Yes, I admit! This hasn't been a series of beautiful posts for your eyes. I still hesitate to show you inside our shabby flat and belongings.
But I decided to do this series in MIRCHI KOMACHI blog, since I thought it’s important for everyone to consider about materialistic possession (including clothes) and life, which is related to the idea of MIRCHI KOMACHI.
So far, I have shown you only the process of our tidying up with Marie Kondo (Konmari Method) and haven’t shown any astonishingly changed “After” photos. Actually, there is NO such photos (yet). Why? I will tell you, read on.
Last Bits Of Our Tidying Up With Marie Kondo
As mentioned in the last episode, we did the remaining stuff + the last category “Sentimental Stuff” on the 4th Sunday.
My guy undertook his work-related stuff on/in his desk.
These are what he discarded. Looks like they are mostly the scraps of newspaper articles.
And “After” of his desk looks like this.
I’m not sure if it's organised or not. But I don’t touch/tell him anything about his work-related things, since I would hate it if he does that to mine!
So he completed his tidying up with Konmari since he didn’t have any “Sentimental Stuff” (according to him ;) ).
And while he was at it, I did my last bit.
There are some CDs and DVDs which I didn’t complete on the 3rd Sunday.
When I got a job in an Indian company and moved to Mumbai, online music/movies was not an option (at least for me). So I brought some of my CDs and DVDs. Also, I had been collecting DVDs of SRK films (yes, as a matter of fact, I am a fan of him!). I had this much disks:
I threw away most of the ones I burned myself. This much I discarded:
And I kept this much. I didn’t discard SRK DVDs except for lousy ‘SRK Dhamaka!’ walle.
And finally, my last category “Sentimental Stuff” was like this:
It consists of the clothes/bags/coasters made by my mum, letters/gifts I received after coming to India, etc.
Yes, it was indeed easy to tackle after completing all the other categories.
It didn’t become a lot less, but surely became light and only the things I want to keep.
The things I decided to discard today was this much. Not a lot.
This was the end of my tidying up with Konmari process. The moment came quietly with a tiny high five with my guy.
Feelings Right After The Konmari Process
I tell you my honest feelings. I don’t feel our flat has changed drastically. At all.
And I know the reason why.
Things I have in India are mostly those I gained after coming to India at the end of 2010.
I had lived in Japan for decades till then and had so so so many things. Everything from my past life from my childhood. The scraps of many different stages of my life. They're in my room in Japan. The room is now like a storeroom.
Things are not scattered though, pretty much organised, but of a totally overwhelming quantity.
If I tidy up that room, that would be my true Konmari moment.
When I do that, I will record the whole process and report you here in this blog. Would you like to see? A middle-aged Japanese woman tidying up her messy past life?
What I Gained
Having said that, there is something I surely achieved through Kondo-ing this time.
It is confidence. The confidence that I can keep my stuff only those “spark joy” for me and won’t increase unnecessary stuff. Judging things around me has become my habit.
It looks like my guy also got the habit.
The other day I received a phone case which I ordered for. My old case was torn and broken, and I really needed a new one. But I liked only one among hundreds I saw on the internet. I knew it would take more than one month for this particular one to reach, but I didn’t go for any other easily-available ones.
When my guy saw that I waited for a long time and finally got the one I loved, he said: ‘you bought the only case which sparks joy’.
What Is The Aim Of Tidying-up?
Minimalism, possessing the minimum quantity of things, seems to be pretty popular nowadays. I saw so many people talking about it for some years till now.
I always thought minimalism is not for me. Because one, I didn’t think I had the courage to live with "only 10 clothes" and all, and two, some of these "minimalists" looked like competing on how little they possess rather than the quality of life they acquired.
But one of the articles in my favourite blog (http://longe-bose.nyc/longebose/2017/4/10/meet-minimalist-fumio-sasaki-goodbye-things It’s in Japanese) let me understand. It says that the concept of minimalism is/should NOT be how little one possesses but the idea towards the possession. It is to surround yourself only with the things which you selected without compromise. If you do so, you wouldn’t need anything else, you’d even feel that there’s nothing better in the world than those.
Basically, he’s saying the same thing as Konmari in different words; “spark joy” and “without compromise”.
The aim of Konmari Method and minimalism is, I think, to recognise one’s obsession/dependence on material possession and become free from it = live life rich, focusing on true happiness rather than fake happiness/satisfaction by buying new things all the time.
“What Happened After Konmari Method”
As mentioned in the title of this blog series, the important part is “After” part.
Thank you so much for putting up with all these boring and ugly posts on mere "process" of our Kondo-ing. The most important part has yet to come, actually!
My guy and I will slowly experiment how we can make a fun flat to live in. The future episodes will come after some time. Stay tuned, those of you who’ve survived these episodes would surely enjoy the upcoming reports!
And if you have done Konmari Method or in the process, please do share your experience with us (in the comment section below).
Bonus Video
I mentioned about cob house in the last Bonus Video.
The cob house images you see in Pinterest are mostly stylish ones made by Westerners. But actually, such way of making houses is a traditional one in some parts of India and some other non-Western countries.
This video is about one of them.
What's your dream house like?