This subject is something most, if not all of us, have had some experience with at one time, the upkeep of your home or living space. Even from childhood, you are told to clean your room and keep it neat. And if you were anything like me, it was a chore you hated. It never used to bother me, the so-called 'organised chaos' I lived in. I knew where everything was, more or less. Or so I always claimed.
As an adult, something has changed. I find myself looking around my chaotic living area and cringing. Not only that, but the amount of times I know I have a specific item, but cannot find it anywhere, has happened more than I want to admit. It was starting to affect my mental well-being. Maybe not in a big way, as other things can, but it was there, in the background, chipping away.
Breaking Point?
I cannot really say there was a definitive breaking point for me. There were probably a few if I am honest. I know I cried at least twice about the situation, but, I also know PMS was a large contributor in those particular cases. The frustration of not being able to find things, of having stuff covering every surface, of occasionally kicking a box of stuff that was on the floor somewhere. The frustration of not being able to craft, because I first had to clear some area to actually be able to do anything. The fear of having guests show up. Each of those tiny things started adding up and I reached a point where I just wasn't willing to carry on like this.
I wish I could tell you that within a week, I had turned everything around. That my living area looked like something out of a magazine. But I live in the real world and I am a flawed human being.
The Clutter Cycle
I found that no matter how many times I cleared or tidied a particular area, within a week, it seemed like I had done nothing, as that area had returned to its former cluttered self. No matter how hard I tried to organise everything and try to ensure everything had a designated spot, it never seemed to work. Sometimes it went great until you needed to get something out and before I knew it, everything was a mess again.
Eventually, I had to admit it to myself. Something was wrong. Whether it was me or something else I did not know. But it was clearly pointless to continue doing the same thing, as it was getting me nowhere with the issue.
Research
I had a problem and no clear solution. Here is where the scientist in me kicked into action. I started diving into research. Now the way I write this, it sounds like I did all of this over a week. That isn't the truth though. I have been looking into this issue for at least a year, probably longer. So don't be fooled.
Searching the internet yielded a plethora of results (doesn't it always). But a couple of things stuck out and caught my attention. Minimalism was one of them. So I began reading blog posts and listening to podcasts and yes, eventually even reading full books on the subject.
And yes, the whole minimalism 'craze' can have its toxic side. I am not going to go into that in this post. Instead, I am going to focus more on what I took away from Minimalism.
One of the books that stuck with me is Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki, Eriko Sugita (Translator). He makes so many interesting points in his writing. One of his points that really stood out to me the most though, was that people often try to communicate their personality and values through their possessions.
An example of this could be amassing a large number of books or DVDs. Fumio Sasaki admits to having a huge collection of books that he never read. Most of them he flipped through once at best. He was trying to convey himself as an intellectual with depth. And thus through this trying to convey his own worth. This whole line of thought hit me differently. I started to think about the things that I have in my home that I may have simply because I was trying to convey something specific about myself.
The other particular point that hit me, was when Fumio Sasaki pointed out the time and energy needed to properly maintain all your possessions. There is a particular example he mentions that I will include here. To say that example hit home hard would be a bit of an understatement. It made me look at items in my home a lot differently.
Now many minimalists take the concept to the extreme, like owning only 100 items (including clothing, crockery, cutlery and so on). Their homes are filled with wide-open empty spaces. Some live out of backpacks. But all of us are different. I know for a fact that I definitely would not find happiness living out of a backpack. I am not sure that I would like wide-open empty rooms either. But what I did realise is that I probably have too many things for the current space I am living in. That is likely why I have clutter everywhere most of the time.
The Purpose
The purpose of these diary entries is mostly going to be for my own sake. I am going to try to organise my thoughts and keep track of strategies I try as well as their results. No, I will not be adding before and after photos. I am too much of a private person to openly show my dirty laundry on the internet.
I would also like to hear everyone's thoughts and strategies around how they keep their home or room or living area in order. Or even if that is something important to them at all?
Thanks!
As always, thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read my ramblings. Hopefully, the next entry will be a bit more exciting.
Credits:
Canva for photos and formatting of images in this post.