What is it about the first of the year that makes me want to tidy up something? I think it has to do with wanting a fresh start. I even love the term “tidying up.” It sounds clean, sensible, British.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m tidying up.”
“Jolly good, then. Carry on.”
Spark Joy
During the pandemic shut-down, I became serious about tidying up. I watched the Marie Kondo series on Netflix and bought her book. I was hooked. For a while (because there was nothing else to do) I was taking her method seriously. I folded my undies and T-shirts into origami shapes and placed them neatly into drawers and went through my house asking myself if an item “sparked joy” or not.
Avalanche
Life goes on and my fascination with tidying up waned until the other day when a search for a stapler caused an avalanche of fabric in my office/studio closet. As a sewist, writer, and a creator of things, I end up with bits and pieces of fabric, sewing notions, buttons, patterns, rough draft manuscripts, notebooks, assorted pens and markers, books, journals… this and thats. Though fortunate to have a dedicated room for my creative life, the space is compact. Lately my tidying up style has deteriorated to stashing stuff in the closet, so I can run the vacuum across the floor now and then. Hence the avalanche. It was time to make a change.
Two Sides
The left side of my brain spoke to me. “You have two passions and two sides to your closet. Dedicate one side to writing and one side to sewing.” So I did. First, I purged (not a simple task for a writer or sewist) discarding anything that was not useful or did not “spark joy.” Along the way, I discovered long-lost treasures and that stapler I was looking for !
Then, following my left brain’s suggestion, I made a writing section, and a sewing section. I searched Target for a storage solution for my fabric, but didn’t want to spend $70 for the shelving unit. A trip to the Goodwill Store netted a barely used tv stand for $14.99 that worked even better! It fits into the bottom of the closet, is sturdy, has storage underneath, and it’s low enough to set two of my sewing machines plus my iron on top. Dollar store plastic shoe boxes were perfect for my smaller remnants. I didn’t even mind the origami folding. In fact, it was therapeutic.
According the title of Marie’s book tidying up is “life-changing.” Reading on, she says, “Put your house in order and discover what you really want to do.” I’m not sure Marie changed my life, and I may revert to my old ways (do NOT look in my clothes closet, pantry, or garage), but now and then when working on a new story or planning my next sewing project, I stop, open the closet doors, and smile.
Threads of Thoughts
What are some ways you have found to tame clutter for your creative projects?
If you’re not ready for a whole closet re-do, try a small project, a drawer or desktop. Then you can say “I’m tyding up.”
Jolly good then. Carry on.
For more stories check out:http://amazon.com/author/debravandeventer
Jolly good. Hip, hip, hooray for organization!
Keep Writing and Carry On!