Dec 26, 2018

- Lilies - Roses - Hortensia - Red Currant -


Hi again,

I have to add a couple of pictures of my new BuJo. I got adorable vintage stickers and a new washi tape (the red one on the picture) from a local online shop. I decorated the cover and the title page.

I got 48 of these rectangular flower stickers. I picked the prettiest ones for the cover: white lily, burgundy rose and soft-rose colored hortensia. I wish I had been more careful while cutting the washi tape... But the black spaces in between do not bother me enough to go and fix it. It is good enough.

On the title page I have the red currants, which remind me of my childhood birthday. I was born in August and my birthday cake was always decorated with red currants from my parents' garden.

I just love the outcome! I can't wait for the first of January to get to start using this book!



PS. You might notice that I changed the monthly tag to a more subtle one. It is easy to change as it is washi tape. We'll see if I stick with this one! ;c)




Dec 16, 2018

My bullet journal for 2019

Long time no see,

But here I am now!

My plans for the day changed as my daughter fell ill. Therefore I had time to work on my new bullet journal and now even this blog! I made so nice spreads on my BuJo that I want to share the pictures.

I got my new notebook from Amazon. It was a great deal: two quality notebooks only 15 bucks. The pages are thick, binding is good quality and the cover feels nice and sturdy in my hand. The only down side, due to thicker pages, is that it only has around 60 sheets. But, as Ryder Carroll says, the notebook is just a tool and the pages and notebooks are there to be used, not saved.

Without further ado, here are the pictures.


I decided to separate the general index for monthly, daily and weekly logs, and the index for special collections. I'll see how it works. This way I was able to list many of the collections beforehand, and it won't look as messy as a combined one.


Here you see my future log. I had the calendar separately in my previous one but that didn't have any advantage to it so I decided to go with a combined one again. As you can see, I have the months February to July listed here. That is because I will start this BuJo in the 1st of January and usually my BuJo lasts around a half a year. I anticipate that this time it won't last as long as the notebook has less pages. I also have started to write more extensive daily logs after reading Ryder Carroll's book on bullet journal.


This spread is just for fun! It is nice to read later on what the kids have done or said. I had a spread like this in one of my previous BuJos. I was looking through that BuJo now to prepare for Christmas chores and came across the collections for kids' things. It was very nice to read! Instead of having a separate collection to each of my kids, like I did the last time, I decided to go for only one for all of them.


I'm doing a lot of volunteer work at our church. This spread is for that. I list my to-do's in my different roles in these pages. Other notes concerning the ministries will stay in their dedicated folders. I matched the colors: LWML theme color is gold and my folder for it is white. My BoCE stuff is in turquoise folder. Next page you see the Communications Team collections - those paper documents live in a red folder!


I'm a poor reader at the moment but time to time I get recommendations on books worth reading. Instead of ignoring them because of lack of time, I note them here and hopefully have time to read them in another season of life.


This is also just for fun. I wish I had started this when we arrived to the States! But thanks to BuJo I will be able to complete this list for some time back and have a summary of all the places I have visited. Or maybe I just list the places I visit from now on. This time I just added the places that quickly came into my mind.


On the left hand side I have the school schedules for all of my kids and their schools. On the right hand side are my clothing and shoe sizes. I'm planning to add to this list every time I go shopping and find something that fits me. I'm still struggeling to understand the various US sizes - and I'm not even aware of my European ones because my body changes and I don't do clothes shopping that often.


This spread is about prayer. I'm planning to track the things that I pray about and also note down when my prayer is answered. This will help me to see God's work in my and other people's life and be grateful for His guidance.


In the spring my personal trainer wrote me this workout. I asked her to create such a workout that if I only did that every day for the rest of my life, I would be good. My exercise life has been really poor this fall and I'm planning to brush up. This spread will hold the plans and schedules I make for that.


And finally the first monthly spread. I added the presents there for the memories of the fun holiday season that is just passed.

My style for the bullet journal is very minimalistic and effortless. Kiiltokuvat (These seem to exist only in the Nordic countries! Hence no English name.), stickers and washi tape are my ways to decorate the journal.

I hope you got some inspiration from this. I know I did! Thanks for reading.

May 8, 2018

My personal news on organizing

Hi everyone,

Nothing much has happended KonMari-wise since the last post. And there is a reason for that. The whole idea of starting the KonMari project this spring was to be able to attend the KonMari seminar this fall.

Well, as far as I know, there will be no seminar this fall. This piece of information really took down my inspiration to go through our stuff again. Given that I have already done two rounds and am quite happy with the everyday functionality of our house. What's more, our family has been through so many colds and flus this spring that I haven't had the time and energy for my dear hobbies, like organizing.

This summer I won't be updating the blog very often. I will be busy from mid-June to the beginning of September so it might well be I'm back posting not earlier than in September. Hopefully KonMari will announce the dates and locations of the spring 2019 seminars sometime around there and I can get back to the process with new enthusiasm.

***


Anyways, I have a few organizing projects that I have done in the meanwhile. Last week I sorted out and compiled all of the kids' puzzles. I had them nicely bagged after organizing them in Munich but then some of the kids decided it is great fun to empty out all the bags and make a mess. And so they have been since we still lived in Nokia, Finland. I haven't had the time and energy to look into them and the kids haven't done any puzzles in ages.

Last week I was sick and I didn't have energy to do much of anything but later in the week I managed to sit down on the floor by the puzzle drawer and I organized all of them! At the same time I taught my youngest one how to do puzzles and she got interested in that. Yay! And my oldest one started to compile her own puzzles the very day I got them organized. A total win-win!

A big thing for me was when I finally finished our pantry organization this spring. Here's the blog post on it.

***

In my life a wind of change is blowing. After many years of not having any kind of administrative activities in my life I got invited to run for co-precidency for our church's women's society as well as to join the board of Christian education. I'm very excited!

As a student I used to be the chairperson of our church's student organization as well as of the ticket sales team of a huge youth gospel festival in Turku. After having my first kid I decided not to volunteer in anything unless I'm asked.

That has worked well as I have been able to concentrate on my family and understand my identity as the mother of my children and the wife of my husband, as well as my role in my other relationships. I was in the PTSA of our kindergarten while we lived in Germany but I didn't have time to really dive into it because we moved back to Finland.

However, I have a very strong drive to organize things that I see are not working - in communities or in indivuals' lives. I think that is one of my vocations. I'm really happy to be invited to use my gifts within the church! I see this also as a great opportunity to grow as a human being. I theoretically know that my way is not always the best way and I think I will now have a chance to learn it in practice.

Pantry

I organized my pantry a couple of months ago.

It is amazing! My friend Pauliina inspired me to do that. I saw their pantry when we were visiting them - it is so beautiful and organized I just wanted to look at it in admiration. Pauliina showed me what kind of containers she uses for the pantry. I knew immediately that those containers are just what I have been looking for!

I have been keeping an eye on reasonably prized but quality pantry containers for many years - ever since we lived in Germany. It seems to me that it is really hard to find a brand that would fulfill both of the criteria. Having used our newly organized pantry now for some time, I think I hit the jackpot. The brand is Oxo Pop (This is not a paid add in any way!). I'm well pleased with how the pantry looks like and how easy the containers are to use.

The cost of the whole project was about 300 dollars, maybe less. The most work was to figure out which items need which size of container. Also washing and drying all the containers once they arrived was a lot of work because we don't have a drying cupboard in our house. I could only was a few containers at a time and then let them air dry. I tried wiping them dry and I wasn't pleased because the paper or fabric towel both left visible dust on the containers.

Here are some pictures for you. The first one is what I started with and the second one is the end result.



My categories for organizing these items are from top to bottom, left to right:
  • Baking needs and side dishes that need cooking
  • Baking needs, breakfast and side dishes that need cooking
  • Breakfast and snack items, breakfast and side dishes that need cooking, miscellaneous
  • Canned food, pantry items I'm not going to replace once they are finished
  • Unopened bags of ingredients stored in containers (and chips, because they fit there)
The benefits of an organized pantry are numerous. I don't have to worry about bugs invading my opened bags of ingredients and no items are hidden behind or under another. Not having to deal with opening and closing paper bags and sprinkling flour all over makes baking a breeze. It is also so much easier to notice when I'm running out of something - a quick glance before grocery shopping will do the trick. Last but not least: organized pantry is very pleasing to my eye!

Mar 8, 2018

Papers

Hi again, my dear readers!

I finally got to the papers. Finally! It is not an attracting part of the tidying project. Hard decisions on official looking papers... Marie Kondo recommends discarding all the papers and sorting the ones that you really need to keep into three categories. Those are:
  • Currently in use
  • Needed for a limited period of time
  • Must be kept indefinitely
Our papers have been already simplified in the earlier years because I did the KonMari method at 2015-2016 for the first time, as we lived in Finland. But surprisingly enough, I was still able to discard a huge pile this time.

Some extra challenge to the paper storage brings the fact that we have dealt with taxes in three countries now: Germany, Finland and the States. I know that for tax purposes in Finland one doesn't need to provide any papers normally, unless you want to report extra costs or something. In Germany our tax counselor provided a clear list on the paperwork that we needed to provide.

I don't have much experience on the paperwork needed in the US but I used the experience from the other countries to decide about the local paperwork. My husband is in the process of doing our taxes for last year. I need to discuss with him and make a list of the papers that he has needed or will need for proof for the process.

I'm sorry the next picture is not pretty. I used the files I had from before and was only worried about the organization, not aesthetics of the outcome. The papers are stored in a cupboard in our dining area. There they are easy to access but out of sight. I don't know if that is where they will stay yet, we'll see in the end of my tidying festival!


The uppermost shelf holds our 'Must be kept indefinitely' paperwork. In the lowermost shelf are my husbands report cards from school and references from previous employers, which also fall into this category.

In the middle we have all of our tax papers in one file, categorized by year. I keep everything for seven years and then discard the whole bunch. That would be 'Needed for a limited period of time'. I found that seven years from somewhere as I was investigating the issue previously here and here and here (sorry, all in Finnish...).

We don't have a paper shredder, so underneath that file in the middle shelf we have the papers that need to be destroyed. In addition to the old tax papers that I now removed from the file, it also has some other official papers like contracts that have come and gone. I haven't decided yet how to get rid of them. But I'm going to keep them anyway until our taxes for 2017 are clear so I have time to figure out.

In the lowermost shelf underneath I have two small file of German account statements. I will let go of them along with the tax papers when the seven years have passed. The transparent file on top of that pile is my 'joy file' - papers that I store just for the joy they bring. I will sort them through in the end when I do the sentimental items.

In addition to this I have one more place for papers. That is on our countertop in the kitchen. There I have all the papers that are 'Currently in use' or that I haven't had a chance to have a closer look at.


The goal is to have it empty but I don't think it ever will, in the course of everyday life. I try to address it at least once a week. If I have paperwork to be done that has a schedule, I have a reminder about it in my calendar. I don't like to hang any papers in the fridge door or somewhere to be seen.

In the front of that bag there is a bowl that holds all the little knick-knack that ends on the kitchen counter but doesn't belong there. Once a week I aim to return these to where they belong. This bowl exists so that I don't have to run around the house to return random hair accessories or toy coins to their place when I want to do a quick cleanup on the kitchen counters. Bigger items I usually hand on to the kids to return to their places. Usually this random stuff is there because the kids have brought it there...

Anyways, all of the random papers and 3-dimensional knick knack end up in this one spot in our kitchen from where I try to process it onwards at least once a week.

I discard most of the papers that enter the house on a daily basis. Yesterday's newspaper, kids' accomplished school work that doesn't spark joy to them, advertisements, receits, church bulletins... All this goes to the recycle ASAP its been checked for its information.

This way I feel that I'm on top of our paper flow. I know exactly where to put a random piece of paper that I see floating around. If a piece of paper belongs to some of my family members, I ask them before discarding it. But I have already learned what kind of papers I can discard without asking. Like kids' math papers - they never want to keep them unless it has a nice picture they have colored themselves.

I still have to work on the kids' paperwork. They have their own joyfiles but I have to check if any important papers like school reports have ended up in there by accident. Usually they just store their drawings or tests that have special meaning to them.

***

To finalize, I'd say I have a better idea now about what kind of papers I need to keep and how I store them. I'm sure it could be even more simple but this is as much as I am able to do at this point of my life. The next step now will be finding the proper place for our papers and maybe some joyous files to keep them in. I know I should store them vertical, not horizontal. But as it is in KonMari method - finding places for things happens after discarding all the no-joy items from the house, not after each category during the discarding process.

The next category for me is komono. That is miscellaneous items. Marie Kondo recommends the following order for those items:
  1. CDs, DVDs
  2. Skin care products
  3. Makeup
  4. Accessories
  5. Valuables (passports, credit cards etc.)
  6. Electrical equipment and appliances
  7. Household equipment
  8. Household supplies
  9. Kitchen goods/food supplies
  10. Other
You can add your own subcategories, if you have a lot of the same kind. In my case for example, I will do my knitting and crocheting stuff separately from my sewing things but someone else might have them as a single category for handicrafts.

So, I'll be back for my thoughts and process on CDs and DVDs!

Mar 5, 2018

Recycling books and clothes

Now I have got rid of books and clothes that don't spark joy for me. I donated my stuff to Goodwill and Half Price Books.

Although with Half Price Books I can't really say it was a donation. For the first time ever, I got money for my 'donation'. That was a pleasant surprise! I took a small bag of books to them and got six dollars for it! I know that is not much but it is six dollars more than I would have got by just donating them.

I also learned that they accept books in any language. So far I have managed to get rid of my Finnish books by donating them to someone who understands the language. But I still have a couple of religious books in Finnish for which I haven't found a new home. Maybe I bring them to Half Price Books later when I have sorted through kids' books.

***

I also donated to Goodwill for the first time. We have lived in the States for a little bit more than a year. So far I have brought smaller amounts to random collection boxes or donated items through a Finnish flea market on Facebook. But now I had gathered about eight bags of stuff to be donated and decided to load them to the car and check the local Goodwill for donation process.

It was so much easier than I thought. First I got annoyed because the parking lot was full and cars just seemed to be driving around it with the hope of someone leaving. But then I saw a huge sign in the side of the house saying 'Donations' and I drove there.

A guy came with a cart and helped me unload the trunk. He gave me a blank receipt of my donation. I thought that was kind of weird but it says in the receipt that non-profits are not allowed to estimate the value of donations. So I filled out the receipt at home myself.

The whole process took just a couple of minutes. And it would have been even faster if the guy had had co-workers there. I understood it was exceptional that he had to work alone. There were about two cars to be unloaded before me so that is why it took a bit longer.

***

All in all, it seems that donating household goods is made very easy and convenient in my neighborhood. That will not hold me back from completing my KonMari process.

I have to say I still haven't gone into papers. It is the next one on my list but I have no desire to do it. I know I have to do it nevertheless. Hopefully this week!

In the meantime I have created a work space for myself. I am so delighted that I have my own designated space for all of my projects now! It is downstairs in our huge hobby room. Up till now I wasn't sure how to decorate the room and how to create different areas in it. But when I realized I can have all of my things in one spot (not including the stuff that belongs to bed- or bathroom), it suddenly fell into place. I might write a post of its own when I'm all done with it but here's how it looks like at the moment.



I have also been organizing my pantry. That will get a post of its own as soon as it is fully organized. At the moment I'm still waiting for my containers to arrive.

That is all today. Have a great week, dear readers!

Feb 23, 2018

Books

I went through my books this week. I really tried to listen to my feelings again as I decided whether to keep or discard a book. It was surprising again how clearly the items 'talked' to me!

I started by piling all of my books and magazines on one table. Most of my books were in one bookshelf but some of them were around the house - the devotional books, music books and cook books as well as the some books I am currently reading.

I had some books that have troubled me since I decided to keep them during my first round of KonMari. Whether I held on to them because they are classics and I have got them in a special time in my life or because I enjoyed them a lot at the time I acquired them.

Now I let go most of these books that primarily have other values of importance than joy. Like a couple of books I have got as a gift from dear friends but don't plan on reading anymore. Or my biology book from high school. I liked the biology classes and the book is thick and heavy with great illustrations.

Nevertheless, I still retained some books that don't spark joy but have other value, like my master's thesis. I went through a lot of trouble to complete that and most likely it is the only extensive scientific research I will ever do. I also kept a couple of comic books I have got from my husband in a special occasion.

Furthermore, I decided to keep a book that explains the liturgical structure of divine service - I haven't seen such an explanation anywhere else and it is written by the pastor of my first congregation I attended to. 'Gospel Transformation' is a book that I studied with a women's group while we lived in Munich and it changed my relationship with God's word and Jesus. I'm not likely to read it ever again but I want to keep since I want to remember that time in Munich. Also 'Jalo soturi' is a book about Christian faith and I studied that with a group of ladies in Finland. There are not many such study guides in Finnish and I once knew the person who wrote the book.

I can now also clearly tell which of the books belong to my 'hall of fame' that Marie Kondo discusses in her book. The ones that really make me feel sparks of joy are 'Kodin pehmeät sävyt' (beautiful pictures of beautiful houses), 'Stitch 'n bitch' (combines social interaction with knitting), 'Annan Nuoruusvuodet' (ooh those precious memories from my childhood and such a beautiful piece of writing) and my Bibles.

Marie says I should only keep the hall of fame. But I'm not ready to part with some of the other books that are not so fully sparking joy. I guess I should have some of my books in the 'sentimental' category but I like to keep them with other books.

An interesting detail is that I decided to discard my Finnish book of KonMari and buy the English 'The life-changing magic of tidying up'. I read the book in English in the first place and the Finnish version appears rough and weird to me. I do not enjoy reading it. I decided to order the English version on Amazon and I like it way better. I have to say, one reason is aesthetic: the English version being turquoise and white matches better with my English 'Spark joy' and 'The life-changing manga of tidying up'. The Finnish 'Konmari' is loud pink.

So in the end my selection looks like this:


I still have to look up where to donate some of my Finnish books. The English ones I try to bring to Half priced books. I hope they accept them. I'm not so familiar with the local donation sites yet as I donated most of our unwanted items already in Finland. But if I am to become a Konmari consultant, I should get to know that kind of places around here too.

I now put all of my books in one empty shelf in my wardrobe. I wonder if I really can fit all of my important things in our bedroom closets and drawers!

***

The next category is papers. My, or our, papers are well organized. But I have to admit that since I organized them the last time about one and a half years ago, I haven't looked at them almost at all. So I think the moment has come that I do even more serious discarding. I'll be back next week with a report on that!


Feb 19, 2018

Clothes

I started my Konmari Method, round 3 by reading what Marie Kondo says about tidying clothes. I didn't yet read about organizing them joyfully in my closets and drawers as she says that discarding is the number one priority first. Of course I organized everything the Konmari way but didn't care if the organization doesn't spark joy right now. I will organize everything in the end when I'm left with all my things that spark joy, and nothing else.

I'll show you my pictures about the "before" state of my clothes storage.


My wire drawer in the walk-in closet
The walk-in closet that I share with my husband

The wardrobe I share with my husband.

Clothes rack where I have my worn clothes
that are still good to go without washing.
My hubby has his on the chair.

The situation I started with is not all that bad. As a matter of fact, I thought I was pretty well organized as is. Anyways, I knew I had a few things I don't want to have anymore. So I went through everything in the KonMari order: first the ones that are closest to my heart - the tops, then the bottoms and outdoor clothes the last. Then I continued to shoes, accessories and bags.

The discarding process was pretty quickly done because I had all the clothes stored already in categories. Nevertheless, I learned a lot about myself as I really paid attention on my feelings when I sorted through the clothes.

I didn't save any clothes that didn't spark joy even if I just bought them in Finland in the summer. I also discarded clothes that do not spark joy that I had got from a dear person. Furthermore, I discarded clothes that do not fit me right now - I'm quite happy with my body at the moment and I don't want to have any clothes that tell me I should lose weight or get thinner. 

I noticed I have a hard time letting go clothes that are made of good material, like wool or silk. But now I let go of such quality garments that were too worn out to be used anymore. I also made my categories more plain: I let go of odd pieces of underwear that I never use, like old slips I have inherited from some old relative. I discarded leggings that didn't look good on me - and was left with none.

I decided to discard my comfy fleece robe and start using my beautiful silk or silky type of robes. Silk is surprisingly warm although it is thin. I feel beautiful wearing those but in my fleece robe I felt like someone who has a flu and has forgotten to take care of herself. I don't know why - it is white with pink roses so basically the pattern is one I like. I guess it is the fluffy, thick material all around my body that creates the feeling.

While sorting through clothes I realized I really shouldn't by anything in a hurry or if I don't know exactly what I need and want. I had to throw away shoes that look nice but kill my feet if I put them on. I threw away a shirt that was of nice material and design but badly cut.

In the end I had only clothes that I really wear and that spark joy for me. None that are too worn out, too small or large or just there because of sentimental reasons. In the process I reduced the needed storage space - I let go of the wire drawer in the walk-in closet and the open clothes rack in my bedroom. My drawers and wardrobe are way less full. I also decided not to use the baskets in the wardrobe anymore because the clothes fit nicely in only one row on the shelf. Except the tights that I still put in a basket. Maybe I should store them in the drawer in my bedroom, come to think of it!


My wardrobe after discarding.

My side of the walk-in closet after discarding.


I put my worn clothes that are still good to go on the rack in the walk-in closet. On the top shelf I have my bags, stored in bags, as well as my off-season shoes in the colorfully striped tote bag. My hats are all in one pile. In the blue box are my and my husband's matriculation caps.


Our bedroom looks so much roomier now that I let go of the open rack. It is a wonder how much effect removing one tall piece of furniture has!


I managed to pack my underwear and accesories into only three drawers in my bedroom:

All of my bra, underwear and thin socks.
(I have my foot cream here too so I remember to use it regurlarly.)
In the box are bra straps.

My scarves, woolly socks and off-season gloves.

In the middle my purses.
On the right and left are some of my craft and bullet journal supplies. 

To reflect on my vision, I picked the clothes that I think look nice on me and that I love. I managed to make more empty floor space and empty drawers. I also feel that I'm getting closer to my click point - the state in which I have just the right amount of belongings in my house to feel comfortable.


The next phase is the books. Book storage is a problem for me because we don't seem to have enough space for books and I tend to buy new books all the time, especially for kids. At this point I'm only going to deal with my own books and do a careful joycheck as I did with my clothes. And I should decide to use the library with the kids and myself regularly.

Feb 13, 2018

My dream home

Hi again,

I checked what Marie Kondo tells us to think about when creating a dream vision of our house to motivate us to tidy. She says we should find a picture or two on a home interior magazine that really inspires us and says it all. I have such pictures in the end of my older blog post that are still quite adequate. So I didn't care to search for new ones.

Although just a couple of weeks ago I saw pictures of Marie Kondo's Tokyo home. It is very inspiring to look at those pictures. I love the white and decorative details. But for me, I need more color in my house.

What I didn't do the last time around was to ask myself why. Marie Kondo advices going to the core of every part of your dream by asking why, three times with every idea. So let's do that with my vision.


***


I love plenty of free floor space. I also love when fresh air and light can freely float in to the house. I love white surfaces with playful details in color. I find joy in empty drawers as well as cute boxes with precious things in them.

WHY? I feel that in a house of fresh air, light and empty surfaces my thought is also free. And I'm free to do what ever I want. Mindful and beautiful details help me concentrate on the essential. Seeing things with colors makes me smile and cheers me up. WHY? I want to be in a good mood and not distracted to be able to do right choices with my life and my time. WHY? I think it is important to live life as it was intended. I basically want to have room in my head and space to communicate with my people and my heavenly Father.

In my house I want to read, play games and music as well as discuss with my family. I want the kids to have plenty of space for moving and playing at home. I wish the toys to be beautiful, inspiring and durable so that I can enjoy seeing my kids play with them.

WHY? I want my kids to feel included and loved at home. I want to encourage them as well as myself to good activities. I want us to see what is important in life. WHY? Because I believe that is the route to good self-esteem and good relationships with others. WHY? So that we can thrive in life, in our relationships.

I want to cook in my tidy kitchen where I have only the necessary items and clean surfaces. I cook healthy food and stay on top of my food reserves at all times. I want to provide healthy and delicious food for my family.

WHY? The nutrition is important to our bodily well-being. Food is something we should enjoy with thanks. Respecting the dinner time is important in keeping the family in communication with each other. WHY? I want our family to have good communication. Providing good food to share together helps with that. I want everybody to stay healthy. WHY? Again, I think that is what we need as human beings.

I also want us to spend time outside. So leaving the house with all the necessary belongings should be easy and delightful. I want us to spend time also outside on our own yard, enjoying our own home outside.

WHY? It is good for our health to get fresh air and exercise. It is also a great thing to do together that people of all ages and circumstances can enjoy. God's creation is right at our own backyard and all around for us to admire. WHY? To encourage the feeling of belonging together with each other and the creation and God. WHY? Well well, that is already enough reasoning, don't you think?!

Getting ready for the day and having a good night sleep happen both in the bedroom I share with my husband. That is also the room that is the closest of being my own space. There I want to have only my dearest belongings that help me rest and recreate. Fresh air and light is especially important in this space.

I also want to be creative in my house. I love knitting and crocheting. I would like to take up sewing and reading again as my hobbies. I also love bullet journaling. Would it be possible for me to establish a place in the house for all of these interests of mine?

WHY? It want to feel confident about myself and that results from taking care of myself. I need to remember what is important to me and do what I appreciate. WHY? I believe God has given each one of us special gifts and talents and wants us to live using them according to His will. To be able to do that I need to take care of my body and mind. WHY? I think this is already as deep a reason as it gets...

***

One thing I want to add in my dream vision is that I want my house to be filled with people. I have a nice house with plenty of room to invite friends into. To do that I need a functional kitchen and an easy-to-clean house. WHY? I love people and enjoy getting to know them. I also love getting people to know each other and creating social networks. WHY? I believe spending time with each other and serving each other is what God created us for. WHY? ...And we are there again. No more reasons required.

***

This exercise really showed me that it is possible to get to the core of your values and beliefs by considering how you want to live in your own house. I don't know if I went too deep but that is just how my mind works. This definitely was helpful because now I can tell myself in the process why it is really essential to go through the whole KonMari Method. In the end I will have a house that encourages prayer, creative work, play, music, healthy habits for body and spending time with each other. Oh wow, that sounds almost like Heaven!

Now I realized I haven't thought too much about just me, how I want to be and feel in my house. Let's see. In the Bible it describes the virtues of a grown Christian and that is what I desire to be. But those are inside and not visible. When it comes to visible things, I put value in beauty because I think God has given them for us to enjoy. That is why I like to have beautiful clothes and accessories and take care of my appearance. Taking care of my body with exercise and healthy food is part of that. I hate all kinds of extra nick nack so I never have plenty of jewellery on - neither does my house.

I guess that is it for today. I'm amazed about what kind of look into myself this exercise was! And I hope I was being true to myself although knowing this text will be there for everybody to read might make me want to present myself better than I actually am. But hey, this exercise was about dreams!

Feb 8, 2018

KonMari Project, Round 3, in English

Hi everybody,

I've been gone from my blog for a long time. That is mainly because I have not had an idea on what to write. My life has been fairly organized after discovering first KonMari and then Bullet Journal. So I have not had the need to clarify my thoughts or my nooks and grannies by blogging about them.

Now I have decided to reach for the KonMari Consultant certificate and that is why I am back. The first steps in the process are reading the books of course but also completing the KonMari Method in my own home and provide pictures about it. I decided to use my blog as a template to report those pictures and also to keep a journal on my progress.

Of course I have that kind of pictures already here in my blog. However, they are not from this house. I want to make sure my current state of earthly possessions is presentable and sparks joy for me.

I chose English and only English to be my language from now on because, if I become a consultant, my first clients will be speaking English. And it is not inspiring to write the same text both in Finnish and English as I tried to do earlier.

I do not know when I will be attending the KonMari seminar which is the first big step of becoming a consultant. But I know for sure it is not this spring or summer. So I will have plenty of time to do the round 3 before that. I also assume that it is not going to take as much time as the previous rounds since I know what I am doing and there is way less things to work through.

The first thing to do when starting the KonMari project is to visualize the desired outcome. What I want to do in my house when it is tidy? How do I want to live my life after finishing the tidying process? How does my house look like then? And so on. So today I am going to find answers to these questions.

***

I love plenty of free floor space. I also love when fresh air and light can freely float in to the house. I love white surfaces with playful details in color. I find joy in empty drawers as well as cute boxes with precious things in them.

In my house I want to read, play games and music as well as discuss with my family. I want the kids to have plenty of space for moving and playing at home. I wish the toys to be beautiful, inspiring and durable so that I can enjoy seeing my kids play with them.

I want to cook in my tidy kitchen where I have only the necessary items and clean surfaces. I cook healthy food and stay on top of my food reserves at all times. I want to provide healthy and delicious food for my family.

I also want us to spend time outside. So leaving the house with all the necessary belongings should be easy and delightful. I want us to spend time also outside on our own yard, enjoying our own home outside.

Getting ready for the day and having a good night sleep happen both in the bedroom I share with my husband. That is also the room that is the closest of being my own space. There I want to have only my dearest belongings that help me rest and recreate. Fresh air and light is especially important in this space.

I also want to be creative in my house. I love knitting and crocheting. I would like to take up sewing and reading again as my hobbies. I also love bullet journaling. Would it be possible for me to establish a place in the house for all of these interests of mine?

***

That is all for today. I maybe come back later on to add or finetune the vision. I have to say that most of these things are already on their way as I am already relating to my belongings the way KonMari has inspired.