“The state of your house is a reflection of how you feel about yourself,” she said to me.

First horror, then denial. Embarrassment, shame, another full year of denial.

Cleaning has been such anathema to me that my quest to find the power button on the vacuum cleaner could last 5-10 minutes. Why do they all have to be so different? Some are by the feet, some by the handle, I can never remember!

I have never admitted this to anyone before and I could never ask for help because then my husband would know just how hopeless I am. Great, and now that I’m blogging about it, Chris Hemsworth knows, too. And so do you (and you and you…)

So, when a friend recommended The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I decided to give it a try.

According to Marie Kondo (the author),

“The process of assessing how you feel about the things you own, identifying those that have fulfilled their purpose, expressing your gratitude, and bidding them farewell, is really about examining your inner self, a rite of passage to a new life.”

Step One is to address your closet and drawers- clothes, handbags, shoes, accessories, etc.

Looking at the horrifying pile, I realize there are many clothes I’ve been clinging to that pressure me to be a different person. This process is allowing me to accept who I am, right now, and to choose only the items that make me feel lovely, treasured, joyful.

How much more likely is it for creativity to flow when I’m feeling like my truest, loveliest self? How much more dreaming will I be able to do in an uncluttered, stress-free, non-distracting space?

So here I go! Please wish me luck- frankly this is very overwhelming and scary right now!