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Let the bell sound for ROUND TWO. DING DING DING!

I have officially decluttered my apartment for the second year in a row. I have now relentlessly purged and ordered. Hallways can be traversed once more, and knick knacks have homes. My apartment finally seems like it can breath.

The impetus for decluttering was The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. I was determined to follow her regimen strictly this year, downsizing my giant katamari-ball of stuff. If done right, Kondo promises, I will love everything in my space, ideas will come more freely, and I may even detox and lose weight. Who knew such great perks could come from throwing away excess q-tips!

Determined to declutter dogmatically, I reread Kondo's manual and referred to it as I went. "I have just finished decluttering papers. Now I must declutter komono (miscellany). I just need to beware of mementos. Mementos must be saved for last. Mementos are the downfall."


Kondo has a specific order for how one must declutter in order to emotionally tackle it. She doesn't expressly say that this is why - but this is why. Since her methodology is based on "joy sparks" in the heart, she pushes you build up some stamina and kindling before letting you tackle the dreaded mementos. Even though you may love your sister, and you love the kindness with which she bought you the green "unusual words" book, you want it gone. It carries with it a happy memory that you are thankful for, but you still want it gone. This is ok! Strictly following Kondo's rules, I thanked the book for happy memories, and shipped it to Goodwill.

In order to sense the heart's "joy sparks," Kondo demands a sensory experience. You have to fondle each item and determine if you are madly in love with it or not. In order to fully have a one on one moment with each item, you own, you should first gather all items of that type into a pile on your bed before handling each one. During this process I learned that I love lace, the color blue, patterned clothing, and black accessories. I also learned that my love of stationary runs deeper than I knew. I've been collecting postcards from everywhere I've gone since my elementary school field trips (Yea Luray Caverns!)

Discarding in this holistic way did not strike me as strange and/or revolutionary. I have always cleaned by sorting this way. However, I have not always organized in the Konmari method. For the first time, my socks do not sit in balls. My pants are stacked vertically instead of horizontally, and my books, playbills, and empty journals all live in one place.

If you'd like to declutter using the Konmari method you can follow these steps:

 1. Read The Life-Chaning Magic of Tidying Up. It's a short book. It won't take you long.

 2. Do Marie Kondo's thought exercise. Ask yourself, "What is the lifestyle that I want?" Then, ask "why" at least 3-4 times.

Here's mine: I want a creative lifestyle, with lots of color, comfort, and room to move and dance. Why? Because movement and creation make me happy. Why? Because then I've either created something beautiful on paper, or with my body. Why? Because unlike my childhood self- I want to SHARE my beauty and creations with the world. I want to be a beautiful presence in the world. Why? I mean THE WORLD. I want to travel and be able to easily do so. I'd rather experiences over material possessions. 

3. Put everything of one type in a pile and discard everything that doesn't spark joy.

4. Reorganize neatly what remains.

via GIPHY

Did I lose weight using the Konmari method? Hell, no! However, I did end up reorganizing every room in the house for better flow. I can now have company over. I've rediscovered my fossils and put them on display. My hammock has been freed from it's proximity to the litter box, and I have enough space to hula hoop. It works for me.

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Let's learn: computer programming! When I was in school I didn't take this course, so this is a new one for me. I found a beginner course (for kids) at the whimsical and accessible CODE.org. I manipulated Zombies, directed Angry birds through mazes, and even got to create pictures using Elsa's ice skates. They have an extra component that allows you to rig the rules of Flappy bird, causing the bird to gain points by running into objects.

I promise that I was able to get Elsa to draw more than just a small line.

Coding appealed to me because it is described as a "computer language." If there is anything that I adore, it's learning languages. The coding that I learned functions exactly like a language in that it has strict rules, the rules can be applied together, and when the rules are applied together they need to be applied in a certain order to get the desired outcome.

I would recommend this site to anyone with a little free time on their hands. This means that I would recommend it to everyone. This is a perfect challenge for a snow day! While it is designed for children, critical thinking is key to solving the puzzles. As an adult I finished the puzzles very quickly, but still found the work that went into them entertaining. I wasn't turned off by an uninteresting course design, and I was given opportunities to apply what I learned immediately. This is a well made beginner course!

If you want to try something new I highly recommend coding! 

(for the curious: the language that we use on blogger is HTML and I am also obsessed with Frozen during the warmer months)