I’ve purposefully waited a few weeks to write about this, because after completing the discard phase of the KonMari method, I wanted to mull over the experience. It took me a little over 15 weeks to go through everything in the house, and it’s now been about a month since I finished. Here’s what I learned. Read More…
Category: Mental health
Konmari: Clothing Part 2 (What I Learned)
Yesterday I wrote about how I sorted out my clothing using the KonMari method, but today I want to share some thoughts on that process and what I learned from it. One thing I learned was about how much energy I usually expend justifying and rationalising my decisions. I’ve decluttered many times before, and I Read More…
Memorabilia and Emotional Energy
After a recent move, my mom unearthed more boxes of my stuff in her house. When I started going through them, I kept saying UGH, UGH, AHHHH! Perhaps this is an obvious sign that I should just get rid of the stuff, if just looking at it produces visceral disgust. But I, being myself, dutifully started Read More…
Good Habits for 2016
I won’t call these resolutions or goals, but I’m planning a few good habits I want to cultivate at the start of the new year. All of these fall under the umbrella of reclaiming some of my sanity and personality. Since having Edith, I am always sleep-deprived and therefore a little crazed, and I’ve realised Read More…
Virtual Clutter, or The Downside of Organised and Unlimited Space
I was talking to a friend recently who mentioned that she liked to make sure she deleted old documents on her computer, things like receipts from years ago. It struck me that I almost never do this – but that sometimes virtual clutter can weigh on my mind as much as physical clutter does. I’m Read More…
Getting Things Done: Reviewing
It’s been a while since I started a series of posts based on the book Getting Things Done, but I never actually completed all of the steps outlined in the book. Or, I should say, I never wrote about them all. I got this far: Collecting Processing Organising And, in fact, I would say that what I implemented Read More…
What if Good Enough Were Good Enough?
About a month ago, a strange feeling came over me. It was a strange sort of happiness with the idea of my thesis being good enough. Now, for years I have ended many a project with the reminder to myself, ‘It doesn’t have to be perfect.’ So I have handed in many an imperfect, but still Read More…
Autumn Plans
Autumn came in quite abruptly at the start of September, and this weekend is the official first day of autumn. I always have mixed feelings about this season. On the one hand, like many people I certainly love the changing colours, the excuse to start baking, and, yes, a seasonal Starbucks latte. Those blustery days Read More…
How Worry Becomes Anxiety
I’ve usually thought of worry as a normal thing for most people at some point, and a more frequent occurrence for people who would be considered ‘worriers’. I differentiated that from anxiety, which seemed a more chronic condition allied to depression and panic, and required more serious addressing like counselling, behavioural changes, or medication. And Read More…
Six Months
Today marks six months that we’ve been married. (Don’t worry, I’m not spending our six-month anniversary writing this. I wrote it in advance!) I thought, when we got married, that by this time I’d have some profound thoughts to offer, some deeply nuanced reflections – you know, ‘this journey’, ‘this wonderful adventure’, etc. To my Read More…