Kondo-ing the clutter

It’s the New Year — for whatever reason we pick this one time to start off fresh by making resolutions and trying to change something about us. The first week of January, more than any other week of the year, seems to excite and energize most of us.

I did some serious general cleaning on the first Sunday of the year. Anyone who saw me that day would think I was either possessed by Marie Kondo herself or delirious from an extremely high fever.

I read somewhere how the state of one’s living space reflects one’s mental state. If this is true, then I’m probably on a whole new level of crazy.

It’s no secret how I’m not a very organized person. Folding clothes and fixing my closet is a daunting task for me. It’s something that I’d usually hold off for another time until it gets so bad I could no longer close my dresser.

It’s not always about me being just tad lazy. It’s more about how I don’t want to be bothered and would just like to rest after a long day’s work. Weekends are probably the best time to do it, but I would defer because it’s also my only chance to do other errands outside the house or go out with family and friends.

Okay—I know that’s not enough reason for having a cluttered space so maybe I’m simply missing a gene for organizing things.

My room is full of stuff that just thinking of sorting it is enough to give me a tension headache. It didn’t help that I’m also nursing a bad cough after the holidays, so dusting is just another of the many things I worry about. Then again, there was this intense urge in me to move my fat ass and do it.

(Before Christmas, I have already organized my closet and gave out a lot of my clothes, with some already been sold at Carousell. At least that’s already taken care of.)

Wearing an N-95 face mask, I started sorting out my shoe boxes and realized that aside from having pairs that I haven’t worn in years, there were also a lot of empty shoe boxes. Ay caramba—I also found some missing pairs that I’ve been looking for. In a matter of minutes, I already filled up two black garbage bags just for the shoes alone.

I also threw away several bags. I may not have that many compared to some other girls as I would imagine, but I still have some kept inside a large plastic box collecting dust under my bed. (Garet—baka gusto mong palitan ng mga “hand-me-downs” mo? Joke!) I don’t even know why I kept it when most are already stained and peeled off.

While there were some that I’m too embarrassed to give to anyone considering its state, quite a few—with just a little cleaning—is decent enough to use. I asked my younger brother to line some of it by our gate so neighbors and people passing by can take anything they want.

I organized my bedside caddy, drawers, and plastic boxes. Anything that doesn’t spark joy is tossed out. I had to yell at my mom not to check on the garbage bags and retrieve items that she thinks can still be used (my mom’s a hoarder, I tell you) because once I toss it, I want it gone forever.

I can’t believe I have lots of junk that I held on for far too long for whatever sentimental reasons I have at the time. I kept the receipt from dates. I kept boxes, paper bags and tags of the things I bought, a lot of eco-bags (how come I can’t find it when I need one?), newspaper/magazine clippings, paper billings, etc.

I chuckled after opening this small Vera Wang box that contained all the lacy, naughty underwear I owned onceuponatimelonglongago when my waistline was still 23 inches. OMG. I didn’t even bother trying them on when I know how I wouldn’t even raise it high enough to my thighs.

Bye-bye, red panties.

Even my laundry basket wasn’t spared. I now know the reason why it fills up so fast (even if I don’t have that many dirty clothes)—there are more unused eco-bags underneath! I don’t even know why I keep buying `em when it’s supposed to be reused, right?

I have so much expired make-up and many pairs of reading glasses; I have old chargers and tangled-beyond-unsnarling earphones. I even have empty perfume bottles, broken plastic containers, pair-less socks, tarnished custom jewelry—things I’ve forgotten even existed.

Of course, there are those that I couldn’t part with like old pictures, old phones, unused hardbound notebooks, fancy-colored markers and pens, birthday and holiday cards and notes, medical results (you don’t know when you may need them), Star Wars/Marvel toys and action figures, etc. At least now it’s neatly kept in one place and I know where to find it when I need it.

My nephew Gavin offered to help me so I handed him a face mask and told him to toss everything I hand him straight to the garbage bag. I think he enjoyed it because he pulled his own box of toys right after and told me that he would like to sort and throw the ones he no longer plays with or ones that are already broken or missing a piece. Afterwards, he also placed the toys by the gate and was so thrilled when he told me that a neighbor took it.

How about that? This disorganized tita has set a good example for her little one.

I always complained about how I don’t have enough space for my things. Turns out this isn’t true because after taking everything out, drawer by drawer, I found there’s actually more space for my stuff.

If cleaning one’s space is the first step for healing, then I’m proud to say I’ve started the year right. I may be sweaty, dirty, dusty and probably smelly the whole time but it didn’t matter because I was so relieved after taking out five large garbage bags by the end of the day. There was this sense of accomplishment for tackling such a task.

I guess physical clutter can really affect one’s emotions in more ways we know. If creating some empty space is one of the best ways to attract something new into my life, then I’m all up for it.