maybe your feet hurt because your socks just need time to relax



I'm reading a book called The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by self proclaimed "tidy-er" Mari Kondo. By following her instructions you tidy up your home once and then it stays tidy forever. Yes, you heard me - forever. She has thousands of devoted fans and claims almost no one has ever relapsed after finishing her training.

When I stumbled upon this book Saturday night on my Kindle I was thinking - just like you are probably thinking now - how the hell is this possible? Tidying is like breathing, isn't it? We breathe in, we breathe out - we make a mess, we clean it up.

But I drink the kool-aid. I start thinking about all the things I will finally have time to do once this time wasting "tidying" thing has been taken off my hands.

I buy the book.


By now it's almost midnight and I'm reading about how socks hate being all rolled up in little balls - how they work really hard for us all day and really need proper drawer 'relaxation' time. I read this part to George and he can see my eyes getting all misty, thinking about his poor tortured socks. "No!", he screams says

(have I told you how loud his voice is these days - either his hearing is going or I'm developing some kind of Superman thing - it's like living with someone who is always talking on a cellphone - he can say "CATHY" in a way that takes 10 years off my life just to let me know the dog is doing something cute)

anyway, he screams says "No, I like my sock balls!" which sends me rolling on to the floor in a fit of the giggles which of course turns into a coughing fit and then a sore hip - sometimes getting older sucks sock balls, folks.

I decide to just free my own socks which isn't quite as satisfying since I only own like 4 pairs - don't ask. After I unroll them, I really can hear them thanking me (of course I may have this Superman hearing thing going on) and I think I feel a little like what Lincoln must have felt after signing the Emancipation Proclamation (without the bloodshed and saving human lives part, of course).

The one idea I really like - and I haven't finished the book and wouldn't give it all away here if I had, of course - is to sort your items by item type and not by room. So for example to do this one time major tidying thing - you don't clean your bedroom. You start with a certain item like your clothes and then you move onto something else like your books.

When sorting your clothes you go through your entire house - bedroom, closets, attic, etc - and gather all your clothes together in one place. 

She suggests touching each piece of clothing and only deciding what you must keep - not thinking about what you are getting rid of. 

I love the focus on what we are called to keep, but I was still wanting to keep way too much.

I started asking myself the question, "Would I buy this today?" but then I wasn't keeping anything.

I am going to start again next weekend. Maybe spring cleaning will get spring here a little faster ... we are expecting snow again tomorrow :( xo all

4 comments

Christine said...

I just read that too! I love it! It's really helped. Well, my husband didn't read it so we're not 100% there yet but we don't spend nearly as much time tidying. My socks are much happier now.

Catherine Ivins said...

ooh thanks for the reinforcement Christine - I am definitely moving ahead with this now!

DancingMooney said...

That's a great idea, to start with something, rather than a room. And it is definitely time for some spring cleaning around here!!

Catherine Ivins said...

I know Janell - it seems like we should have thought of this already! I just did my books the last 2 nights and something about just having them all in one place and knowing everything I have is very centering, too.