Getting distracted vs. blocked

I’ve been blogging on the virtues inherent in “tidying up” which includes the goals of getting rid of clutter and excess.  When these goals are not being met, there are reasons. Sometimes we get blocked from the plans we make, sometimes we get distracted. Most of my plans are somewhat dependent on my husband’s work progressing and leaving me spaces to transform-that would be blocked. Sometimes I get distracted by tools I think I need but could probably work around–that is distraction. So, here I sit, still not doing much in the way of images for my blog and I … Continue reading

Tidying my Office–Before

Post 2 on my struggles in housekeeping.  Today, I continue with step one in THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP by Marie Kondo. My office is currently in our RV, which is also under renovation.  The good side of using the RV as my office is it gives me ample time to figure out what I want changed in here, and what things belong in here and which do not. Right now my desk looks like this: It is a bit cluttered. I like having the family photos on my desk. I feel good having them there. The only family … Continue reading

CONVERGENCE

THE LIFE-CHANGING ART OF TIDYING UP is all about beauty. The ordinary beauty we make for ourselves in our homes. Yet in a culture that devalues beauty, attempts to define it down to function, and links the value of everything to the money it can produce, our lives are filled with clutter and ugliness. Returning to my original discussion of the loss of beauty in our culture see how wrong the culture has this entire concept? “What is beauty?” is a question that this culture is as ill-equipt to answer as Pilate was to answer his own, “What is Truth?” … Continue reading

Everyday Beauty VI: Revisiting my office

I am now thinking about the effects of beauty on my workspace. At this moment, my workspace is a mess. I have a number of things I love on this desk. However, it is difficult to enjoy them fully when the space is so cluttered. I “see” my office without the paper clutter. I see my office with shelves. I see the cupboards with bins in them that make pulling out what I need easier. As it stands now I have to struggle to get to what I need. If there were bins, then I could pull whatever bins I … Continue reading

Everyday Beauty V: Tidiness is a result of aesthetics

An empty desk is functional but is it beautiful? A cup holding pens is functional, but a pen cup made from cut glass in a metal frame is beautiful beyond its function. So it is with all things pertaining to beauty including the art of tidying. Marie Kondo, in her book, THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP, writes of taking an object into one’s hands and asking, “Does this object bring me joy?”  That action is about aesthetics, not about function.  An object may be beautiful due to its function but what causes you joy is not merely function–it is aesthetics. … Continue reading

Visualizing A Tidy Home V–The Living Room

I’m still blogging on my responses to the book THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP by Marie Kondo. Today I wanted to think on my Living Room. My living room is a long room, a bit on the narrow side, with lots of but in shelves and cabinets. Storage is no problem there, but getting to the storage is! Too much stuff left over from the last move, sitting there, in boxes, and I cannot find what I need, and I suspect a lot of that needs to GO. But today I am to be visualizing. So here I go. … Continue reading

Visualizing A Tidy Home IV–The Library

Today I am moving my visualization to the center of our house, a roughly octagonal library space. I am continuing with the book THE LIFE-CHANING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP by Marie Kondo.  The library is my favorite part of this house, or would be if I could see it properly and walk through it. Due to lack of display cases for my beautiful collection of antique typewriters, they are in huge boxes with huge amounts of packing material, being safe, but also filling the entire middle of the Library with their presence. I visualize the Library so very very differently. … Continue reading

Visualizing A Tidy Home III–The Kitchen

Once more, I visit the topic of visualizing my space. This is supposed to help me learn the mind-set that will make keeping a tidy home possible. I am getting these ideas from the book THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP by Marie Kondo.  Today, I am visualizing my kitchen more fully. I have a lovely huge kitchen. It has granite counter-tops which are pretty. The backsplash is white tile with colored tile here and there in a random pattern. The cabinets, a bit battered, are cherry. The appliances are a mix. There are black and white and stainless finishes … Continue reading

Visualizing A Tidy Home II–The Entry

Continuing with visualizing my home as directed to in the book THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP by Marie Kondo, I am thinking only of the front entry, the first view visitors have of my home, and my first sight each time I return home. Right now, the front door bumps up against some things my husband has stored there. When the things that do not belong here first arrived, it was supposed to be temporary. I can do with anything temporarily. I have, sadly, had to face the fact that what I consider temporary and what my husband considers … Continue reading

Visualizing A Tidy Home I

Reading in the book THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP by Marie Kondo has gotten me visualizing my space and life as I would like it to be.  I am visualizing my house. I can actually see it. I can see the entry, with the piano and two chairs with a tiny table, and the glass cabinets displaying that gorgeous type-writer collection of mine. A bench to the left as you come in to catch coats and shoes. I next enter the Library. The walls are full of books, and in the center of the room is a round table … Continue reading