Today I was definitely going to take another shot at Metaphysical KonMari! So I...
... cleaned out the kitchen cabinets.
I didn't even properly KonMari them, I just cleaned a bunch of things out because I had to get rid of something, it was driving me crazy, but the baby was a little too fussy for digging through the bedroom closet in search of my missing runes and jewelry.
I finished reading Spark Joy on Friday and honestly I like it a lot more than Marie Kondo's first book. On one hand, it's more philosophical than Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. On the other, it's much more specific and detailed when dealing with the actual ins and outs of decision-making. There are clothes-folding diagrams. It's very nitty-gritty in some spots, and seems to have been written in response to the questions I see come up the most in KonMari groups.
Kondo talks about several broader subjects that I felt were very important. First, she answers the question "what do I do if I need it but it doesn't spark joy?" Yes, she talks about getting rid of her hammer and pounding nails with a frying pan, but she pairs that with a story about getting rid of her screwdriver and breaking her favorite ruler trying to substitute that for the correct tool. She goes on to talk about how you can find joy in things that do a necessary job and do it well by appreciating those things instead of taking them for granted and treating them with the same respect that you do your other belongings.
One of the big failings of the American reception of the KonMari Method is that Americans are far too quick to jump into sorting while throwing out the more philosophical sections of her method. I've seen many people react with skepticism or discomfort at the idea that our things have energy, that they should be thanked for their service, and so on. None of this bothers me, and while I still don't empty my bag every night, the idea of having a bag that I trust and am happy to thank for doing a good job makes perfect sense to me. Anyway, I took a few pages of notes and I'm still chewing on some of the things she discussed in the more philosophical section of her book.
I'm currently in a transitory state because I'm working at a temporary store. I have a permanent job as well, also part-time, and I'm continuing to look for either a full-time position or a slightly more flexible second job to replace the one that's ending. Frankly, I need to be doubling-down on job magic. So far I've gotten what I've asked for but I think I'm not asking for enough, or perhaps I'm not being sufficiently specific. Either that or there's a direction I'm supposed to be going in that I'm just not seeing.
Sometimes I forget that getting my act together is not a destination and the fact that I'm not yet together is not a failure, just an in-progress.
More to come when I find those fucking runes.