What Brings Me Joy?

Shop in Bloomfield, Ontario

We have lived in our current home for 34 years, raising 3 children as well as absorbing household items from our parents when they downsized. The majority of our furnishings were inherited including an old cabinet tube television that we brought home when Grandma D. died in 1990. She had the TV for at least 10 years, but it works well and is used often. 

A couple of years ago I watched Marie Kondo's series on Netflix and was motivated to organize and clear out a lot of belongings. I participated in a monthly challenge by the Minimalists where you are encouraged to throw out one item on the first of the month, two the next day and so on until you throw out thirty items on the last day of the month. But we keep accumulating more stuff. 

It is said that you should discard clothing not worn in the past year. Due to the pandemic, I have worn scrubs, pajamas and yoga pants with T-shirts. I got dressed up twice for funerals. My closet is full of clothes not worn in the past twelve months but I am hopeful they will be useful in the near future. 

Grandma's old TV brings me joyful memories

Today I started another purge and tried to deal firmly with my sentimental self. Just because it once belonged to Grandma, Mom or Dad does not mean I need to keep it now. Do I really want my children to sort through this stuff in the future? Marie Kondo advises people to keep items that bring them joy and to respectfully discard things you no longer have use for. I had forgotten about a lot of things uncovered today so they definitely are not sources of joy. 

One of the nice things about going away on vacation is that you only pack things you really need. It is amazing how little we really need to get by. I remember losing a suitcase when changing planes on a trip to Mexico a few years ago. It was four days before the airline found it but I managed quite well living with the essential things I always pack in my carry on luggage. Since then, I only pack a carry on suitcase when travelling by air. 

I have many more hours of work ahead to clean out closets, shelves and drawers and then my resolution will be to get rid of two items for every new thing brought into our home. It will bring me joy to have less clutter and fewer things to clean.