The magic of tidying

Hello @Pablo66 and welcome.

Thanks for your suggestions and encouragement. It sounds as though you've made good progress even it it took a while. I'm sorry you lost your job, I hope things have worked out to your satsatisfaction since then.

Hi @Dimity

I felt very lucky to read Ur response now, that u could see what I meant about rentals

Feeling joy at home and being able to recharge therr has been hard for me.

I have been decluterring according to marie kondos method

I am doing OK,

Today I gave away about 40 items of clothing.

I struggled for sure and started getting anxious, what if I need them???

But some items it did feel freeing, and also nice to pass on.

I still have clothes on my floor, as she says to out everything on the floor. This really overwhelmed me.

I am hoping it will be helpful and calming once I've finished sorting and discarding my clothes, I hold them and see what sparks joy.

@Dimity @Pablo66 @Eve7 @Delicatessen

Nice work @EternalFlower @it’s an interesting experience isn’t it? I went through my clothes about a year ago and filled 3 giant garbage bags. Which were subsequently snapped up. I had around 12 pairs of jeans if you can believe it.

Hi @EternalFlower i have major storage problems with my kitchen cupboards. Has literally gotten to the point of where if I get some new pot or pan - something else has to go! But I still usually find a way to make it fit in. I had a major clean out of my kitchen cupboards around six months ago…I must say it was rewarding. Don’t even mention Tupperware…

Hi @Dimity @have you ever had a problem re too many books? My bookshelves are overflowing. Excesses are being stored all over the place in bags…

Hi @Delicatessen Def an interesting process, lots of jeans sounds like that's something u love to lots of tops more than pants, and sad to say a lot too smilethat I buy hoping one day, also had tons of stuff ppl pasted on to me which I never wanted to give away. I never asked myself if I liked it, just kept it because I felt I had to.

I had a ruffled top I've won once or something that looked expensive and formal and I gave it away, I thought it had kind of stale, old vibes but it was hard, I still feel weird about being so brutal anout stuff.

I disagree with marie kondos books rules....i am a reader and my philosophy is as many books as possible.

Hello @EternalFlower @Delicatessen it's good to hear of your successes with decluttering clothes. It's several years since I bought much but I know there's stuff I'm not wearing so it's time I tackled my wardrobe again. Same with kitchen gear.

Books... well... I don't agree with Marie Kondo that 30 are enough. But I have far too many, mostly in storage. I was a voracious reader as a child, mostly library books, then became a compulsive book buyer.

I also have a fabric stash from the time I wanted to teach myself patchwork. That didn't work out but for several years I enjoyed buying the fabrics.

Dealing with my stuff now brings up anxiety and trauma that I have to push through. Odd how acquiring it must have given some sort of comfort.

Hi @Dimity same as you I love books, I buy a lot either new or second hand. Over the weekend I picked one up for free on the curb...I probably think because of money I buy what I can at op shops, not always my most love books but just ones I find...

Books would be next on my declutter list once I finish clothes but I don't know if I will do it.

I might skip that category.

Clothes is triggering for a lot of ppl I imagine, clothes we used to love or fit into...old sizes old styles.

While decluttering I came accross a pair of pants I wanted to give away, they didn't spark joy, I remember rhey were a teensy bit big, well, I tried them on and they fit now!

I rescued them from the discard pile, and felt bit self critical like I was being too sentimental.

The process is certainly hard.

Hi Forum Tidiers 🙋

I recently found out that my brother and SIL will be stopping by for a visit to my off grid dwelling sometime around the end of this month and mid next month.

I'm feeling overwhelmed by the thought of "other people”, let alone close family, witnessing my deplorable living situation and unkempt self.

So far I haven't managed to do a single thing to clean things (or myself) up!!!

I'm hoping that this will kick start the sorting, cleaning and tidying process but since I've learnt of the visit motivation has remained low and distress steadily increased...

Time is not on my side.

I've read through this thread and found much inspiration.

Take care,

RedHorse 🌹🐴

@RedHorse I understand your distress having just experienced something similar. I'm not sure that waiting for motivation works.

The only way I coped was by planning where I'd be entertaining my visitors and what we'd be doing... then putting out spotfires in targeted areas rather than trying to tackle the whole catastrophe.

Now that it still looks a bit better I might go back to the KonMari technique of dealing with categories. Before, I didn't have the space. I've been inspired by @EternalFlower @Delicatessen and @Pablo66 to try again.

By the way, I hope your move went well @TAB . I've been trying to follow your progress. Are you settled in yet?