What I’m Reading – July 7th

What I’m Reading Now:

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Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You by Jen Hatmaker – I’m not sure what to expect from this book. It makes me a bit nervous, to be honest, but I’m going to read it with an open mind and evaluate what she has to say as objectively as possible.

To See the Moon Again by Jamie Langston Turner – Still in pending mode, but I will read it once the library books slow down.

What I Recently Finished:

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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – The story of Coriolanus Snow from The Hunger Games. I loved this book! Highly recommended!!

Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life by Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein – This was a good book, but nothing earth shattering. My job is pretty routine, and I am pretty organized already, so there wasn’t much here that I found helpful. The only area I think I need to work on is going through my files and purging excess paper. But my files fit comfortably in two drawers, so I’m not really motivated right now to do it.

The Sorcerer of the North by John Flanagan – Book Five in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. This was one of my favorites so far. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next book.

What I’ve Added to my TBR list:

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Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer – the story of Twilight told from Edward’s point of view

The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan – Book Six in the Ranger’s Apprentice series.

Did Not Finish:

The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel – My foray back into the world of WWII novels. I had to stop reading this one. I didn’t enjoy the characters or the story, and I just didn’t want to read anymore.

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

Am I a Minimalist?

I think the answer ultimately is no, I am not a minimalist, but I have to admit the idea is very appealing. I do find myself looking at things differently now and recognizing when something has moved from useful to clutter, and then taking the steps to get rid of it. But there are still things I am definitely keeping just in case or for sentimental reasons which I don’t strictly need.

This month, I attempted the Minimalism Game, where you get rid of 1 thing on day 1, 2 things on day 2, and so on until day 30 when you get rid of 30 things. I made it to day 19 and got rid of a total of 190 things but then I just ran out of ideas on what to declutter. Having just finished the KonMari process on my whole house, I had already gotten rid of the obvious stuff I no longer wanted or needed.

I don’t feel bad about not finishing the challenge though. Instead I just feel good that I was able to do as many days as I did. It helped me refine my ideas about what things are important to me and what stuff is no longer needed. I also find myself getting more joy out of the items I have kept.

My biggest challenge now is getting into a better cleaning routine. I do tend to be a minimalist when it comes to expanding effort in cleaning my house, and I would like to do better in that area. Decluttering has definitely helped because there are fewer things in the way, but I still have room to improve.

How about you, are you a minimalist (or an aspiring one)?

Books on Decluttering

I started out my decluttering journey by reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, and I can’t recommend it enough. Her KonMari method of decluttering and organizing really made the difference for me. I finally feel like my house is under control.  There are aspects of the book that were a bit too out there for me, but overall it made a lot of sense.

I have since read Kondo’s second book, Spark Joy, and wasn’t as impressed with it as with her first book. But it was an easy read and since I checked it out of the library I could just return it when I was done.  It does contain a lot of illustrations, which are especially helpful for understanding her method of folding clothes.

Two other books I have read as well are Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki and The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson.

Goodbye, Things is a fascinating book that both details Sasaki’s journey towards minimalism and gives advice to would-be minimalists.  Although he has gone much farther down the minimalist road than I ever would, I found it inspiring to read his thoughts on the process and how it made a difference for him.  It contains a good mix of philosophy and practical ideas.

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning was also a quick read, although I don’t feel that it added much to what I have already read and watched via YouTube on the topics of decluttering and minimalism.  Magnusson’s main idea is that we should clear out our excess stuff before we die so that those we leave behind aren’t forced to deal with it all.  While I definitely agree with her premise, I didn’t get much else out of this book.

I know I haven’t gone into a lot of detail about these books, but hopefully this short review has given you some ideas of what you might like to read on this topic.  If you have other books to recommend, please leave me a comment and I will check them out.

Thanks and happy reading!

Decluttering, Part Two

I shared the beginning of my decluttering journey in part one of this series, including my introduction to the KonMari method.

After working my way through about half the categories, I was pleasantly surprised when my husband expressed interest in decluttering his things. We went through his clothes and he easily discarded at least 30-40% of them. One of the bags was so big it barely fit into the donation bin when we went to drop them off!

The main part of our closet

The other area in our closet

Given our success with his clothes, I asked him to help me tackle the pile of electronics that was in the family room. Again, I was shocked by how much he was willing to let go of. The items we kept easily fit into an empty basket we had on a shelf of the TV stand.

Since then, I have decluttered and organized my craft supplies as well as all the stuff in our little storage area – Christmas decorations, luggage and bags, and sentimental items. I even put my childhood photos into an album after having them lose in a box for many years. The only thing I really have left to go through is my son’s keepsakes.

I have been so amazed at how easy this method was and how much of a difference it made in my life. I am much more motivated to keep my house tidy and to clean more regularly.

Since (almost) finishing the KonMari process, I am much more aware of the items in my house and find myself noticing things that don’t spark joy and getting rid of them. I have kept watching videos of people decluttering on YouTube and even started watching videos on minimalism.

Minimalism is a fascinating topic. I’m not sure I will ever be a true minimalist, but I do feel I can continue to pare down my possessions from what they are. I also want to be more intentional about the things I bring into my life. Right now I am playing the 30 Day Minimalism Game. On the first day you get rid of one thing, on the second day you get rid of two things, all the way up to the thirtieth day when you get rid of thirty things.

What I got rid of today

I’m curious, what’s your experience with decluttering? Do you enjoy it or dread it?

Decluttering, Part One

I have been on a big decluttering kick lately. It started with me breaking down and reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I have the kind of personality that resists things that are popular but I’m glad I finally picked this one up.

I was hyper organized during my high school and college years, probably to the annoyance of my roommates. But marriage to a person who liked to hold onto everything and also struggled with organization made it very hard to stay that way. Once I was divorced, I found that my standards regarding clutter had relaxed somewhat. I still wanted to be organized but was a bit overwhelmed with my new life, so things weren’t always as put away as I would have liked.

When I picked up this book, I was two and a half years into a new marriage and had moved from an apartment to a house about six months earlier. We had mostly unpacked and had developed some good routines for running the house, but there were definitely some areas that needed help. My clothes had just been shoved into the closet any which way, my craft cupboard was empty while the supplies sat in boxes, and a pile of various electronic items lived in one corner of the family room.

Kondo’s advice to declutter by category rather than location and all at once rather than a little at a time was intriguing, as was her instruction to hold each item and ask if it sparked joy to determine its fate. I didn’t try it out right away though; first I looked up the KonMari method on YouTube and started watching videos of other people who were decluttering using it. After a few of these, I sat down with my little jewelry box and took everything out. I was surprised by how much was in there and even more surprised by the amount that ended up in the discard pile. I felt so good putting just the items I loved back in the box and returning it to its spot on my dresser.

My decluttered jewelry box

After that, I started decluttering different small categories of things. Each time I was very pleased with the results but it still took me a while to tackle my clothes, which is where Kondo recommends you start. But I finally opened my closet and it really wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. After that I was pretty eager to keep going.

One of my favorite transformations was where we keep our linens. It was piled high with sheets, towels, blankets, and pillows. I had been thinking we needed a better storage solution for that area, but once I was done decluttering, the space looked just fine as it was. Another area that I am especially happy with is my baking cupboard. It had gotten completely out of control and now it looks perfectly organized and clutter free.

My baking (and chocolate) cupboard

Click here for part 2, where I share more of my journey with decluttering and the KonMari method.