Are you living with clutter? Time to 'Tidy Up' -

Photo by Flickr Creative Commons User m01229

Six weeks ago, I moved in with two other people. We're in a tiny 3-bedroom home with no basement and a storage shed out back. (Read: We have very limited space.) I am climbing over unpacked boxes and Rubbermaid bins every night when I get home from work because I haven't committed to fully unpacking. It's overwhelming!

If I can live six weeks without opening those boxes and bins and remembering really what's in them, do I need any of it? What should I do with it if I don't?

Recently I watched "Tidy Up" on Netflix in which an organization specialist from Japan came to various homes in the United States and helped folks declutter. I watched a few episodes and got insipired to at least get rid of clothes.

On the show, Marie Kondo has the clients unload EVERY item of clothing they have from all of their closets, the laundry room, boxes, anywhere they have clothing — and pile them onto a bed. One family had a pile that touched the ceiling. Another had to use two beds.

As they went through their belongings, Kondo had them think about the article of clothing individually from the rest. When did you purchase it, or when was it given to you? Who was the giver? Does it mean anything to you? Is it something you love and wear regularly? If it isn't, put it in a pile to donate. But before you do that, say "thank you" to the item. Show appreciation for what it did for you.

I have not thanked my clothing. That part is a little weird to me. But I did think about each item and it helped me get everything down to one operational closet. What I mean by operational is I can sift through the closet without forcing clothes to be pushed to slide on the bar, and I can see all of my shoes. I don't miss the things I pulled off hangers and gently folded and placed in a bag to give to a woman at church whom I know will appreciate getting them. That's the other thing Kondo asks her clients to do — don't just throw the items in a pile, fold and place them and show care. It will be easier for the person or donation place receiving the items to unpack or consider.

I am a believer in minimizing, for sure, and that part of me is really faith-based. I know that God wants us not to be materialistic and to be givers. So as I sort through the tonnage, I think about His plan for me, and the saying that some folks use: "You can't take it with you." 

Just yesterday, my mom stopped by with a bag of stuff she had cleared from her home. I said, don't leave it here! We just have too much. She still left it (she won't ever listen to me, LOL!), and I am sure at least some of it will make it to my donation pile.

Organization is spurring me to focus on other things and have a clearer mind. How about you? Do you need to declutter?

Luke 12:33-34 (ESV):
Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

​Blog post author: Mandy Gambrell

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