This all started few weeks ago when I decided to give up eggs. I'd given up most dairy back in September but was having eggs to avoid the vit b-12 issue I experienced when I was vegan. I discovered I was low in b-12 regardless of my efforts to avoid this, so I figured if I have to supplement anyway, why am I eating something I only vaguely enjoy?
Cue watching vegan vlogs on youtube for recipe ideas -and discovering that there is a really vile breed of vegan on the Internet these days in the process! I found some nice, non-preachy and chirpy vloggers though. One of these happened to also be a minimalist, so soon Youtube had decided I must like minimalism too, and started sending me recommendations. The vlogger in question along with a few others, actually seemed to speak sense. She was saying that it isn't about having white walls and only a handful of essentials, it's about only owning things that make you happy. Whether that's 50 items, or 10,000 so long as you can honestly say each one brings you joy, that's fine.
I liked that. It sounded a lot like me. I posted about it here on PF because sometimes if I keep a brain fart in too long I explode.
It's 'Ma-ri-e'!!
After watching a few videos on minimalism, the complete audio book of 'The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up' appeared in my recommendations on YT. I'd heard Joanna DeVoe mention this book a lot on her Podcast Hippy Witch and it had even made it onto my 'check it out someday' list. As it was free, I decided to listen to it while cleaning.
In it, Marie teaches her ingenious system for sorting out your belongings and storing them neatly and lovingly. She calls her method the 'KonMari' method and it seems it has taken the world by storm.
A few chapters in something struck me. Why was one of the categories of items 'komono? I know this word. It's Japanese. I knew Marie was Shinto because DeVoe had mentioned that. So I assumed she probably just liked using Japanese words for things. Then I googled the author and face palmed. She is Japanese. He name is 麻理恵 3 syllables Ma-Ri-E. It just so happens that when you write this in romaji it looks like the English name 'Marie'. So all along I thought she was a Western author.
Well you know me, I'm a sucker for anything Japanese and I started listening to Interviews with her in Japanese. I was in LOVE!!
And so the process began!
Clothing
Marie has a set order for sorting your belongings and it begins with clothing. This was pretty easy for me, with the exception of some sentimental items that my mum made for me which come under 'mementos' and so I've put to one side for now and will sort at the very end.
I'd already sorted my wardrobe last September. I hung everything around the room so I could check what matches and what I actually wear, taking everything else to charity. I took a photo of the final collection too;
This is missing my summer dresses, shoes and tops, as they were dutifully stored away (something Marie Kondo advises against it turns out).
It was still a bit of a tight squeeze though because I only have one regular size 2 door wardrobe.
Using the KonMari method I was able to reduce my clothing further, discarding 2 bin-bag size bags of clothes that didn't 'spark joy', being sure to thank each item for the pleasure it brought me when I first got it as is Marie's insistence! Then I set to work using her storage method. Folding each item so that it stands unaided on it's edge before slotting it into my plastic drawers like LPs and rolling my formidable tight collection into little roses.
The end result really surprised me. Although I've moved on from the clothing section now, there are a few things I want to come back to. I want to replace the ugly plastic drawers with wider but shallower canvas drawers. That way I can put the plastic drawers in the cupboard as Marie suggests using these over plastic storage containers. Although Marie prefers you not to switch out clothes depending on the season, I have some items like Halloween costumes or Christmas jumpers that I really don't need to have hanging in my wardrobe and spoiling the aesthetic!
