Are you the sentimental type who still has the gelato spoon they gave you when you purchased a gelato in Italy? Or perhaps the personal notes your elementary school bestie gave you? Or maybe, you have boxes of brochures, receipts and mementos from your travels?
I do.
That’s the beauty and the curse of being a sentimental person. You pretty much see the value in e-ve-ry-thing.
And what does this lead to?
Clutter, my friend. Lots and lots of clutter.
Sadly, clutter has become sooooo much a part of me that…there’s me and there’s my clutter. Two for the price of one.
And sadly, that’s the way my house was growing up. Filled with stuff.
That’s why today, I’ll be sharing a resource for those of you, who like me, have needed help with clutter and for those of you already familiar with the method, I’m inviting you to participate in the The Celebrating Your Success With the KonMari Method Tag.
Where I Now Stand In Relationship To Clutter
So, although I love an organized space, I’ve enjoyed cleaning, I love organizing, organizing products, organizing blogs, etc. I had always been on the hunt for a system that really worked. That cut to the chase. That made me believe more in the life that I could have instead of a life filled with things.
Having this blog called Love and Treasure, taught me that I should love the things I treasure and truly treasure the things I love. And this is an on-going motto that I live by…and work towards.
One of The Most Life-Changing Books I’ve Ever Read
And in 2015, I came across one of the most influential books ever!
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.
If you haven’t read it… OMG! You’re gonna love it.
Until very recently (a few days before publishing this post, as a matter of fact) The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was #1 spot in the entire books category on Amazon, and it had been #1 for a long time, and it’s still number one in a couple of categories.. Marie Kondo’s 2nd book available in English, Spark Joy, is actually #5. So when an author has two books in the top 5… you know it’s worth a read.
It’s a light read with a strong and heavy ability to change your life. If you apply it, that is.
And I strongly believe that it has come into your life and into my life for a reason. We have all attracted it because we’re ready for it. We’re ready to take life to the next level.
My KonMari Journey
Even though I’m still going through the process, I have to say that as a result of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I have been able to declutter the most than I ever have in the fastest amount of time.
I’ve gone through clothes and it was astounding the number of trash bags containing purses, shoes, belts and clothes I was able to get rid of. Many people say that decluttering your clothes is the easiest because your’e not as attached to your clothes? Me? I’m even a bit attached to clothes… so not because I’m a fashionista, but because I associate the clothing with the times/events that I’ve worn it.
And being a writer, if there is anything that I love in this world it’s books. Well, let me tell you, apparently I didn’t love many of my books as much as I do because I’ve been able to get rid of a lot of books and I’m still working to get rid of some more. Wanna know what’s amazing? Aside from personal development books, I L-O-V-E cookbooks… and I have been able to get rid of lots of cookbooks as well, something that to me is almost like a sin, but which has given me the ability to truly keep the cookbooks that have some meaning to me.
The KonMari Method Works
People who are minimalists and people who are packrats, like I’ve been, have the same conclusion: this method works and it works fast.
You read the book, you realize how senseless keeping so much stuff is and it’s like a switch goes off and you truly adopt these lessons that I’m sure will last a lifetime.
The best part is, if I’m in the kitchen and see an item that I dislike like a dish, or another object anywhere else in my home like a vase, some flowers, or some DIY material that no longer sparks joy, I just put it in the donation bin… because I truly can’t wait to get rid of it.
My pursuit of being surrounded by only the things I love is that strong!
My Emotional Interest in the KonMari Method
Since I’m still in the tidying/decluttering process and since I’m very intrigued by the KonMari method and the deep transformation that it can bring about in someone’s life, I decided to create the following tag that invites people to go deeper and stop to think about how this method is helping them.
The Celebrating Your Success With the KonMari Method Tag
- As a result of doing the KonMari Method, are you a different person than you were before you started this tidying process? How?
- What has changed the most in you, internally speaking?
- How has the KonMari method helped your confidence?
- How has it helped your health?
- How has it helped your family?
- How has it helped your relationships?
- What has surprised you the most about you?
- What has surprised you the most about this process?
- What are you most thankful for about this process?
- Who do you think you would you be if you had not gone through this process?
- Is doing the KonMari method one of the best things that you’ve done for yourself? Why? Why not?
- Do you recommend this method to friends and family? Do they participate?
- Now that you look back, which purge had the strongest POSITIVE impact in you?
- Are you unsatisfied with any of the purges to the point that you want to do it all over again?
- Do you have any regrets on anything you’ve given away, donated or thrown away?
- Do you feel lighter? If so, how? If not, how do you feel?
- Do you feel happier or more joyous overall? Why or why not?
- What section of your home do you now feel the proudest of? Why?
- If you had a home with ALL the storage space you needed for all the stuff you had prior to purging items using this method, would you prefer the perfect storage space for everything or would you rather have less things like you do now? In other words, would you prefer the space for everything or the extra space that you now have as a result of purging?
- What is the greatest lesson that undergoing the KonMari process taught you?
- Who do you tag?
Why Did I Create The Celebrating Your Success With the KonMari Method Tag?
If this decluttering process is, according to Marie Kondo herself, a tidying festival or a celebration, I think it’s about time that we sit down to share and celebrate the emotional results that you’ve attained.
Instead of going from one KonMari task to the next like if it were a seemingly never-ending to-do list or worse yet, before you finish the whole process and move on to something totally new without ever acknowledging your own efforts, let’s pause, and share your biggest triumphs.
Let’s share what it is about this process that has sparked the most joy in you.
Why?
We’re creatures of pleasure. We want to do more of what feels great. But if you don’t take the time to feel great, then your mind will be less like to happily cooperate with you. That means, that you can give up on the process and continue to battle clutter for the rest of your life.
Sounds dramatic, I know, but if you’re like most people undertaking the KonMari method, you have been battling clutter for years, maybe even decades, or who knows? A half-century, perhaps.
So yeah, let’s focus on the positive, shall we! Doing and especially finishing the KonMari process is HUGE!!!! One of the best things you’ll do. It’s like a graduation in which you FINALLY learn that it’s not the things that matter. It’s people, it’s peace, it’s health, it’s security, it’s generosity, it’s cherished memories, it’s love.
Second Reason Why I Created The Celebrating Your Success With the KonMari Method Tag
I think that we are all connected. And that we all have lived through experiences that could help someone else if we simply took the time to share them with an open heart.
Many times, when we accomplish something, we share our physical outcomes, but don’t go as deeply into our emotional outcomes. And I think the emotional outcomes are the more important.
For example, if someone falls into a hole, let’s pretend it’s a clutter hole… and you want to throw them a rope so that they can come out of that hole… what do you think would be more motivating?
- Encouraging them to climb out of it based on the physical space that you’ve been able to have for yourself OR
- Encouraging them to climb out based on the emotional benefits you’ve been able to attain?
The second answer, right? Because after all, most of us want a better life…to feel good (that’s psychology 101). And as selfish as it may seem, we care most about the emotional success that we can receive than just hearing about the emotional success many other people are having that we haven’t yet been able to attain for ourselves.
In other words, we want positive things to happen in our life, not just watch positive things happen in other people’s lives.
We don’t want the decluttered space in other people’s homes…. we want our home, our space to be decluttered.
Third Reason Why I Created The Celebrating Your Success With the KonMari Method Tag
The same premise applies to when people lose weight.
They want to show off the body, maybe share techniques, exercises, recipes, habits, etc. But, what people truly want to know is if the sacrifice was worth it.
They want to know:
- How do people truly feel once they’ve lost the weight?
- How did their life change?
- Are they happier?
- Do they finally feel like “they’ve arrived”?
If there’s something that I dislike, BIG time, it’s when people lose lots of weight and act as though they’ve always been thin. Almost instantaneously. Like they were never part of “a little on the heavier side” club.
I want to say: “Wait a minute! There’s a HUGE lesson that you now know and you’re not sharing!”
And most likely, (since nobody I know has been able to confirm it for sure), the little secret is the combination of an internal mental shift and heart shift that makes them finally become the person they always wanted to be. I know these two shifts are going to be what motivates you and what motivates me to continue to pursue the outcome.
And I also know that it’s that exact place where you click from feeling “not good enough” to feeling much better about yourself, that’s magical.
- That’s the part of your story that I would like to pause, rewind and zoom into to take a closer look, to get to know you better and to better inspire myself.
- That’s the juicy stuff!
- That’s the secret sauce!
- That’s what I want to know most about!
- And if you think about it, it’s what makes many successful TEDx talks successful. It’s going beyoooond the surface… to a place that we can all relate to the storyteller a little more.
- Remember, we don’t want any more “how-to’s” we want to know:
- “How did you get to the place you’ve been able to other than applying the “how -to” AND
- What have been the life-changing benefits you’ve been able to enjoy?
- Do you think that these benefits is something that you’ll enjoy forever?
So when you’re answering this The Celebrating Your Success With the KonMari Method Tag, don’t be afraid to go deep, that’s where the treasures are, not only for the people who you share your responses with, publicly or privately, but mostly for yourself.
Join The Celebrating Your Success With the KonMari Method Tag!
If you’re a blogger or a YouTuber who has been putting the KonMari method to good use (regardless of where you are in the process), feel free to join in on The Celebrating Your Success With the KonMari Method Tag and share your experiences and successes, which I hope you realize by now are MUCH more valuable than you originally thought.
It’s Your Turn
Or, if you simply have been inspired by the KonMari Method, feel free to leave your responses to the The Celebrating Your Success With the KonMari Method Tag below.
I’m sooo looking forward to hearing and reading your responses!
