Simply..Kondoing....

27/3/2015

It's Friday - Kondo report day. (Oops, it's 10pm Friday and will probably be Saturday when you read this!) I will write about Marie Kondo's wisdom, as I see it.

I have underlined quite a few bits in her book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying - mostly about her philosophy, about the why of tidying, rather than the how-to.

She talks of paring down to the volume that you can properly handle.

I'm finding paring down to the volume that I can properly handle is good advice not just for my belongings, but for my work and my garden, for my projects and commitments. I'm doing a bit of rethinking...

Human beings can only truly cherish a limited number of things at one time she says, and I've found this to be a useful secondary question (the first one of course being 'Does this spark joy?') - 'Is this something I want to cherish?' Keeping in mind that cherish means looking after and maybe a little time and effort.

As I am still going through papers I am finding I want to cherish very very few of them!

Out they go! Making lovely empty space in my head and in my studio for new ideas and paintings.

What effect is Kondoing having on your thinking and your life?

8 Comments

cath

28/3/2015 02:28:21 am

I am not far enough into the process already to really feel the effect of pairing down to the volume I can handle, it will be great to get there eventually.
I have the habit of looking back (evening review) over the day each day to see what made me happy. I notice lately often my Kondo practice is among what is standing out. The discarding, the new order and the quietness of empty spaces I all very much enjoy, yet at the moment it is the mindful practice of handling each item that
does make me happy.

Freda

28/3/2015 08:38:19 am

What a lovely habit, and you put it so beautifully.

Cathy

28/3/2015 07:36:56 am

Saturday morning is when I sort through all the stuff on my desk that's piled up during the week; things I thought I'd want or were too important to simply toss. By Saturday, I'm able to toss most of it. That's a good feeling. I like having a clean, or at least, an organized desk. I'm finding I've kept less & less for the Saturday morning toss, but I'm not a finished product yet.

Freda

28/3/2015 08:39:17 am

That's interesting that you are keeping less and less...

Gail

28/3/2015 08:54:39 pm

Freda, thanks for putting the emphasize on the "why"
The Japanesse have a term "Ma" meaning the white space, the void of stuff that creates the potential for everything. The Ma creates the calm I seek.

Freda

29/3/2015 01:27:57 am

Gail, thank you for this! I've never heard of 'Ma' but it may apply to what I'm creating in my studio! Wonderful..

julia

29/3/2015 05:28:42 am

hi freda and all,
i am konding in my own way....not following her strict instructions. but when the whim hits, i dive right in...last night it was my professional journals, bulletins, etc....years of them! i retired last spring, and it was really freeing to just take them all to the recycling center today.
they had been out of sight, so one would not think they were affecting me...but having them gone is giving me "ma' space....i know it is there and it feels fresh with potential!
last week it was file drawers full of articles....i am smiling to think of it.

Freda

29/3/2015 06:34:49 am

'Fresh with potential' sounds just wonderful - you've encouraged me to keep going with all those old papers!

Simply..Kondoing....

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