It was Jamie Lee Curtis who actually said that, in the description that accompanied Marie's photo as one Time magazine's 2015 100 Most Influential People.
I kept seeing the title of Marie's book on decluttering - The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up - pop up all over the place. In spite of living in a house that I've choked with clutter, the book did not entice. I've read lots of sure-cure books that left me just as unable to clear my way out of the stuff that clogs my house & life. The culprit isn't John, whose side of the bed is always well ordered. It is me. But it's long felt like my problem was one of nurture, rather than nature. Perhaps, just perhaps, my nature loved creative order rather than the creative clutter, as a friend lovingly described our house. (But she would have died before letting her house look like ours!)
Earlier this week, John & I spent a rare afternoon at Barnes & Noble/Willow Grove, a treat for him as thank you for being dragged to four Michael's & A.C. Moore craft stores so I could get double 55% savings. Little did I know life was about to take a turn for the considerably immensely unimaginably better!
Marie doesn't write like anyone else. She sounds like me, the me I usually share only with John. The one who thinks of everything - EVERY THING - as having some aspect of spirit. She spoke right to me.
Yesterday, I cleared out my clothing. A full bag of torn or stained or otherwise damaged clothing is waiting on the curb for the trash removal. Five full bags are headed this afternoon to the Bryn Athyn Thrift Shop. Only clothing that gives me a spark of joy remains.
Marie is right - it was so easy tossing things out when my criteria changed from what did i want to discard to what did I want to keep. Even pieces of recently purchased clothing - even a piece of Blue Fish - are headed for BATS! And pieces of clothing - like a dearly beloved over-sized long black top that I wore (quite consciously) to church for the last time last week - that matter to me are headed for the Great Closet. If it didn't give me a spark of joy, or even if it did but was increasingly unwearable, I thanked it for its service, tenderly folded it & sent it along its way.
The rest are put away or in the wash or waiting to be ironed. This time next week, my closet will be hung with the heaviest, longest clothing to my left & the lightest, shortest clothing to the right, and my hard-working socks will be duly appreciated & taking their rest in my drawer.
The thing I find most remarkable about Marie is that even the things I expected to be an onerous challenge turn out to be strangely familiar, from her method of folding clothing (it's always seemed the logical way to me) to tossing magazines while keeping the article(s) you wanted tucked into easy to reference clear pages in binders (been doing that for years). The inner voide that pondered if maybe I am not, but nature, a hopeless housekeeper turns out to be right! Wow - who would have thunk it?!
Which is not to say there won't be huge challenges as I wade through my piles of stuff. Just remember that there can't be magic without a thorough follow-through with the tidying!
For more on Marie & her method of cleaning, check these out. Better yet, do an online search of her name & take joy in where it leads you!
http://www.askawayblog.com/2015/04/the-many-benefits-of-konmari-method.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgnTCbJqLi8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxRtXcM_Xj4
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