By Tony Samson
NOTHING CONCENTRATES the mind more than contemplating closet space, especially when this has clearly run out years before. Even when it first looks capacious, the space is finite (you can only push hangers together up to a point). What we hang and fold there can be totally beyond the closet’s capacity to hold without groaning.
Marie Kondo (also known as “Konmari”) is a best-selling author of four books on one subject and the guru of removing clutter. The books have long titles like the one in 2014 — The life-changing magic of tidying up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. (The principles of clutter don’t apply to book titles.) Her rules are simple and easy enough to understand but hard to follow. Do it all at once and not gradually. Only keep items that still “spark joy.” Discard by category (clothes, gadgets, relationships).
Still, it’s good to keep the Kondo rules in mind, if only for occasional reference.
In every hoarder’s life comes a time when he must decide whether to add yet another cabinet to hold his increasingly bulging possessions or face the reality of the limited closets and decide what to throw, give, box or store away to claim additional space in another location.
Cleaning out a closet involves setting priorities and determining what is truly indispensable. Closets are intended to hold only what are used often and therefore need to be handy.
Concretely, this means throwing out clutter, anything that takes up space even if no longer used. These include the following:
Clothes that no longer fit — specifically those that are hard to get into, and even harder to get out of without doing damage to the stitching — need to be dumped. Size here refers to waistline “this minute” and not the wished-for number, after a six-month diet. Also, clothes now too large for one’s svelte figure fall in this category. Even if some blazers are costly to replace and still spark joy, they may belong to another body.
Items long out of fashion and no longer usable except for parties where music of the ’60s is played, and guests are in the habit of asking where the washroom is. These disposables include Hawaiian shirts (the versions coming back in fashion have less palm trees) or those featuring full-length figures having coffee in a sidewalk café, paisley ties, bell bottom pants, and leather jackets that make crackling sounds when zipped.
The hoarder in us tends to relax these criteria and allow some of these categories to continue occupying precious real estate. This lack of willpower does not free up enough space. Ruthlessness is called for in this spiritual exercise of decluttering.
The closet exercise is an effective antidote to impulsive shopping, especially when traveling. When confronted with shopping windows, more cautious closet thoughts should prevail. No longer running through one’s mind are questions like — Can I afford these? Will I look silly in this bomber jacket? Can I squeeze these into my bags and still be able to carry them without detaching my retina? Does the color match my hair dye?
The operative thoughts instead will center on closet space — Which leather jacket will I need to throw away to make room for this one?
One good rule to follow here is Newton’s Law on Closets: “For every new acquisition, there has to be an equal but opposite disposition.” Hence, buying one new blazer means disposing of one old one. (Vests don’t count.)
Closet thoughts impose discipline on our materialistic impulses. Closets are like life. They can only accommodate so much clutter. One should be constantly faced with the task of deciding what to keep and what to throw away. The Japanese way of decluttering needs to be adopted — haiku instead of epic poetry.
Detachment in the matter of closets and what they can hold can provide breathing space and a sense of sticking to what is essential for living. Even after the invention of space savers like the multiple-necktie rack, vacuum-pack bags, and the three-tiered hanger, there is still a need to discard the unnecessary.
Tidying up the clutter differs from tidying up the mess. Both cleaning operations however entail removal and someone deciding on what to keep… and what no longer sparks joy.
Tony Samson is Chairman and CEO, TOUCH xda.
