Category: Thoughts

I’ve been keeping busy since Christmas by tidying and giving stuff away, mainly to family or charity. I’ve been following the KonMari method of cleaning from the book:

The life changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo.

The items I gave away mainly were clothing and containers. I had lots of tracksuit pants that I didn’t wear because the inside lining was polyester or nylon , which is irritating to my skin. I normally buy cotton clothing, but sometimes its very difficult since manufacturers don’t make many pure cotton items. But if I find one, its overly expensive for no good reason I can see.

I have been buying from Op shops or charity shops for years and can sometimes find good clothing that fits me, isn’t stained in weird places with strange colours and is a good price.

I had striped bags full of clothing, blankets, towels, face cloths, napkins, unopened packs of bulk underwear and socks. I went through everything and decided to give away most of it. I kept some things, but most of it wasn’t needed and I didn’t even realise having them or even remember buying some of them. I think I was a bit of a hoarder. Most of the bags are empty now.

I had more than 10 pairs of tracksuits pants. I kept 4 that weren’t itchy and gave the rest away. I had t shirts that didn’t fit anymore, some were old, some were childish and made me wonder why I had kept them.

The kitchen food containers were a hassle. I had some missing lids, and a pile of loose lids with no bodies. I guess containers are like socks.

I also cleaned out the kitchen drawers. I don’t know why I had 5 wooden spoons, but I don’t now. I kept one and gave the rest away, so they can find a new home.

I have 5 cups in the cupboard and 4 dinner plates and 4 small plates. I also found a box of Willow porcelain plates I was given years ago, that I’ll keep for special occasions.

Now my linen press, kitchen and cabinets, wardrobe are now clutter free. Things can breathe and I can see exactly where things are and what I have.

I’m not minimalist, but I’m not a hoarder, which feels good and less stressed when I open my wardrobe door and know that all my clothes I can wear are in there. I don’t need to look for something that isn’t itchy or tight or too long or too short. I dont need to search through bags and take bags down or move bags to get to other bags and I don’t need a ladder now to get to clothes. I even hung my good cotton business looking shirts as well. They’re all shades of blue, which is my favourite colour. I can see all the colours of my clothing and realised they are dark, so I want to buy more shades of colours and not just dark blue, brown, black and grey.

I was shopping and I found a beautiful Dr Seuss mug from the supermarket. I figured after the past 6 months or so, I need something nice after all my appointments and tidying and bad news.

I would recommend the book and the tidying process to everyone. It really does feel better being tidy and I don’t want to go back to being messy and cluttered ever again.

(c) ASD and me 2019.