When it comes to material things, I consider old photographs, journals, and even flash drives and memory cards as the most important items I am most afraid to lose coz they are the last remaining physical proof of our memories with loved ones (unless of course you have backup files on the cloud). This is true for me - not just at full consciousness, but even at the sub-conscious level as manifested in a dream. 😅
But I read something in "Goodbye, Things" by Fumio Sasaki which made me rethink tabout this fear of losing such sentimental treasures. The message which struck me wasn't actually by Sasaki but from another Japanese author named Tetsuya who has a book entitled "The Man who do not Possess" (but I think the book is in Japanese coz I tried googling for it and I couldn't find it). Anyway, Sasaki quoted Tetsuya and it goes:
I don't think there is any relationship between our past and photographs, records and diaries. Even if we were to throw our record and diaries filled with photos of memorable moments, the past continues to exist in our memories. I don't think it's such a big deal to throw away objects.... it is not as if we’re throwing away our past. If we forget a certain memory, then it’s probably something alright for us to forget . . . something unnecessary. All the important memories that are inside us will naturally remain. It’s the memories we can recall without the aid of objects that are truly important.
What a beautiful insight, right? So if one day, we unexpectedly lose our precious photographs, diaries and memory drives, yes, it's going to be really sad but it will be ok coz we still have the memories. But if eventually we forget some memories, it's still ok coz maybe the reason why those memories didn't stick is because they weren't memorable enough. In the end, whatever memories remain with us are the most important ones. 😊
I've only heard about the concept of capsule wardrobe / capsule closet in the last 2 years but guess what? "Capsule wardrobe" was coined in the 1970s by a London boutique owner named Susie Fox. But the term gained popularity when American designer Donna Karan released a capsule collection of 7 interchangeable work-wear pieces in 1985.
What does capsule wardrobe or capsule closet mean? It's having a collection of clothes that you could mix and match. The goal is to be able to create different outfits for various occasions without owning too many clothes. This is usually achieved by buying key items in coordinating colors.
Some people have taken personal challenges revolving around the capsule closet concept like Project 333 wherein you select 33 clothing items which you would wear for 3 months (and packing everything else until it's time for a quarterly rotation). There's another one called 10 x 10 challenge where you choose 10 items (a pair of shoes are counted as an item) which you have to wear for 10 days. The catch is you can't wear the same outfit on multiple days coz the objective is to be creative in mixing and matching your clothing items. 😬
But nope, I haven't really taken any of these challenges coz my wardrobe is already down to staple wear. 😂 And my clothes look the same - same cut for all my pants, one style for all my skirts and dresses, similar style and colors for all my tops ... 🙈😂
I know my wardrobe sounds so plain and boring but I've been through the phase wherein I would buy something different from my usual style and colors then not end up wearing them. During that time, my closet may be packed with clothes but I would have mornings where I still find myself saying I don't have anything to wear. 🙊
When I read Garance Dore's Love x Style x Life a few years back, I love and could very well relate to what she said which goes - "I find myself buying the same things over and over, but I don't mind - these are my classics, they always work, they always make me happy." Our only difference is she's very fashionable and I'm not. 🙈😂 😂
Anyway, I think the important lesson from the concept of capsule wardrobe beyond item counting is to make sure that we only buy and keep clothes that we love to wear and that we actually wear. When you love all the clothes in your closet (no matter how few they are), you'll never have "I've nothing to wear" episodes in the morning. 😜
Anyway, since I always look for some refresher/inspiration when it's time to do some decluttering, I decided to finally read the second book - "Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up".
Yes, the reviews were right but what's great about this second book are: (1) it has illustrations on how to properly fold your clothes and organize your items vs the first book which only had text descriptions and (2) the author shares more real-life stories and experiences about her family and clients about tidying up and some of which may sound like our own stories. 😆
If you're a visual type of person, Spark Joy could be an easier read than the first book coz it has illustrations. I got the Kindle Paperwhite copy so the illustrations are in black and white but here are samples of the colored illustrations from the physical book -
How to fold tops and shirts the KonMari method
How to fold plastic bags the KonMari method
What are my key takeaways from Spark Joy? Sharing with you my favorite lessons below but most of them are actually in the first book. Still a good read though coz sometimes, it takes more than once or twice before lessons sink into my head! 😜😂
The important thing in tidying is not deciding what to discard but rather what you want to keep in your life.
Tidy by category - in this sequence - (1) clothes, (2) books, (3) papers, (4) komono (miscellany), and (5) sentimental items. When tidying a specific category e.g. clothes, gather all items of clothing in one spot; do not tidy up per location. Why? When you gather all related items in one spot, it allows you to see (1) if there are duplicate items and (2) objectively assess how much you have per category. Then you can start discarding. You can only plan where to store them once you know how much needs to be stored. (Based on my personal experience, you have to store the items per category close together. For example in my case, I had 3 different shelves where I stored assorted supplies and when I gathered all the items in one spot, I discovered I had a lot of duplicate items.😮 )
For storage, remember the rule of thumb is 90 percent. Fill your drawers to the point where they look full but not stuffed.
Everything that can be stood on edge on its own without falling over should be stored upright in a drawer, rather than flat e.g. folded clothes, stationery supplies, etc. This doesn't just save on space but it allows you to (1) view all the content at one glance and (2) pull out an item easily.
The 2 skills needed to successfully organize your home are:
(1) the ability to keep what sparks joy and discard the rest; and
(2) the ability to decide where to keep an item and to always put it back in its place.
When buying something, consider the design, the feel, the convenience, and every other factor most important to you - until you find one that you really love.
It’s far more important to adorn your home with the things you love than to keep it so bare it lacks anything that brings you joy. - Kondo
Do you collect some themed stuff? Here's a creative solution from Kondo. One of her clients, for example, love mushrooms - she has mushroom postcards, erasers, figurines, keychains, even an ear pick with a mushroom on the handle! Why does she like mushrooms? "It's their modesty, they flourish in the shade of great trees," the client explained. Just talking about her mushroom stuff collection brought her a lot of joy but unfortunately, all the items were stored out of sight. They were still in individual plastic wrappers and boxes, and collectively, they were stored in a tin can. The owner would open the tin can once a month to look at them. Kondo thought even if the owner spent 2 hours looking at them each time, she would only get 24 hours of joy from them in 1 whole year! So what Kondo suggested was for the client to create her own personal mushroom space inside her closet. She decorated the fronts of her clear plastic storage boxes with mushroom postcards, covered the spare bedding with a large mushroom-patterned cloth, hung her mushroom keychains around the necks of her hangers, and displayed her mushroom miniatures in a basket on one of the shelves. Now the owner gets to see her favorite mushroom-themed items everyday.
When you realize that you have just the right amount of stuff - a feeling that you know you have all you need to feel content - is what Kondo calls the click point.
Are you a bookworm? Here's a good insight from Kondo so you it won't be a struggle to part with your old books: We read books because we seek the experience of reading. Once read, a book has already been “experienced.” Even if you don’t remember the content completely, you have already internalized it. (In my case, writing about my key takeaways after reading a book is my closure so I could easily refer to the lessons without having to re-read the entire book. 😉)
Is your garbage not picked up everyday? If yes, to prevent your kitchen from smelling bad, you can put your kitchen scraps such as fruit and vegetable peelings, chicken bones in a plastic bag or plastic container (just drain them well) and store them in the freezer. Though you may think the idea is yucky, Kondo points out that the scraps are put in the freezer before they begin to rot, thus, they are still part of the food we just ate and thus, not garbage yet.
Do you keep physical diaries/journals? Flip through them and reminisce about things that happened and keep only those that still spark joy. Or you can adopt the criterion of one Kondo's clients - to discard those that she would have felt embarrassed to have anyone read after she died.
Do you still have albums of printed photos? Kondo recommends to remove all photos from the albums, lay them out on the floor so you can arrange them per year and review each one. Keep those which bring joy (or as one of her clients put it - where you look good 😁 ) and let go of photos that (1) don't bring joy, (2) look similar, or (3) scenes you don’t really remember. Then put them in one nice album. Kondo explains, "Photos will only keep your memories alive when they have been arranged so that you can enjoy them whenever you like".
How about organizing and decluttering digital photos and digital data? Kondo says the same principle applies: Choose what you wish to keep, not what you are going to discard. You will never finish if you approach it by trying to decide which ones to erase when there are so many possibilities.
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Though Kondo encourages people to tidy up, her advocacy is not minimalism but it's more for people to learn how to keep only the things that bring them joy and to keep them in an organized way so they are accessible (and not forgotten). And even if the concept of tidying up focuses on material things, Kondo's final reminder goes beyond materialism.
Towards the end of the book, she shares this story when one time, her family went out for a picnic lunch to watch the cherry blossoms. Her mom prepared them a beautifully packed lunch with such loving care that touched her heart. Her mom also brought a bottle of pink-hued amazake (a beverage from sweet fermented rice) and she served the beverage in small pink glasses with cherry blossom patterns.
When the glasses were filled with the pink amazake, Kondo said "it looked like cherry blossoms were blooming in our glasses. How beautiful! The blossoms I viewed that day with my family were the best I had ever seen."
Kondo further shares - The glasses were an expression of my mother’s love and affection, chosen out of her desire to make that day special for us ... I had seen those glasses in our house many times and had always thought they were pretty, but they had been transformed into “those special cups that my mother filled with amazake when we went to view the blossoms.” I realized that the value of things with which I have spent precious hours alone cannot compare with the value of things that bear precious memories of time spent with other people. My favorite clothes and shoes are special, and I wear them constantly, but they can’t compete with things that have been steeped in memories of the people I love. I realized that what I had really longed for was just to be with my family. Compared to the amount of time I spent with my possessions, myself, and my work, I had spent far less time interacting with my loved ones. Of course, I will still continue to value my time alone. But the purpose of it is to nurture me so that I can enjoy an even more fulfilling time with my loved ones, so that I can contribute even more to the happiness of the others around me.
I can't believe it's been over 4 years since I've become an accidental minimalist. Accidental because I didn't mean to become a minimalist. One day, I just decided to dispose all of my furniture except for 2 small pieces (shoe cabinet and console table) with the intention of redesigning my place. And yes, when I say all furniture, that included my bed frame so I was just left with a mattress on the floor. 😂
And then when I went shopping for furniture, I purchased a dining set BUT while I was waiting for the invoice, the sales personnel asked me to sit on a La-Z-boy and that was it - love at first sight sit! 😍 😂 I cancelled my dining set transaction and bought the La-Z-boy instead. Wahaha.... 😂
For 6 months, I never went shopping for any other furniture coz I was super happy with my La-Z-boy that I didn't feel the need to get any other piece. Please note though that I don't like entertaining guests (it's the introvert in me) which explains why I only need one chair very little. 😂
My La-Z-Boy
In those 6 months when some close friends dropped by my place, they had to take turns in sitting on my one and only chair while the rest had to sit on the floor. 😂 😂 😂
On the seventh month, I was forced to buy a table and chair coz I had to finish a case study for a short course I enrolled in.
My TopTop Table and Ghost Chair
The table looks big in the photo above but that's only 27 inches in diameter which means it's really good for one person. And which means I have to empty the table every time I work and every time I eat coz it's both my work table and dining table. 😂 And which also means it can't be used for duck, cover and hold purposes during an earthquake. I actually tried and I think I have better chance of surviving under the mattress. 😂
So for the last 4 years, those are just my pieces of furniture. I never bought a bed frame or any other piece coz I realized it was easier to clean when you've so little.
And then last month, I went to Shanghai with friends and we stayed at the Fairmont Peace Hotel. In the evenings, I had to do some work and I super loved the big work desk in the room! 😍 I knew then I had to get a proper work desk (which also means my other table would officially become a dining table). 😂
So last weekend, I went around to look for my work desk and the store delivered it today. Yay! The furniture store though forgot to bring the chair so I have to use my one and only movable chair in the meantime. 😂
A proper work desk - finally!
I had to take a photo of my new desk while it's still uncluttered coz I don't know how my desk would look like by next week. 😂
BTW, see the cork board on the wall? That is my Kanban board. When I started using the Kanban method last year, I started with post-it notes on my wall. 😂 I strategically put the cork board on that spot to cover the bracket holes of my old TV - which I also gave away coz I realized I rarely turn it on. I'm happy watching on a small screen - my iPad. 😂
So no sofa, no dining set, no TV.... I wonder - is this minimalism or is it just a an introvert's space designed for one's self and not for entertaining guests? And I haven't even started talking about my dishware - my 2 sets of plates and bowls. 😂
