KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

VJsmum

Morning - back to the 'day job' today after two days off.

Yesterday I went to the opticians, saying "I can't remember what time my appointment is and i've lost the appointment card, so I might be a bit early".

SPecsavers assistant "yes, you are a bit early. Your appointment is next Tuesday"... :rotfl::rotfl::o

But, being up showered, dressed and in town at 9 o'clock has it's advantages as i'd done my chores and had walked back home before 10. I needed the last two days to get my house back in order, catch up the laundry and so forth. All done now and not that time consuming as there was little tidying to be done, very much surface stuff. Dusting is done in a jiffy now there isn't so much carp to shift.

I even got around to listing some rare, unopened lego on the Bay. It should get DS £50 at least.

Christmas shopping for the Kent family tomorrow. I have decided to get some christmassy material and make some teeny christmas stockings and fill them with a storecard voucher plus some bits like a few chocolates, a £1 scratchcard, some lip balm, maybe a drink miniature for the over 18's. Just to jazz them up a bit. It's more work, but at least it's something I will enjoy. I have 22 presents to get - including a couple of birthdays and my dad's carer where I pick up something for him to give.

My early trip to town meant that i had a little time to visit a chazzer and found a jumper in a colour I'd been looking for for £2.99 :T It's an ethical brand too. It had a tiny mark on the front, but i was right in guessing it would wash out. I used to get frustrated at chazzers that colour coded everything. Now it's useful as i am more aware of what suits me and only look in those colours, rather than browsing the lot.

Have a great day all.

GreyQueen

I once travelled to the hospital exactly one week early for an appointment. Egg on face....... :rotfl:

Heading out for the day's graft shortly, don't think much/ any kondo-ing will be happening today, apart from the usual recyclables into the communal recyc bin on my way out of the neighbourhood.

Hope everyone has a great day. GQ x

silvasava

Good day yesterday - sorted out all the Maps we accumulated when we had the 'van and from a trip to the US a few years ago. Posted on my local website & one lot collected yesterday and the other today. Also had two bags of woodash from our fire that someone wants for their chickens. Managed to finish scanning the photos - probably got about 150 to organise onto a flash drive but broken the back of it now - phew! Don't you sometimes find that a job that needs doing often takes less time to do than the time spent niggling over it?
Hard frost here this morning but beautiful blue sky and sunshine - have a good day all.

Eltee12

just reading through the posts re no CH and ice on inside of windows etc. and when really cold we'd put coats on top of the blankets to keep warm. Also we had a tin bath which was stowed away on a big hook on the back of the kitchen door and to have a bath (on Sundays) we had to fill it up with buckets of hot water from the tap and also from heating pots of water on the stove top ! Sounds Dickensian but I'm only 54


El

Fen1

I've been on this thread since the beginning. I've read the bibles several times. I've done things in the wrong order as I knew I would have problems with my clothes. They are very much my sticking point.
I've whizzed through kitchen, paperwork ( get a professional shredder, don't faff about with pathetic domestic ones), bathroom, and am going through misc komono. I don't craft, don't have photo albums, few nik-naks and gubbinses, so that section is fairly easy. It's the Justin screws, lengths of string and umpteen notepads that are cluttering the place. ( Talking strictly about my stuff, am not even going to get started about OH's clothes, books, techie bits.....)


I got all my tops out yesterday and laid them on the spare bed. Just doing that upset me so much I had to leave the room. Today I can't even look at the bed. I like all of the clothes there. They don't fit as I've piled on weight due to health problems. The lovely clothes not fitting upsets me.
Having lost years of my life to ill health ( because my stupid doctors failed to diagnose and then misdiagnose ) upsets me.
Living in an isolated location and not being able to just walk somewhere -shops, library, social life - upsets me. I live where it's convenient for my husband's work, but is utterly hopeless for my physical and mental health.

It's all just too much for me to deal with. I know that packing the clothes away in suitcases doesn't solve the problem. I cannot bear the thought of getting rid of the clothes.

I'm just horribly upset by it all.

VJsmum

Fen1 - :(i am so sorry that you are upset.

Can i gently ask if you are likely to fit in the clothes again? If the realistic answer is no then maybe it would be better to "lance the boil" so to speak. I know from my own experience that getting rid of the upsetting stuff made me feel so much better. Note what you like about the nice clothes - the colour? the style? neckline? pattern? length? then try to find things that do fit with those features. Are they sellable and then you could use the money to buy things that will fit and will bring you joy. Marie says it isn't about liking, it is about sparking joy. if they spark sadness then maybe its time to thank them and let them go.....

I hope i haven't caused more upset.

pippo

[

My early trip to town meant that i had a little time to visit a chazzer and found a jumper in a colour I'd been looking for for £2.99 :T It's an ethical brand too. It had a tiny mark on the front, but i was right in guessing it would wash out. I used to get frustrated at chazzers that colour coded everything. Now it's useful as i am more aware of what suits me and only look in those colours, rather than browsing the lot.

Have a great day all.[/QUOTE]
I still get very frustrated at their attempts to colour code, being a 'big lass' I prefer the clothes to be sorted by size so I can start at the big end and work backwards!!

MMF007

Oh Fen, please don't let the feelings overwhelm you. I hated having big clothes (steady weight gain, mainly due to stress/anxiety. Not excuse, reason!). I also have issues fron childhood relating to clothes and food. I put off the clothes category because for me that was the hardest. I did a first run at it and released a reasonable amount that just did not suit me and never would! I felt lots better for having got rid. It took me a while to do a really thorough second go because I started to lose weight ( low carbing). Even losing a few pounds helped me to start looking forward and of course, when you get a little boost it peps you up and more successes follows. I had to take little steps, big ones are asking too much, iyswim.
I felt so good when I released a lot of clothes in round 2 of kondo-ing and there are more that will be able to go in a while.

Yes, I had clothes that were too small and yes I could have looked at the 'failures' that got me to that point but as I can't change the past I choose to think about the situation as one of success - Ihad lost half a stone so that was a triumph I know that sounds like Pollyanna but, honestly, I simply had to concentrate on the success and push on with that.

Please don't think I am saying it is easy to move forward or to lose weight, or deal with life's trials. It is hard. I just determined that Marie was right and I could find some joy, small, maybe not obvious to anyone else, but joy non-the-less. It is liberating to [STRIKE]chuck[/STRIKE] release items that are truly weighing us down.

I so hope you can go back into the room, pick out some garments that most upset you, put them in a bag and take them outside (ready to take to CS, Send for recycling, or whatever helps the disposal process - DH took his to Salvation Army because that charity is dear to his heart).

Don't feel you have to do it all in one go, be gentle with yourself. You have an arny of supporters here, so come back and tell us one joyous item you want to keep.

((((((0)))))))

M

mrs-moneypenny

Gentle supporting hugs for ŷou fen. Sorry you are feeling so low and frustrated.

Christmas fayre tomorrow so a bag of stuff I know I won't gift has gone to the tombola stall and all the DVDs we've culled will go on a stall I'm running with profits going to the school.

PollyWollyDoodle

Oh Fen1, I really feel for you. It sounds as if you've made good progress in other areas - can you focus on how you feel about those areas to help you get a feeling for clothes?

The beauty of MK for me is that it's not restrictive - you can keep as much as you want provided it sparks joy. However I'm getting the feeling that keeping all these items doesn't make you feel joyful - and the thought of throwing them out makes you anxious and sad. Keeping clothes that don't fit and can't be worn is not joyful. I'd be inclined to bend the MK rules in this case, pick out some joyful tops and put the rest in a bag for temporary storage - that way you know they are there if you need them but your wardrobe is lighter and you've only got things you love and that make you feel good. You may find that after a few months, you don't need the stored stuff.