Clean House

I finally got it!  I finally got it, and it was such a relief!

I got the urge to clean!

After weeks of staring at the piles of junk sitting on my bathroom countertops and dust collecting on my nightstand, I had had it.  Enough was enough.

I did the only thing I could think of.

I sat down and I read.

Now I didn't pick up any ol' book just to procrastinate-- as I said, I finally had the urge to clean.  I finally picked up Marie Kondo's infamous tome on tidying, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up".

I had several friends who read the book and swore by some of her methods for cleaning up, but I had been putting off reading it.  I mean, a book about tidying up?  I mean, I once watched a documentary about a parking lot (true story) but how interesting or (dare I say it) "life-changing" could tidying up be?

As it turns out, quite a bit.

After my schooling ended and I began to get a grasp on my new job routine, I think my mind finally began to notice the piles of stuff hiding in all corners of my house.  But still, I kept putting off really organizing or sorting through my stuff because I had more important things to do.  Like binge-watching "Scrubs" or "The Office" on TV.

And besides, I don't know about you, but I need to be in the MOOD to clean.  Yeah, maybe that sounds a little immature or idealistic, but it's true for me.  I've tried to force myself to clean when my heart's just not into it.  It takes even longer because I'm dragging my feet.  For me, cleaning requires a spark of interest.  When that little spark is lit, I turn into a Fantastik-flingin', Scrubbing Bubbles sprayin', grit and grime gutting fanatic.  I dash around corners and reach for the hardest to reach spaces because I figure, if I'm already in Clean Mode, I might as well clean like hell.

So I was just starting to get in that mood, but before I began, I wanted to read about Marie Kondo's advice for tidying up.  I knew from my friends that she's a big advocate for discarding things no longer useful or that "bring joy" and I was hoping her words would compel me to discard some of my old, worn out things before I began my cleaning expedition.

What I didn't expect was to find these tiny nuggets of truth and reality that really spoke to me.  However, just as insightful as some of her advice was, there were a few parts that I took a little issue with.

Therefore, in no particular order, I present the Tidying Truths and the Clean-Up Qualms of Marie Kondo's book, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

Tidying Truth #1
"What You Don't Need, Your Family Doesn't Either" 
In this "chapter" Kondo describes how she would often give her younger sister her old clothes that she didn't want but didn't want to throw away.  Being a little sister myself, I have for a long time been on this side of the spectrum.  Don't get me wrong.  I know my sisters were being generous in offering me their old clothes - in fact, even their hand-me-downs were a significant upgrade in style and quality than my own clothes.  But the problem I realized after reading this and glancing at my sisters' hand-me-downs still hanging limply in my closet is that their clothes just weren't me.  Some even still had tags on them because I just never saw myself wearing them but I didn't want to seem ungrateful, so I would take them.  No more!  As sweet as my sisters are, I need to be myself, even if that means wearing the cheap blouse I bought from Bealls Outlet.  Because at least the Bealls Outlet blouse will get worn.

Tidying Truth #2
"Clothing Storage"
Speaking of closets, this section really addressed my issue of an ever-swelling, ever-growing, and ever-stuffed closet.  A little while back I had an epiphany: my cotton T-shirts won't get wrinkled if I just leave them hung up rather than folded in my drawer!  I then began slowly transferring nearly every item of clothing I had from my drawers to my hangers.  I thought I was being very clever.  That is, until I realized I can't even get to one of my T-shirts without yanking four other shirts out with it.  When I read this section and Kondo described one of her clients using only her closet for her clothes and not the drawers, it was like she was speaking directly to me.  The client's closet was packed with clothes she could barely see or get to.  She then says in the book the proper way to fold your shirts so that they not only sit nicely in your drawer, but retain their shape and de-wrinkled state.  I haven't practiced the folding method yet, but I have friends who have and they all swear by the method.

Clean-up Qualm #1
"Loungewear"
Kondo states in her book "If you are a woman, try wearing something elegant as nightwear.  The worst thing you can do is to wear a sloppy sweat suit...If sweatpants are your everyday attire, you'll end up looking like you belong in them, which is not very attractive."  

Hold up there, Clean Queen.  

When I first read this it kinda stuck in my craw.  "Wear something elegant"? For bed??  And not even for a special occasion, like an anniversary?  Or a new job?  Or Pei-Wei not screwing up our take-out order?  Maybe I'm being a little too overly sensitive because I DO practically live in sweat pants.  Honestly, part of the mad dash to my house is just to run to my bedroom, find my comfy pants and just luxuriate in the soft cotton magic.  Granted, I'm not even one of those girls who wears high heels and business suits all day (I never could be so mad props to you if you are) and who would really warrant the need to slip into delicious elastic goodness, but I actually feel better about myself in my sweats.  In my other jeans or pants, I have to see and feel the flesh bulb out at my sides because my pants fit everywhere else EXCEPT there.  But in my sweats, the fabric just sits on my hips, no hugging, no bulging.  Still, if I could take one thing from this it's that I could try to find a compromise.  Maybe there are sweats with more feminine touches, like lace or a pretty pattern.  But "elegant"?  Me?  I invite you to refer back to one of my earlier blog posts.

Tidying Truth #3
"Selection Criterion: does it spark joy?"
As I said, my friends were telling me about this book years before now and one of the most commonly referenced phrase they uttered was "does the item spark joy?"  It seemed so abstract to me at first.  Does it spark joy?  For so long I've just accumulated "stuff": stuff leftover from my move down here, stuff my parents' old house, stuff from college, and of course, my new stuff.  Whether or not I actually WANTED this stuff seemed irrelevant.  I knew I didn't want to get rid of it because...well, I still don't even know why.  I have boxes of things in our garage and I have no intention of ever really looking at it, and yet, there it is.  Almost like a chore parked right there waiting for me in the garage.  So why keep it?  Did I actually like any of this stuff?  Did it spark "joy"? I got to practice getting my mind around this way of thinking during last week's clean-up.  

One of the things on my bathroom counter was my old Caboodle storage box.  You remember those?  I think they were really popular in the late 90s for storing makeup, jewelry, and all kinds of little knick-knacks that teenage girls collect.  I knew that's what I had used it for back then, and yet I hadn't opened it in (seriously) years.  But now that it was sitting there, I felt like I couldn't ignore it under my sink anymore.  I was ready to finally address the Caboodle in the corner.  As soon as I opened it up, I was surprised to discover I had no problem tossing out old tarnished necklaces or grubby plastic bracelets.  I probably should've handled these things more, as per Kondo's instruction, but it actually felt good to empty that old box.  I saved a few mementos like concert stubs and the piece of the U.S.S. Constitution I won when I answered a question right on a class trip, and bid the rest farewell.  

Clean-up Qualm #2
"Storing Socks: treat your socks with respect"
In this section, Kondo advises being kind to your socks and stockings.  Specifically she says that they need to "rest" in your drawer.  She then goes on to describe the life and trials of your socks and stockings, how they take the punishment of covering our feet all day and if they are left to roll around and tangle in the drawer, their lives will essentially be cut short.  
I am an overly sensitive and empathetic person who spends most of her day worried she's insulted someone or thinking someone is mad at her.  Are you telling me I need to worry about the feelings of my socks now, too?  
Pixar, I think I just thought of your next money-making tear-jerker.  Call it "Life Socks".

Anyway, despite a couple of these qualms, I do see the value of what Marie Kondo preaches and pretty much all of my friends who have read the book have taken some vital and useful tips on how to maintain their tidy houses.  I have more of the book to read and I'd like to finish it before I begin her KonMari method because I know it will be a long, arduous process.  I still rode my clean-up high and, with the help of a few of her tips, I managed to fill up a garbage bag of useless and outdated products and items. It felt so good to see empty spaces that were once filled with clutter.   

When I had finished my work and first walked into my freshly scrubbed bathroom and bedroom, I felt such a sense of accomplishment.  I love the feeling of snuggling into a clean bed, with clean sheets, in a clean room.  It feels so good.

And that feeling will have to last until the urge to purge comes again.