Day 1. I Discover the "Method"

I'm a messy person. I start the day looking for my glasses, my phone, my keys. In addition to the inconvenience of always losing items, I shudder when I think of how much time I've lost looking for things when I could be doing something more productive, or even fun. And I know, I know, if I returned objects to their 'special places' I wouldn't lose them. But I did not, maybe could not, follow that simple solution. However, browsing the internet one day I thought maybe I'd found an answer to why I didn't clean up my life. My key tapping fingers discovered the highly praised and best selling book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing,” by Marie Kondo.

As a researcher type person, I was skeptical of all the hype and looked at as many excerpts and reviews on line that I could find. They convinced me I should at least read the book and soon. But I was a thousand miles and a few weeks from home so I did something I'd never done before. I was so eager to change my life or at least declutter it, I didn't want to wait until I got back to get a hard copy of it. Curiosity won over my preference for holding an actual book in my hands as I read. I downloaded the Kindle app to my cell phone and bought the e-book version. Wow, I thought, I've already started changing my life.

It was so engaging, I was hooked. I whipped out my phone and read a few pages whenever I had the time. Of course, I'm a self improvement junkie. I already had several book shelves filled with books on the subject, from the grandfather of them all, The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, to the more recent At Home with Madame Chic by Jennifer L. Scott, Shelter for the Spirit by Victoria Moran, and Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen. As you can see, I'm an equal opportunity reader. If it promises a better life, I read it. A few of these books are pictured here with pride of place the Kondo book.

Marie Kondo not only sounds like a great tidier, she also sounds like a very good psychologist. And she promises her method of tidying-up which had changed her clients' lives, would do the same for anyone who followed it. Boy, I couldn't wait to finish reading it, get home and start working on this new project. I have a good life, but I'm American and I always want more and better, right? And really, I'd just like to always know the location of my glasses, phone, and keys.

I could understand why those who read it were enthused. Of course, every self help book comes with an enthusiastic audience. The few negative reviews were from readers who didn't like the idea of thanking your possessions and the place where you lived. Being concrete realists they knew these objects had no feelings and could not respond to anything their owner said. However, even if you don't believe that, think of the effect on yourself when you give thanks. In fact, that is the premise of Simple Abundance by Gretchen Rubin. Being grateful changes you and your feelings about what is in your life. I decided Marie Kondo was a special person, and I should listen to her.

Her examples and her philosophy seemed reasonable to me, and certainly worth trying out. I thought of some beautiful serving bowls and platters that I never used because they were too hard to get out. Maybe because my kitchen cupboards were cluttered with thrift store, ugly thick bowls. I felt they were good enough for every day, while my 'good' stuff was stored away. I had as a goal, not to change my life, although that might be nice, but to just be able to find and use my 'joyful' objects.

I could hardly wait to get home and to start on my clothes—the category she stresses should be first. However, I already had caveats for her method. I didn't see myself throwing all my clothes (from three closets—regular clothes, dressy clothes, and outer wear—and dresser drawers) in a pile on the floor and going through them one at a time. I thought I would have to fudge on that one. And books. I have books throughout my house, in every room. Was I really going to have to pile them up before I could go through them?

I decided the best way to determine if her method worked for me was to record what I did, and to describe if I deviated from her method, and what happened next. Would my use of her method really be life changing?

Driving home cross country, I pictured silently greeting my home when I walked into it and telling it how grateful I am for its service to me and how joyful I am to live in it. Let's see how that works out.

Next Tuesday I'll report on my attack plan for dealing with the Kondo Method.