Hot of the mark from organizing my pantry in an attempt to eat my house clean (Looking for Accountability Coaches …… Eat your house clean challenge), I decided to tackle the closet. I had heard recently that on average woman only wear 20% of what is in their wardrobe. Could that really be? I’m sure that I am not alone in thinking I’ve nothing to wear as I stand there looking at a wardrobe full of clothes. Mind you this is the same woman who claimed to have nothing to cook up a meal with whilst her house was full of food. Yet I think there are those that can relate to this phenomenon that seems to afflict woman of all ages.
About two years ago when everyone was talking about the life-changing KonMari method of tidying I also jumped on the bandwagon, after all I had always enjoyed a little origami, so why not update my skills by folding clothes using intricate folding patterns? The fundamental basis behind Marie Kondo’s method is quite simply ‘joy’. The item if you are to keep it must immediately generate warm fuzzy feelings whilst holding it, if the opposite is true then the item must be discarded. In order to speed the process Marie Kondo does insist that one should not try on the hundreds of pieces of clothing you have stacked up in a pile approaching ceiling height on your bed. Instead one must hold the item firmly with both hands and wait to see if our internal self is radiating yellow beams of joy.
Unfortunately, two years on and I find myself in need of another major overhaul. Marie Kondo I failed you, though I have to say I am still practicing my origami skills folding my T-shirts. As I began to gather all my clothes on the bed today, I noticed an abundance of leopard print, had I subconsciously tried to connect with my primal state and taken it to far? It was at this point that I deviated from the KonMarie method and rather than organizing by item, I decided to organize by print. I was certain that by using her tried and tested method of holding items to see whether they spark joy would help to whittle down my leopard print collection. I was wrong, holding each item filled me with so much joy that it generated enough warm fuzzy feelings to heat my whole apartment.
Animal print is either something you hate or love. My boys are fascinated by it and always ask if its real and can they touch it? My husband on the other hand takes one look and asks, are you really wearing that out? I on the other hand can remember buying each and everyone of the items above, where I bought them, who I was with, what special occasion I wore them to, how discounted they where, how I felt when I purchased them, I can tell you that and more. I’m not sure Marie Kondo would consider my efforts at tidying a success today, given my wardrobe still has that overwhelming presence of leopard print. However the efforts did reinforce how much joy leopard print in any shape and size sparks in me. What can I say other than I am woman hear me ROAR!
Pretty On A String 