago. In fact, I have read it several times and found much of value in it. I particularly recall how she mentioned having a CD player with a broken bit on it. It didn't effect the functionality but every time she saw the broken bit, she was reminded of the ex-boyfriend who'd broken it in a fit of temper, and had all that negativity brought back to mind. And about how much better she felt when she found someone who needed it and was happy to receive a slightly-damaged machine because it had no associations for them.

I sometimes encounter people who are holding onto things and simultaneously holding onto old unhappinesses, disappointments, grudges etc with a death grip. It's as if this grim behaviour precludes reaching out and accepting other, better things and experiences.

I'm middle-aged. You don't get to middle-age without a share of disappointments, failed relationships, bereavements, bad decisions, terrible haircuts and laughable fashion choices. Do you really need to hold onto negativity, though? Or things which remind you of negativity?

Last weekend I put someone through the shredder. Not literally, I hasten to add, just their photographs. At the time the picture was taken, I would have called them my bestie. Subsequent events revealed another side to their character and I genuinely mourned that lost friendship and was preoccupied for a few weeks by the reasoning behind their behaviour.

Then I moved on and don't think about them now from one year's end to another, so was surprised to still find a couple of pictures of them in my album - now all gone.

PollyWollyDoodle

As usual GQ you've elegantly summarised a really pertinent point!

I was surprised sometimes at the feelings evoked by apparently innocuous items. Nobody else would have made that association (I bought that when .... ) Now I have things about that remind me of happy times.

There's something quite cathartic about shredding/burning those photos!

GreyQueen

Yes, associations are very personal. Here is a pretty scarf I bought on holiday, and there is a picture of me in my pretty scarf, with my hubby, and my bestie and her hubby, all on holiday together. But what I'd find out later was that my bestie and my hubs were having an affair that went on for years, including on that very holiday. I can't bear to see that scarf, or that picture, or either of them, ever again.

Not my anecdote, but someone else's real life experience. That pretty scarf went to a chazzer and is joyful in someone else's life. It was never going to be anything other than a misery-inducing aide memoire in the original owner's life.

I think a happy person needs to be able to practise selective amnesia and forget about some things, and this can mean removing the physical reminders of them, too. There's an old Chinese saying (I think it's Chinese) about how if a person seeks revenge, they must dig two graves; one for the person they are after, and one for themselves.

Pretty profound for someone who hasn't even had her morning porridge, hey?:rotfl:

mavvymoo

Morning all and yes how right about the photos GQ who needs those sort of reminders as to how let down someone made you feel
Polly well done :T But you are right I dont think you ever 'finish' MK but it does become much easier and I can make the call on something staying or going much quicker without much thought at all
I hold it and in my head hear The Clash singing 'Should I stay or should I go now :rotfl:I can recommend this method

I feel for maddie and Blue Doggy who are not letting workmen etc into thier homes but honestly the way I think is I am sure they have seen a damn sight worse. Ladies please dont worry about it just say 'Its a work in process' and let them get on with what ever they have to do. Who cares what they think they dont live there you do ;)Does it really matter if there is some carp in the bedroom or kitchen ? No it doesnt its your carp and you are dealing with it


Mav x