{"id":1306,"date":"2017-01-09T07:01:41","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T14:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/?p=1306"},"modified":"2017-05-16T23:30:03","modified_gmt":"2017-05-17T05:30:03","slug":"sparking-joy-to-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/sparking-joy-to-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"sparking joy to 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Our first week of the year was definitely a great start to 2017. It consisted Reading\u00a0<em>The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up\u00a0<\/em>by Marie Kondo. \u00a0I can definitely agree that it was life changing. \u00a0Doing this the first of the year was ABSOLUTELY the best way to start of 2017. Out with all of the old stuff and in with newfound joy. I seriously felt like a completely new person once we finished and I felt like I could conquer the word.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1310\" src=\"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_4404-e1483937586523-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_4404-e1483937586523-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_4404-e1483937586523-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The basic thesis of the books is this &#8211; if doesn&#8217;t bring you joy, don&#8217;t have it. Now, there is absolutely nothing that I can write that will convince you to do this or to do it right unless you read the book yourself, so please, go and read it and you will understand more about what I am saying.<\/p>\n<h1>KonMari Method Overview<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Define Your Vision<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Why did you read the book in the first place? What do you want your home and to look like and feel like when you&#8217;ve finished? How do you want to feel when you step inside your home? What do you want to see when you go to bed at night? \u00a0For me, I wanted to feel peace and calm in my home. I wanted to feel joy and did not want my home to be something to cause me stress, but an oasis and a refuge. \u00a0I also want it to feel warm and inviting for others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Discard by Category (not room)<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>This was something that I had not thought of before. \u00a0Typically we think, &#8220;okay, it&#8217;s time to clean my office!&#8221; And then we take all of the things in the office and put them in new places. Marie Kondo points out that this just makes it so much easier to make a mess again. \u00a0Pick a category, and put all of those things on the floor. \u00a0Start with Clothes, then books, papers, miscellaneous, then sentimentals. \u00a0You want to start out with the things you have the least attachment to (clothes) so that you get the hang of discarding by the time you get to the more difficult things.<\/li>\n<li>I loved how this tidying methodology is completely centered around discarding, and not organizing. \u00a0It is so much easier to stay organized when there is less stuff to organize, in my opinion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1309\" src=\"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_4413-e1483937041423-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_4413-e1483937041423-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_4413-e1483937041423-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hold Each Item<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>After you get all of your clothes on the floor, for example, you then need to pick up each item individually and ask yourself, &#8220;does this spark joy?&#8221; If it does, keep, if not DISCARD!<\/li>\n<li>Thank each item that you discard. \u00a0I know this sounds weird, but it is actually really important. \u00a0I loved how Marie Kondo points out that each thing served its purpose at its time. \u00a0I had a shirt that I bought thinking that I loved it, but I hardly ever wore it because it didn&#8217;t fit quite right and I didn&#8217;t love it. Marie points out that it served its purpose in the joy of buying the item, but that it no longer had a purpose because it did not spark joy for me anymore. \u00a0I can thank the shirt for what it did for me at the time, but then it is time to say goodbye. Real talk though, I had a really hard time saying goodbye to old college textbooks. They don&#8217;t bring me joy, but I just hate giving books away (hence the look on my face).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1308\" src=\"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG952017010295113718962-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG952017010295113718962-1024x575.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG952017010295113718962-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG952017010295113718962-768x431.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG952017010295113718962.jpg 1944w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Every Item Needs a Home<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Everything you own needs a place to go. \u00a0Not just on the counter, or by the couch, or wherever I happen to set my keys down. \u00a0I think this is definitely the hardest thing for me to actually do, but as we discarded and sorted everything, we tried to define places for things to go. \u00a0Now it is just a matter of creating the habits to actually put the things in the right place&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The reason why this book is so successful is not because she provides crazy secrets to organization, but it is because she provides a completely new mindset and way of looking at our homes and the things that we are surrounded by. \u00a0Does this spark joy? No? You don&#8217;t need that in your life!<\/p>\n<p>As someone who is very much focused on pleasing others, the hardest part for me was parting with gifts or sentimental items that didn&#8217;t mean much to me anymore. \u00a0They provided joy at the time they were received, but now they are taking up space that we don&#8217;t have in our little apartment. \u00a0I thank the things and all they did for me and then put them in the donate pile where I know someone else can get much more joy out of them.<\/p>\n<p>This was our minivan full of stuff to donate. \u00a0We got rid of three bags of clothes, three boxes of books, 2 boxes of miscellaneous stuff (kitchen stuff, decorations, etc). and some furniture we never use.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1307\" src=\"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_1195-e1483937230140-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_1195-e1483937230140-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_1195-e1483937230140-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This was one of the most refreshing things that I have ever experienced. \u00a0As we did these things, I was filled with more joy than I had felt in a long time. \u00a0Our home is a place where we deserve to be filled with joy. \u00a0It is YOUR HOME! Make it yours, and make it joyful to live in.<\/p>\n<p>There are still a lot of things that I could potentially discard, but I will take it one step at a time. \u00a0Meanwhile, go and read the book! Adapt it to your lifestyle. \u00a0It really was refreshing and the best way to start out the new year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our first week of the year was definitely a great start to 2017. It consisted Reading\u00a0The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up\u00a0by Marie Kondo. \u00a0I can definitely agree that it was life changing. \u00a0Doing this the first of the year was ABSOLUTELY the best way to start of 2017. Out with all of the old stuff [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[20],"tags":[24,48],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1306"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1525,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306\/revisions\/1525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}