"Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?" ~ Marie Kondo, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up"

One day when Bruce and I first started dating, I drove up the long, winding drive to his house and found him in the garage, on hands and knees, scrubbing the garage floor with a toothbrush. True story, retold many times, so I know that I am not "calling him out" here. This is the man who would dry out the kitchen sink after he had finished using it. Dry it out! No offense to any of you who share similar cleaning practices - they have never been, and never will be - mine.

I am more of the "shove in the drawer and hope to find it later" kind. That is true too. No "coming clean". People who know me deep down know that this is the truth. So - all of these years later - where are we? I would have to say that for the most part we have done what I would hope most would do - we have each migrated toward the middle. Bruce is still by far the tidier of our two, but I haven't found him on hands and knees, scrubbing the garage floor in a couple of decades. I don't know if it's the "getting back up" part that has curbed this practice, or the mellowing of time. He is much more easy-going about the things that I cast aside till "later". I suspect it still bothers him, but not enough to make an issue of it.

I, on the other hand, have gotten better about putting things away. Bruce may be rolling his eyes as he reads this, but if he thinks back to earlier days, he knows that I'm right. In fact, I have found that I am much, much happier when there is a certain order to things. Not "anal order", but "calming order". There is a difference!

I recently came across some "testimonials" from those who have read, and followed through with the lessons, found in the life-changing art of tidying up, by Marie Kondo. 

"Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?" www.amazon.com

The life-changing art of tidying up, promises to help you bring order to your life, with no "rebounding". One should be able to get rid of all of the things that don't bring you joy, narrowing your clutter down to but a few precious, meaningful things.  Yeah, but......

With the exception of the shelves that I bought for my studio a few years back, I think that the newest piece of furniture that we own is a sofa purchased 14 years ago when we moved into our house. However,  I will readily admit that I like my "stuff". I love all of the things in my studio - each button, glue stick, skein of yarn, bead, you name it, I love it. I also love all of the family things that litter our shelves and table-tops. How could I rid myself of those things? I couldn't. But - I know that there is much under our roof that could go, and I know I'd be happier with it gone. Helping my parents downsize recently, and living in a one-bedroom condo over the winter have both helped to solidify this feeling.

So, yesterday I began with my closet, and I read the first few pages of the book. I'm not promising miracles, but I do know that the time for "downsizing" has been upon us for some time now. I will keep you posted!