Tidying

Tidying. The act of bringing to order or arranging neatly. I have just begun reading the book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. The title had me at the word tidy. It seemed so innocent, so innocuous. " Pardon me while I go tidy up for a few seconds," as opposed to "Don't look for me until spring as I have some cleaning to do." Kondo has deviced  a method of evaluating your possessions to determine which will remain a part of your life. She asks the question, "Which things do you own that spark joy?" Those are the things to keep, to treasure, to enjoy. This sounded easy enough until I realized how many possessions I actually owned. She says the reason we can't let go of something is based only on two things: attachment to the past and fear of the future. I definitely see my attachment to the past as I am very sentimental. These are the hardest possessions to part with. As far as fear of the future, I do find myself holding on to things thinking that someday I might need them. I suppose in some ways it might be easier to not even worry about tidy up right now. However, I know managing possessions can become a full time job. I am basically a tidy person by nature, but I know when the time comes to downsize and move to a smaller home it will be much easier if I've already tidied up. As I continue on my quest of paring down I'll look to keep those possessions which spark extra joy.