Tidying Up A Few Things

in particular my sewing storage and it's been instructive to say the least. I have always enjoyed sewing - I used to make most of my own and my children's clothes and I've been a patchworker and quilter for many years - and although these days arthritis has made it much harder to do either I still have an interest in both. For a few years a lot of things (mostly health related) have forced me to do only the bare minimum of sewing - repairs and minor adjustments mainly - but for a while now I've been working through the house decluttering and generally organising things better, thanks at least in part to having reread The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.

I've always gone with the theory that's there should be a place for everything and everything in its place but if I'm honest things had gotten a tad out of order and that was no longer working. The reread of Kondo's book a year or so ago inspired me to get 'stuff' - and we do seem to have an inordinate amount of 'stuff' - organised. I could see the task was pretty monumental, though, and I've made the mistake of looking at what needs to be done and being overwhelmed by the task before. I knew I needed help if I was ever going to get anywhere and that's where Julia Bickerstaff's 100 Day Goal (I've talked about it before) came to my aid, that and a closed Facebook of fellow 100 Day Goalers which helps keep me and my micro actions accountable.

It has helped even if I've fallen by the wayside for a while when health and other problems have overtaken me. So far I've reorganised my clothing cupboards and drawers going along with Marie Kondo's recommendations, worked my way through the dining room and family room and I'm currently tackling what is known here as 'the playroom'. That's the room that contains my office and all my sewing and craft equipment. The office section is fairly orderly but the rest ... well, I'd rather not admit to the state of it. I knew it needed attention and kept putting it off but now I've bitten the proverbial bullet and have been working through the mess - and it really was a mess.

While I'm not quite finished - I still have one drawer to sort and tidy - I'm discovering a treasure trove of useful items among the dross and there is certainly a lot of dross. Some things have been gifted to Miss Three and a Half for dress ups - she went home the other day draped in necklaces that I'll never wear again and truth be told it's a mystery  why I ever thought I would. But there's a lot more. I found enough assorted fasteners - hooks and eyes and press studs - to last for several lifetimes I suspect. The same applies to zippers, a motley collection of bias tapes in colours I cannot ever remember sewing with, hemming tapes, iron-on patches, inter-lining and ribbons - so many ribbons. Then there are containers of different kinds of pins. I have no idea why I ever bought some - wedding and lace pins are not something I have ever had a need for. Oh and the sewing needles - there must be hundreds of many varied sizes and types. Along with all that there are tape measures, marking chalks, belt makings, buttons of all shapes and sizes, a punch for putting rivets in belts and a collection of travel sewing kits - why those are there or where they came from I do not know.

I have no idea what I am going to do with much of this. For the moment I have simply discarded the obviously useless and sorted the rest into groups which will have to be sifted through again when I can find a way to find anything useful a new home. I have a idea that there are charities that might find a use for some of it but that will take some time and investigation. Wish me luck.

What I've Been Doing Lately

I signed up for Julia Bickerstaff's 100 Day Goal starting on 1 January. The idea is that you set out goals and work towards them one microaction at a time and this, coinciding as it did with some life changing events around here which I might go into at some future time, encouraged me to rethink a lot in my life. My goals can be basically summarised as getting my life in order, doing more things I love and reconnecting with my wider family - sadly, as so often happens, I've lost contact with some over the years.

As part of getting my life in order I decided to go back and reread Marie Kondo's The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up which I bought not long after it first came out. Just as I made that decision she burst onto the public stage again in a TV series on Netflix. We don't have Netflix but obviously a lot of people do because the internet and news media are full of people talking about Marie Kondo and not always nicely. There are memes mocking her premise of only keeping those items that bring you joy. her personal choice to have only a limited number of books has sparked outrage as has her belief that you should thank inanimate items for their service. The last of these comes from the Japanese Shinto belief system and while it's not something Westerners are in habit of - or for that matter always comfortable with - doing it's hardly going to do harm, is it. All this rage, vitriol and mockery have reached quite extreme levels and I don't understand why. It's not as if she's standing over people with a whip forcing them to throw away things they treasure after all. This is a woman who wants to help you live a better life by keeping only that which makes you happy. How outrageous.

The thing is, as I've realised during this 100 Day Goal process and while making a major decluttering effort, we all hang on to things that we no longer need. Why not move them on? Sell, recycle or give them away so someone else can enjoy or use them. Honestly I'm shocked that I've found so many things that actually spark misery and I'm wondering why I still have a lot of them. Often they are gifts that I've been unwilling to part with them in case I offend the giver. A certain wedding present that has been in my china cabinet for mumble mumble years and which I've hated from the moment I saw it comes to mind. Then there's the necklace that sits in my jewellery box - also hated since the moment I saw it and, in my excavations yesterday, I discovered a truly hideous handbag that I had buried out of sight. Why? Truth be told the people who gave me those things are no longer even with us and haven't been for some time but I've been hanging on to items which in all probability they had long ago forgotten they gave me anyway. As well as other things where my taste has changed over the years there they all have sat, a weight on me and taking up precious space in my house and life.

The thing is if you apply the idea that something has to bring joy it is remarkably easy to get rid of things but it also makes you realise what is important to you and what you need to make you happy. That's why my books are staying. Books for Marie Kondo personally are not important but for me they are a constant joy. There may be a lot of them but because I've always culled those I know I'll never look at again quite ruthlessly, they, each and everyone that remains, bring me joy - and that's fine because everyone has to make their own decisions as to what brings them joy and what they need to keep as much as what they should throw away.

So, there you go. If you want me I'll be sorting through more of a lifetime's accumulation of 'stuff' and seeking out what gives me joy.