SKELETONS in my CLOSET

THE KONMARI METHOD OF TIDYING: 

"First, put your hands on everything you own, ask yourself if it sparks joy, and if it doesn’t, thank it for its service and get rid of it." 

My Personal Scare-crow!

THE TRAP OF OWNERSHIP: SPACE + PEOPLE X YEARS = CLUTTER

SAVING GRACE: SABBATICAL (every 7 years) CAN REDUCE CLUTTER CONSIDERABLY! (...People willing!)

Above you see the tip of the iceberg concerning my own piles eliminated from my wardrobe. That pile was the hardest to get rid of. It contains some new, unworn fashion items, with tags still on (often at bargain prices) -- things I definitely should have put back on the rack in the store. 

Another guru of de-cluttering, Peter Walsh, states that clutter is about delayed decisions. Couldn't be truer! When faced with a difficult decision in the store, I tended to bring the whole mess home, thinking that will make it easier. (Now it's different: one item at a time is much easier to return, and bringing home ONLY the one(s) I really like, works wonders.) 

So I learned to part with perfectly good stuff, and got acquainted with the good feeling of letting things go when not serving me/us. What is the point of keeping 'skeletons' in your closet when they could be danced with by someone else? In fact, here the classic psychodrama technique of 'role-reversal' comes in handy: ask the item itself what it wishes. Japanese tidying-guru Marie Kondo states that very seldom does an item reproach the owner in whom it no longer sparks joy; it simply wishes to be let go to serve someone else and bring joy to that person. That said, I hope my cheerful pile containing every color of the rainbow (like Joseph's coat of many colors) has dispersed itself amongst people to whom each item brings joy. 

As for me: much remains to bring me joy, following what my wise painting mentor, Greeny, advocated: "Less is More." So, rather than muck up a pristine page with too many bright colors, all competing for attention, so the result is either chaos or just plain mud, I now choose the style of the vignette wherein some areas of a given scene warrant and receive ample development and detail, whereas others remain sketchy or simply a calligraphic outline.  As an example, note this different version of "The Blank Space" motif (already presented under that blogpost heading). 

Kew-l! Here the color packs a punch, and the lines set off The Blank Space... Now I wonder whether I myself could achieve a composition of such combined simplicity and elegance? Indeed, it takes nerve allow oneself to be child-like and naive -- and yet, how refreshing! Once again, I feel this particular "whale card" grants me permission to be playful and cut all semblance of pretense!