It started with a plumbing problem.
Back in the dark days of February, my laundry room drain backed up. Water got into the adjoining cedar closet and rec room, and I had a terrible time cleaning it up because the closet was stuffed too full of junk.
In the midst of mopping the floor and calling plumbers, I took a break and happened upon the “Forty Bags in Forty Days” challenge. “That’s what I need to do!” I thought, and posted about it on my Facebook page. A friend saw it and posted a link to Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Of course, I wanted to read rather than going back to my cleaning/plumbing tasks, so I bought the book and read it.
And . . . it worked. Wow, did it work! I’ve become a tidying machine! The details belong to another blog entry (in fact, I’m about to post a series about tidying on my blog, Flawed Christian Woman). But the interesting thing was, as I sorted through my excess stuff, I sorted through some life issues too.
Almost four years ago, I moved into this house in a state of shell-shocked grief about the sudden demise of my marriage, worried about how to manage my finances, my job, and my distressed ten-year-old while taking care of a house single handedly. I don’t blame myself for just throwing junk into closets, but now I’ve come to a place of being ready to sort it all out.
I discovered that a lot of my stuff triggers emotions, and that getting rid of it forces me to deal with the underlying feelings. Wedding photos? Dumped. Too-big and too-small clothes, reflecting fluctuations in weight and body image? Dumped. Unfinished self-improvement projects—yarn for knitting a complicated sweater, audio programs to learn Chinese, a tofu press from the vegan phase? Dumped.
I shed some tears throughout the process, especially as I sorted through my daughter’s little-kid toys and “I love you, Mommy” drawings. Some of that precious stuff got carefully placed in boxes safe from water and weather, stored for keeps.
You should see my house—it looks AMAZING! And my heart is so much lighter. The only unhappy people are the trash collectors who have to deal with the piles I’ve discarded each week, stuff that’s too junky to donate.
The bible has a lot to say about possessions, and the gist of it seems to be: they don’t make you happy. Jesus even said to get rid of stuff: “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12: 33-34).
With the weight–physical and emotional–of some of my possessions gone, I feel like I can concentrate more on what’s really important.
How’s your spring cleaning going? How are your closets . . . and your heart? Let us know today in the comments section, and I’ll gift one random commenter a Kindle copy of Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
Lee Tobin McClain read Gone With The Wind in the third grade and has been an incurable romantic ever since. Lee is the author of the Sacred Bond series of contemporary inspirational romances and also writes the Rescue River books (angsty, but full of fun kids and dogs) for Harlequin Love Inspired. When she not writing emotional Christian romances, she's probably driving around a carload of snarky teen girls, playing with her rescue dog and cat, or teaching aspiring writers in Seton Hill University's MFA program. She is probably not cleaning her house.
Great post! I’ve been a hoarder my whole life. I’ve got more junk tucked in boxes than I know what to do with. Instead of a closet to throw my junk in, I’ve been throwing my stuff in an extra bedroom. I can barely walk in it anymore! I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently about going through things and getting rid of it. My rule as I approach this endeavor is going to be: If I can’t remember where I got, who I got it from or why I got it, then chunk it. I am the same way in my classroom. I finally asked a friend to come in and “supervise” me. If she couldn’t figure out what it was used for, she chunked it. That summer she got rid of almost 40 bags of stuff and my classroom has been a happier place ever since. I need to follow your example and do the same thing with my room.
Great post! Dealing with the memorabilia of our past can be heartbreaking and liberating at the same time. I’ve had the misfortune of having to clean out after someone has downsized or passed away. It made me realize I don’t want to put my husband or son through that kind of work when my time comes. So many things we hold on to don’t mean anything to anyone else. I heard someone say on a t.v. show one time to take a pic of anything you wanted to remember and get rid of the thing. Pics take up much less space. You keep the happy memory and save the space. You made me want to get up and clean out a closet. Thanks for sharing!
LeAnne, you should definitely get Marie Kondo’s book! She has you handle every item you’re sorting through and if it does not “spark joy,” out it goes. It really works!
Ha, Angel, the problem is sorting through pictures! But it’s true, they don’t take up near as much space. I once cleaned out the office of a work friend who’d passed away, and like you, I realized how much of our stuff doesn’t really matter. Thanks for reading!
Great blog post. I have been a hoarder but living in a 1 bedroom apartment makes it hard.
I vacillate between hoarding and organizing.
Now I am just messy. lol
Loved your post, Lee. I’ve moved a lot and with every move have gotten rid of needless stuff, but it seems to accumulate quickly. In our last move, I even threw out our high school and college year books. Some thought that was going overboard, but when did I ever look at them. They were taking up space, and I didn’t want to move them. I threw out all the hard copies of manuscripts that I had stuffed in a cabinet. Even after we got moved, I would find things and wondered why I had kept them. My biggest problem is getting rid of clothes. I always think I’ll wear it sometime even when I haven’t put it on in over a year. Got to get better with that.
Great post Lee. I need to spring clean desperately. If given the choice I always decide to write rather than spring clean. I have a hard time getting rid of things that make me happy. Memories. Photos. Letters. Cards. But my husband keeps me grounded since he hates clutter. If I have a mess he uses the expression “Hoarder-esque” which scares me senseless. After watching a few episodes of that show I always feel like cleaning up. Happy Spring! Belle
Hi, Lee! This is a great post and just what I needed to read! I am trying to tackle spring cleaning and the messes just seem to keep growing. Marie Kondo’s book sounds great!
Lee, fascinating post! And timely for me as well :) I’ve just finished a novella and my next job is catching up on all the household jobs I’d postponed until AD (after deadline). Thanks for sharing your inspiring story and spring cleaning tips.
Merrillee, the way I decided about clothes was to ask myself “does it spark joy”? That’s a Marie Kondo question and it really helps! I was keeping a lot of stuff out of obligation (this was expensive, I ought to wear it) or hope (maybe someday I’ll be a size six again) and that was dragging me down. Thanks for commenting!
I think writers may be among the messiest people around! Good to know I’m not alone.
We’ve gotten rid of a LOT of stuff over the years…between moving across the US twice and from house to house for a couple of years….it just got to be too much stuff to haul! I know there are boxes of stuff I NEED to go through yet, but I think about it, and it’s just too much effort! It’s not like I’ve even OPENED them in 6 years, lol!
I used to put out knick-knacks, but after packing & unpacking them so many times, it was just too much to put them out…and less dusting, lol! So I know I could probably give those up pretty easily. I’m almost afraid to look at them again & start reminiscing about times past & then not have the heart to give them up. It all sounds so terrible when I write it down, doesn’t it! But, I am good about this…if I buy something, it’s with the intent of giving something away I have. And I do! Especially when it comes to clothing, I can’t stand to see a closet full of things I never wear. My rule of thumb, if I haven’t worn it for 6 months, it goes! So see, I do have some semblance of discipline! :-) I just know I can do better. The task sometimes just seem too overwhelming, but one step at a time & it will get done! Before I know it, I’ll have gotten rid of things I no longer need, want or use! Now to get the energy up to start…lol!
Great article! I liked how you tied it to the Bible and reminded that ‘things’ can’t make us happy. Giving them away, however, can and does make me smile. I needed a reminder – thanks! Gonna tackle one closet tonight! (well, maybe half of a closet – they are pretty packed!)