‘Does this spark joy?’

Netnet Camomot

DAMNED if you do, damned if you don’t. So, a friend says, Have faith. But what if it’s faith and food for you. But then, he says, Food na pud?

OK, so it’s faith then, no more food. Sigh.

It’s the first week of the year. If what you do this week will define the rest of your year, better behave then. And have a good, hearty laugh.

In the book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing” by Marie Kondo, she says that before deciding on whether to keep or discard an item, the only question you should ask is, “Does this spark joy?” And you have to touch the item, hold it, caress it, feel every nook and cranny of its curves. Wait, that’s not an item anymore. That’s a thing. The thingie. The thingie of all thingies. Yum! Ah, hehe.

If you now suspect that I’m referring to that censored thingie, well, your suspicion is good, too, but what I do think when I’m talking about thingies are the piggies that I’ve been collecting for many years.

I love piggies because they’re huggable, with the right fatty curves in the right fatty places, so that their fats always look like they’re in the right place at the right time. So cute!

December would have been the best time to do some spring cleaning, to assess which piggy to keep or discard, to end the year with a spring in each step you take. It’s January now, too late for spring cleaning? But it’s still the right time–new year, new beginning. If your New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, discarding items could be its best partner.

Or you may have to lose weight first, and then move on to spring cleaning after. It could be too stressful if you do both at the same time. Excess body weight and keeping things may have the same cause–attachment to parts of your life that you don’t need. Could be want only but you’re convinced you need them.

It’s good to start the year by asking, “Does this spark joy?” If it doesn’t but you have already committed to, uh, do it, better stop asking the question and, as the Nike ad says, Just do it. Whatever it is. Commitment is the word for that now, not joy.

And should you now encourage others to help you meet that commitment? If it doesn’t spark joy in their lives anymore, should you let them be so they can find their joy elsewhere?

Good for you because when you wanted to quit on a thing that didn’t spark joy in your life anymore, a friend insisted to be your peacemaker. And through her A for A-fort, you, she, and the thing continued to live happily ever after.

Now, she remains true to her role in your life as the peacemaker, setting an example on how to deal with people and their characters and personalities.

If only you can copy-paste her attitude towards life, eh?

Weight loss, though, is a lifestyle change. There’s no magic formula that you can adopt for a day or a week or a month or a year and hope its effect will last forever and ever after you have chosen to stop adopting it. You can’t stop taking care of what you eat, you can’t stop exercising. You have to go on and on like the Energizer Bunny.

Same goes for spring cleaning. Once you have discarded the things that don’t spark joy, you can’t sit back, relax, and expect new possessions to throw themselves away once they no longer spark joy. It’s possible that what makes you happy now may make you sad in the future, thus, the need to constantly review your material possessions.

And always remember to have faith so you won’t get tired of holding on, hanging on to the commitment you have decided to keep.