War on clutter

Netnet Camomot

THE war on drugs seems to be President Rody Duterte’s idea of a spring cleaning.

I’m also in spring-cleaning mode, but it’s more like the war on clutter. Should have done this a long time ago, but any day is always the best time to start. So, last Friday, there I was, tearing up some papers after deciding they were not even worth keeping as scratch paper.

I now have this one important rule on what item to throw away, and if it meets that standard, off to the trash bin it goes.

If a diet requires small frequent meals, spring cleaning requires small frequent thrills. You know, the thrill of letting go.

But I can’t simply hold an item and try to feel if it makes me happy, per Marie Kondo’s KonMari Method of tidying. I have to read the books and magazines first before choosing which to keep.

A spring cleaning may become complicated especially for items you’re attached to. For example, you may prefer to keep the first book you’ve ever read, if only you can remember its title.

Attachment may stop you from having a minimalist home which is now the goal in order to have less items gathering dust, hoping fewer possessions will pave the way to focusing on more important things.

I have three copies of the book, “I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts of Being a Woman” by Nora Ephron. No, this is not the result of focusing on more important things. This is the result of buying books and not reading them. The same happens to magazines—bringing home newly bought ones, only to find out the same copies are already in the tall pile that’s precariously perched on a chair, waiting to be read.

Yup, I must have felt extremely bad about my neck when I bought each of those three books. Neck wrinkles are the norm for a woman of a certain age, and the book’s title hints that Ephron can empathize with her.

Do I return the second and third copies to the store? No. I keep them as future giveaways and tokens.

There are unread books I bought in 2006, they’ve been “living” in cabinets for 11 years now. These stories may not resonate with me anymore but I’ll try to relate.

You buy a book when it speaks to you. You read the first paragraph, back cover, a few pages in the middle, and once all of these feel right, you buy it. There are days when the books are silent, and you’ll leave the book store empty-handed.

Choosing a magazine is simpler. The cover is enough to convince you if it’s worth buying.

All the other items that are now occupying space in your wannabe-minimalist home were bought because you liked them, or you believed you needed them while looking for bargains at the mallwide sale.

Needs are supposed to be food, clothing, and shelter. However, too much food can lead to excess body weight, uncontrolled impulse to buy clothes can drain funds, and a huge house means expensive repairs and maintenance.

Food is always an issue to the foodie. Its obvious evidence: a body that goes from XXL to XL to L to M and back to XXL and XL, and is now on its way to L, which may inspire you to keep all the clothes in the closet and storage bags. Once the body is back to M, you should give away the larger sizes in order to discourage the body from regaining weight.

If your preferred clothes are now plain black or navy, you may encounter some difficulty in finding that one particular top or dress you want to wear for the day. You’re seeing only black and navy in the closet, how to distinguish one from the other?

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wears a grey T-shirt every day for this reason: “I really want to clear my life so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community. I feel like I’m not doing my job if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life, so that way I can dedicate all of my energy towards just building the best products and services.”

Wow.

Now that you’ve temporarily stopped serving the community, there’s now more time for choosing clothes whose colors have at least gone through a spring cleaning. So, what is it for today? Black? Navy?