Looking For Sparks Of Joy Everywhere

It seems like everyone has watched Tidying Up With Marie Kondo on Netfilx in the last few weeks. My Facebook feed and Instagram stories have been filled with drawers full of clothes neatly folded the KonMari way. The show is a great companion to her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up; it really helps to see the conversations with the families in the show around understanding what Kondo means when she says an item should spark joy.

In the past, I’ve organized my closet and the rest of my house by thinking about how long it’s been since I’ve used a certain item. And while that is a sensible question to ask, I can see how the joy question is a better barometer of what stays and what goes. If you narrow down the items you own to only things that bring you joy, you might find yourself using things that have been untouched for months, because you are no longer distracted by the joy-less items.

Looking For Sparks Of Joy Everywhere

Whether the KonMarie method of tidying is right for your home or not, I think there are some valuable lessons we can apply to other areas of our lives. Looking beyond your house, or inside of yourself, can you make a list of things that don’t bring you joy?

A few possible examples:

Are you in Facebook groups that were supposed to help motivate you or connect you with a specific group of people, but all of the posts make you feel bad, or less than, or angry? The same question can be applied to all of the social media platforms you use – are you following people who fill your feed with negativity? These are distractions you don’t need. Unfollow, mute, and leave groups that take your time without bringing you joy.
Do you stay up too late watching mindless television, and then feel sad that you don’t have time to take a class you’ve been thinking about, or write more, or read more? It isn’t that television is a bad thing, but if the time you are spending watching shows isn’t REALLY bringing you joy, set time limits for yourself so you can spend more time doing the things you love.
Do you secretly hate your exercise class? Walk away. Not from exercising entirely, we all need it, but from that class or gym or team that is no longer bringing you joy. Go out and try new things until you find something that works well for you. You might find yourself more excited about exercise than you have been in a while.

I encourage you to spend time this week asking yourself if the things you are doing are bringing you joy. And if they aren’t, take steps to do something different. We can all use more joy in our lives.

XOXO,

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