And if we make it till then/ Can I ask you again/ For another ten?

Days 1 and 2 of Kondo-ing

I am procrastinating getting started. Not because I don't want to do it, but because I am worried: what if nothing sparks joy? People always tell me that I never seem sufficiently happy about good news. Maybe I don't actually have emotions, in which case this is not going to go well.

********

I am sitting in a pile of clothes when Drew arrives home unexpectedly early. I can hear Marie Kondo screaming "no!" (one of her main rules is that you should do this process in isolation so that others don't sway you), but I ask Drew if it's all right if I keep my pair of jeans even though they don't spark joy. Drew agrees one pair of jeans is the sort of thing you may need at some point (citing the fact that I brought them to Punta Cana, though I didn't actually wear them there; dubious, but he's agreeing with me, so let's go with it). Marie Kondo is really screaming now, I'm sure, but I happily fold them vertically.

                                                                            ********

I stumble out of bed and groggily join Drew in the living room. He's much more awake than I am. I stare off into space for a few minutes before demanding "do those snack bags bring you joy?" referring to the box of disposable snack bags that is for some reason sitting in the center of our mantle. Drew sensibly suggests we just put them away where they go in the kitchen rather than worrying about their joy bringing abilities.

********

Does this Jungian analysis of Nancy Drew book bring me joy? Do you really have to ask? Of course it does.

********

Alice comes in screaming with her cat toy. Her glare clearly says "lady, this has the potential to bring me a ton of joy if you would just cooperate." 

I want to die/ Knowing I/ Had a long, full life in your arms

I've decided to Kondo the f**** out of my apartment. I've been wanting to do something like this for awhile, but I recently actually read her book (yes, yes, yes, I KNOW. It's not on the list; I managed to get behind again on my progress and the year is almost over, etc.; I've been on international travel for work and when this happens I treat myself to non-fiction. I'm reading Love & Math, too).

Anyway, I'm so very excited to try. I'm not a minimalist, so I don't think I'll do it to the extent she'd want, but that's fine. I'm pretty good at accepting myself as I am in most ways.

I'm going to chronicle this overtime, so I don't lose the details of the experience. I'm currently still traveling, so I can't start yet. Instead, I've been reading articles about people's experiences Kondo-ing their own place. Generally the reviews are positive (though, I'm not sure that's reflective of how this would actually play out for people on average; there's a lot of selection bias going on here to start combined with people wanting to believe they did a good job of it, etc.). 

That said, I've been shocked by how much people deviate from her directions, and so casually. She's quite clear on the importance of starting with clothes, people; why are you starting with your books? Why are you refusing to pull everything out on the floor?

I am sure that once I start I will regret being so judge-y, since I'm sure that I will be even worse.