I’m back to the land of Wi-Fi for a bit (my few notes from the road can be found over at the Substack), and I’m going to go ahead and apologize to those of you who have been waiting at the edge of your seats for me to tell you what to think about the various highly-charged topics of the past month or so. We’re changing formats and using this space for me to regurgitate thoughts about my #1 household mission for the next six weeks: Clutter reduction.
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Thought for today: Too much joy.
I read Marie Kondo’s Spark Joy books a couple years ago and found them very helpful. For letting go of guilt about items that you feel obliged to keep because you spent good money on them, but honestly you don’t really love them and would happily not own them if you could just have permission to ditch them? Magic.
I think this is a reason she starts with clothes, in her process: Clothes you that make you feel awkward, unattractive, or uncomfortable are super-easy to unload if you can just shake the guilt involved in doing so. It’s a genuine pleasure walking into a closet where everything you see is something that makes you feel good when you wear it.
But. Alas. Marie is not enough.
See, some of us? It is very, very easy to spark joy. Bookshelves? My bookshelves are overflowing with joy. Game cabinet? Joy. Cooking utensils? Joy. Biking, boating, and camping gear? Joy, joy, joy.
Drowning in joy here.
So our advanced course this summer is from The Hoarder in You: How to Live a Happier, Healthier, Uncluttered Life by Robin Zasio. It’s a library find, and I would have happily settled for any random pep-talk in the self-help genre — the goal was just to refresh on the motivation and focus. This particular book, though? Oh gosh it knows me. Highly recommended if you are dealing with deeply-entrenched cluttering tendencies.
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