life changing, indeed!

I read The Cut on a fairly regular basis. The first week of January they were focusing on helping you get your New Year started and one article commented on the New York Time’s best seller, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Within 24 hours I had gone out and purchased this book (there is no time like the present for “life-changing” advice!).

I am always looking for new ways to enhance my services to clients while also seeking out new approaches to organize and help myself. I took this book on with a dual vengeance. The approach was enjoyable as the author, Marie Kondo, described her desire for organizing from an early age. She even explained why we both had the urge to clean our rooms before an exam or writing a major paper in college! I’ve come to understand my own on-going issues with decluttering and why it’s never ending. A self professed “creative,” it’s a battle for me to not see possibilities in so many items. I have a habit of holding onto things with a “one day I’ll…” kind of attitude.

The irony that I help others make tough decisions is not that unusual. Our own choices are the hardest to reconcile but with the insights in this little book, I am adapting to letting go of these treasures and honor the process of what I’ve learned through the experience of owning them.

I love Ms. Kondo’s Asian point of view that everything should be touched, the energy absorbed and that decisions are based on keeping only what gives us pure joy. I’m now taking this philosophy and incorporating it with clients on a much deeper level than I have previously. As a consultant, I’ve always considered assisting clients rid themselves of the distractions, but never fully comprehended that this is a very personal journey. Some people like to have you “take care of it,” meaning that if you say it should go, it goes. After reading The Life-Changing Magic…., I would advise anyone who is going to take on their closet alone OR with the help of a wardrobe consultant, to go through item by item in categories; touch each piece and ask yourself if it brings you joy. This may seem odd, but it really is quite soul-enriching. You may discard multitudes of items…and that’s great! Each and every one of those items has served its purpose and hopefully taught you something valuable…but now it should go! I’ve been cultivating this idea on my own but the KonMari method has crystalized this decision process. You discard what has lived its purpose and thus you are able to enjoy and cherish what is truly important to you.

A few other things I’ve learned…

– I have been murdering my sock drawer! Is anyone else balling up their socks? My socks have never been happier now that I’ve released!
– Folding items is a better storage solution that hanging items – by pure square footage alone. It also gives your hanging items better space to view.
– “Rise to the right” is a closet approach ~ I had to think a bit on this one. My years at Hysteria and arranging the floor have influenced my closet organization skills. Typically I organize lights to darks and heavies from left to right. I may have to rethink my entire process based on this “rise to the right” theory.

And this is just the few pages that address clothing! The next 6 months I am going to “get my house in order.” Marie Kondo explains that this takes about 6 months but that once you have accomplished touching and deciding on everything you own, you will have freedom to actualize dreams and live in a harmony you’ve never fully realized. Who wouldn’t want that? I strive for harmony and am only now fully realizing that my choices of keeping items that don’t bring me joy have held me back. Owning these items keeps me distracted; I have to put them away, move them, re-organize them…it’s exhausting! Having just moved, I made a ton of decisions but little did I know until reading this book, that I only scratched the surface.

I’m on a journey this year of releasing myself from the joyless clutter. Books, clothing, shoes, bags, jewelry, tools, art supplies, home accessories, kitchen items, CDs, garden furniture, bedding… If you want to find out more about this, please follow along at TulleBox. I’m sure to uncover things that will amuse and will be listing lots of things that may bring joy to others! By June, let’s hope I find a new enlightened state!

• About the author
• The latest from Alicia

Alicia McCaslin

Stylist | The Tulle Box

http://www.thetullebox.net/

aliciamccaslin@me.com

Alicia was born and raised in Alexandria, and married a local boy. She is happily married and the mother of two amazing children and one adorable and terribly smart border terrier named Dixie. Alicia has always known she was a creative. She collected editions of Vogue from junior high on and has always loved clothing and design. She studied interior design at VCU and parlayed that degree into commercial interior design, the web design, and ultimately found herself managing a local boutique and serving as a stylist to many Alexandrian women. She now has a successful full-time styling business, The Tulle Box, and makes it her business to make her clients feel great about themselves and the way they look.

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