The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Your Life

I have been on a mission to declutter my home for the year.

I am proud to say that in January, I donated 5 large bags of books and a few boxes of kitchen items. Every season, while I rotate my wardrobe, I put bags aside of clothes to donate.

I know I have been doing a good job, not because there’s more space on my flat surfaces and room in my closet. I know that I am doing a good job because I have gotten down to the things that are more difficult to let go of. That vintage dress I found at the thrift that I don’t know if it still fits but I am sure I might need one day. The blazers of every shade. The stream of skincare and hair care products I am blessed to try out but do pile up after a while. The luxury bags I have a knack for finding while thrifting.

Enter Konmari, a philosophy of decluttering that I have only begun to understand. It is a philosophy that centers around only keeping things that “spark joy” in you. Meaning that if you look at a thing, whether it’s a dress, a pot, a new perfume, and it does not spark a sense of joy within you, it must go.

But, here is the kicker: before it goes, you must thank it for what it contributed to your life and then let it go. This must happen for every, single, thing you want to declutter. And in my microwave sensibilities, it seems both silly…