Minimalism: Taking the First Step

Per my very first Minimalism post, KonMari says “The true goal is establishing the lifestyle you want after your house is orderly.” But you have to define that lifestyle and ask yourself several questions first.  KonMari highly stresses NOT to skip this step as it will delay the process and likely cause a rebound.  I am taking the first step and I invite anyone to join me in this process:

Stop, ask yourself, “What motivated me to want to tidy up?”
• Tired of seeing things I haven’t used in years that I wasted money on – especially shipping things when I moved from CA-NJ-CA-TX.  That doesn’t count the times I moved within CA, which was pretty much every year.  There are items being stored that are simply take up space, gather dust (so I have to wipe it down every so often), and don’t bring any value to to my life.
• Can’t find everything I want immediately. Life is too short to waste 15 mins or more looking for something. Then another several minutes putting things back in the place that I pulled out trying to find the thing I was looking for.
• I create piles of paper and I pretty much shuffle and move them around.  All this paper makes me feel unease when I see it, which is pretty much every day.  Per KonMari, we don’t need any paper in our house.  I’m doubtful I can get there because I’m a bit old school and like to touch my papers at least once a week vs. going online or picking up the phone for something, but let’s see when I get to that point.
• Want my house to be easy and fast to clean.  The other day, I wanted to wipe my office desk down.  It probably took me 15 mins to move all the piles of papers, pens, notebooks, random craft projects and stuff off of it (and put back to where they belong) just to see the actual table.   I did that last weekend and half my desk is covered again as I type this.  This is ridiculous.
• I realize I close the door to my office at night and on the weekends because of the two previous bullets so I don’t have to feel that unease looking at the mess when I walk past it down my hallway.  I also close the door because it is noisy from all the electronics – modem, router, dvr for security cameras, smart home hubs all generate a loud hum.  I don’t know what to do about that though.  It’s auditory clutter!
• If anything ever happens to my house or myself, I want to minimize the things that would need to be replaced or dealt with by my loved ones.  I know there are a lot of things that if were damaged, I likely wouldn’t miss.  Why keep those things to begin with?

Visualize the lifestyle you want to achieve.  Think in concrete terms to vividly picture what it would be like to live in clutter-free space.
• I’d like to walk through my door, smile at the appearance of my home, including furnishings and decor and loving gaze at my home that is my sanctuary.
° What does that look like?  My color scheme is primarily white, black, red and gray. An immediate comfortable and soothing modern zen atmosphere, with a touch of quirkiness noticeable only upon further scrutiny, that immediately persuades invited guests to feel right at home.   A living, dining and kitchen open concept floor plan that exudes the feeling of space even when filled with 30 people.
° Living room has an overstuffed plush sofa with bold throw pillows and cozy throw blankets that me and my guests can’t refuse. It is not uncommon to find guests accidentally falling asleep on my couch! From my smart enabled coffee table to state of the art entertainment system to unique personal items that perfectly reflects me scattered throughout the room, this is clearly the heart of the home where people gather and memories are made.
° Clean, modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances, simple straight lines in the cabinetry, quartz counter tops which have on them the right amount of my favorite kitchen tools.  In my cabinets are bone white china dishes, gadgets with pops of color and high quality pots and pans that I love using to cook delicious healthy meals for myself and others. This is the kitchen people want to come over to cook in! This is the kitchen memorable thanksgiving dinners are born from!
° Dining room has my favorite table – the one people comment on because it’s not typical.  And like my table, my convertible additional seating draws attention when I reveal seating for another 5.  Not only for eating, this room is where hours and hours of coop board game play goes down!  This is a room of abundance, energy, love and fun.
° My master bedroom is clearly my safe haven to relax, rest and re-energize.  My huge walk-in closet is incredibly organized and spacious.  It is easy to see everything and access anything.  It is filled with clothes that are not only comfortable, but make me feel wonderful.
° Bathrooms are clean, organized and uncluttered with unnecessary toiletries and linens.
° Office is clear and conducive to efficient and productive work.  It is a place where I can focus and be effective and still remain relaxed and at ease.
• Breathe in the scent of my home loving how my home smells. Fresh, clean, uniquely pleasant scent from healthy essential oils.
• Each and every day in my home I can go about my day accessing everything I need easily and quickly while coming across items or decor that brings a warmth to my heart.
• Ending my day with a clean uncluttered home that leaves me feeling at ease and a constant sense of gratitude for all that I have – especially time since I don’t have to worry about constantly battling the clutter, the mess and the disorganization.
• Go out and do things I enjoy, really live and spend time with family and friends without feeling like I should stay home and work on or clean my house instead.
• Be able to sit and do whatever I want, take a nap, read a book, watch tv without feeling guilty that I should be cleaning or tidying instead.
• Work on creative and crafty projects at my leisure.
• Find my passions in life, pursue them, and be able to do those all the time.

Then think WHY you want to live like that. Ask yourself why repeatedly 3-5 times to drill down to the true answers.
1. I want to enjoy life and not be so stressed out from my house.
2. I want to be happy.
3. I want to live a happy life because I fear I may regret what I did or didn’t do.
4. I want to feel I made the most of my life doing things that I enjoy and makes me happy instead of wasting precious time on things that don’t really matter.
5. Life is short, I don’t know how long I have and I want to make the most of it because my brother didn’t get a chance to. I know he would want me to do what he couldn’t and want me to change my lifestyle so I am happy and enjoying what life truly has to offer. I want to be a better version of me.  I want to successfully push myself out of my comfort zone to hopefully trigger change in myself and my behaviors to become a happier version of me.  And hopefully this will change my life for the better – much better!

That’s it!  I hope I did this to the level that KonMari was expecting.  If anyone has done this, I’d love to hear if I drilled down far enough or if I should go deeper before I actually attempt to physically minimize!