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The first couple of days of a new year are typically the most motivating. We write our new year resolutions down, spend on glue and magazines to create vision boards, and eat salad.
This particular year didn’t feel the same for me. I found out I tested positive for COVID-19 only a few days after Christmas, and had to move out and into a new apartment by January 1st. It’s day 11 of the new year, and I haven’t quite felt the “new year, new me” vibes yet. A huge part of it due to the fact that I’ve been popping vitamins, unpacking, and attempting to settle into my new place (It’s hard to focus on goals when there’s mess all around you). I began binging Marie Kondo’s “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo”, and was determined to fold every piece of clothing down to the size of sliced bread (just kidding, sort of).
As I watched, I was most intrigued with Marie’s practice of greeting each home she visited before she assisted her assigned troubled families. The question she posed to each family as they decluttered their items has stayed with me since: “does it spark joy”?
I watched as the individuals reluctantly let go of items they’ve kept for years. I folded as I watched, and began to ask myself the same question. As a clothes, shoe and sneaker fanatic I often find myself with mounds of material items. Most times I’ll tell myself that, “I deserve it” because I work so hard. This practice has lead to me owning items in my closet that still has tags on them. Sneakers still crisp white, never worn. And while this pandemic has a role to play in this, I had to acknowledge that the ability to continue to splurge on clothing during a pandemic was indeed a luxury.
Do those items spark joy? Of course! Did I necessarily need to buy them? No. No, I did not. By the end of my folding, I was thanking the clothes that I decided to donate for allowing me to wear them (as per Marie’s instructions), and bagging them so that they would be on their way. While I continued to gush at how cute and humble Marie, I couldn’t help but think about the life lessons I adopted as I binged:
- The need to thank my space for allowing me to occupy it, because seriously I was able to move in the middle of a global pandemic.
- The desire to remain organized. It’s easy to unpack and fix…
