What? You are reading a book on tidying up?
Where did you find such a book?
Who is teaching you how to tidy up things, considering your house is so neat and tidy already?
How do still find things to sort out? Whenever I talk to you, its about spring cleaning/winter shedding/summer decluttering… time you stopped all this, dont you think?!
A few comments and remarks which came my way when I spent Saturday night reading this book, and then, just had to share this Eureka book with friends and family. There is a pertinent point in these “Who, What, Where, How questions” and I can see their point alright.
This house is airy, spacious and looks neat most of the time. There is adequate storage space for my belongings and collections. I do periodic spring cleaning sessions in which clothes, books, curios and stuff are given away. I should be comfortable and glad and content here.
I am comfortable and glad to live here, but I am not content with this burden of clutter around me….of every variety and category. Books which I will never get around to reading, papers and notes which will not see the light of the day, gifts and presents which are just not me. And then, there are clothes, calenders, letter pads, file covers, extension cords, CDs , crockery, blankets.
Clutter around me gets reflected in the mirror of my mind. What am I doing today/next week/ this year/ in the future? Am I going to expand my knitting interests? Is it time to park my posterior on the chair and work on my writing? Should I go for a long trip to Europe and the US and gather wool? And then, there are friends and conversations, family and gatherings, dogs, neighbors, thoughts and giggles.
On a quiet day, when the mountains glitter in the clear blue sky and the pine trees whisper their song to nesting birds, I want to sit and think, meditate, plan some writing or knitting or travelling adventure, I can feel the clutter creeping out of its hiding places,silently and inexorably, and covering my creative intentions. All that stuff which I need to sort out/file/act on/clean and clear comes with its own side-dish of guilt and frustration. And there goes the quiet thinking and being-me time.
Its going to be three years of leaving the city and a rewarding career to live a peaceful and joyous life with activities which matter to me. In these three years, I have worked with women to make them expert knitters.I have walked and talked and settled down in this town. I have been writing posts in this space and I have even been recognized and appreciated by others. I seem to have made a successful transition from the city into the mountains. I have good friends, a comfortable home, good times with friends and family and a new activities out of old hobbies. By all external “parameters”, I have done well.
Internally, I know that this is far from the actual situation my mind lives in. I want to knit more, I want to write more, I want to be fit and healthy, I want to cook more, I want—– ( so much more). Every desire comes with its own corollary, its own demands and pay-offs, its own ups and downs. I can see it all, I have laid my cards on the table, and I am not choosing to pick up any card from that chaotic heap on the table.
There are, however, a few cards which I have already chosen and they are going to continue to spark joy in my mind.
- The decision to live in Ranikhet, for as long as I live on this Earth.
- Gratitude and happiness for the daughters who have been born to me, and who have brought me up so well.
- Choosing to be gregarious, chatty and keen to know the lives and loves of others around me.
- Knitting, crocheting, crafting, making things and sending them out to people who are happy to have them.
- Writing words and sharing sentiments here, on emails, and in heartwarming conversations.
The catch words above, “spark joy in my mind” are now going to be applied to the clutter in my external world. Marie Kondo has hit many a nail in my head, by putting processes and systems to catch the clutter floating around me..
I am still working my way through the chapters, I am still working the practical magic into the house and I am still working on making my choices from the cards on the table.
But, I can feel faith flowing in.
“Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.”
― Rabindranath Tagore