Adulting 101

Since this is 2019 and we are all adults here...

Nope, I am not gonna talk about something NSFW. I will stick to my somewhat wholesome, albeit sarcastic self and talk about things that matter to grown ups like you and me.

"Decluttering" - such a simple word, but the effort to make it happen is enough to make me gag.

And though I would consider myself a very low maintenance girl (I do not even have a kikay kit), I still have a lot of "important stuff" hanging around that I loath to get rid of like:

1.  Love letters I got - hey, love letters are extinct and not every girl can boast of being given one so I have kept these to remind me that I was interesting to some people, once upon a time.

2.  Stuff from countries I visited - boarding pass, entrance tickets, travel card, money.  Why do I keep these?  No idea.  Only that I hate to throw them away.

3. Old books and even books I do not like and will never read again - somehow the idea of disposing a book feels so disrespectful to the author, editor and even the publisher. All their effort is enough to warrant a space in my bookshelf, good or bad book.

But is there really a "bad book"?  Perhaps just one not suited to your taste?

4.  Old, thick, long socks - in the event that I reach old age and will be in need of these for my leg muscles

5.  Used paper bags - when I was younger and more prone to kaartehan, I will always choose to buy from stores that provide pretty paper bags and get excited when they have new designs.  Shallow I know but such is the folly of youth.

6.  Mugs - I live alone but I have close to a dozen coffee mugs. I don't like coffee mugs nor do I collect them, but I care enough for the people who gave them to me to dispose any of the mugs.

7.  Old notebooks - I'm a writer.  Not a creative one, but I like to write and make lists of things.  I have notes dating back from my elementary days when I used to listen to the top 20 songs on the radio and write them down.  I see these notes and they make me smile at my foolishness, so I hold on to them like mother to a child.  And, in case you want to know the top 5 songs from 1995, then I have the answers.

I know I should get rid of these if I want a new and improved life for 2019...

I can either follow the Japanese "KonMari" method that states : Let go of things to make room for things that matter.  Or the Swedish "death cleaning" which makes you to ask yourself:  If I die now, what stuff I keep do I not want them to discover?

Marie Kondo said that we should only keep things that "spark joy" and I will admit that not all these things give me joy.  But maybe it is because, it is not things that bring me joy, rather, the memories they trigger.    

But still, as a show of maturity, I still need to declutter, so I just took photos of those that I could (letters, boarding pass, etc.) and then threw them all away.  Pictures might not be as good as the original but as an adult who wants a cleaner and more organized life, I need to compromise.

Adulting maybe hard, but we are all in this together.

Happy 2019!