Ever since I started seeing the little Magnetic Words stuck at other people’s fridges and in so many hostels around the world, I’ve fallen in love with those little pieces. I always wished to have a set of those.
When I finally did find a set, I was living in an apartment with no magnetic fridge door (which is one of the most boring things there are on earth…^^ Who would design a non-magnetic fridge door anyhow?!). Two appartements later I still have no magnetic fridge door… But at least I’ve got my microwave set somewhere where I can easily reach to it. I decided to place my magnets there and to finally get creative and try it out properly.
I had so.much.fun with it!!! It was a great way to relax and come down after a long hard day at work, and I was just proud I actually just did it!
I then realized that I might have been pushed by this video by Jake Parker I found the other day – I was inspired to just finish the idea I had in my mind for so many years and was so content to have created something that it gave me a real buzz…
The whole project sparked an immense amount of joy ❤ . It made me feel good and happy. I can look at my poem every day and smile – because I did it! And I don’t specially mean the poem now, but the whole project! You can find it on my Instagram page if you like 🙂
I hope that you’ll get inspired by the video to go out there and just do and finish something you’ve had in your mind for a while. Enjoy the process – and have a wonderful weekend 🙂
I keep seeing all these before-after posts about the newly organized kitchen towels with the Konmari method and remembered I had done that as well but never shared it in a post with you. Since that moment made me so happy back then I still feel the urge to share it here, even though I don’t live there anymore 😉 So, here is my personal achievement: ta-daaah!
In hindsight I realized I should’ve taken a picture from the side to show how crammed the towels were piling up in a messy tower on the “before” picture. Meanwhile, I got rid of so many more towels and napkins, have an own spot for napkins (even a separate spot for seasonal napkins not often used) and I can keep my kitchen towel cabinet nice and tidy without anyone not supporting me in my Konmari journey. And again, dear Marie Kondo – it SPARKS JOY!!! Thank you so much for it ❤ !
Moving houses after splitting households always means you need to buy a few things for your new home. I was very eager to go find myself a compost bin (yes, I’m a recycling freak! Read more about it here) and happily collected one a few days ago on a big shopping day.
no room for the green compost bin 😦
The disappointment that crashed upon me when I realized it was actually too big for it to fit in the cupboard next to my trash bin was immense… I thought the Swiss were so well organized that there was a regular standard size in compost bins because in all the stores I went to I only ever saw the one size… I tried to squeeze it in but there was no way it would get to the big enough space behind the narrow hole. Whoever designed the kitchen had clearly no clue about recycling compost bins…^^ I then tried to leave the bright green bin underneath the kitchen table, wanting it to vanish and hide but catching a glimpse of it every time I sat down to eat, which didn’t make me happy either…
It really unnerved me – this was not my vision I had when I started with the Konmari method. My goal and vision was to have empty floors and nothing cluttering them. I don’t mind the paper recycling container as it sparks joy in a very weird way (maybe reminding me that I’m so glad I can be recycling all these papers? *lol*) but there’s only one corner underneath the kitchen table that can hide things, anything else behind it slowly makes its way to your visible space and it’s just not sparking joy. I also thought about leaving the container bin out on my balcony but then I though about me sitting in the balcony and relaxing in the sun… and catching an eye of the rather unfancy green compost bin, in worst case, even smelling it…
No, that’s not how I want to spend my sunny days out it my new balcony. That’s not my vision of a nice uncluttered space. So I needed to get rid of the bin – best to take it back since it was only a few days back that I had bought it and brought home.
I then went back to the store with the receipt and straight onto the information desk. A rather unfriendly and very local woman attended to me and I explained her the issue. She wasn’t really paying attention anymore and started to look at the ticket and proceeding the action of taking back the bin. I was happy. Until she asked me for some sticker that was on the bin when sold…^^ Yes, that sticker who is always the first one to be ripped off and thrown away after you buy something new… I hadn’t been using the bin, but I did not think of the sticker anymore and explained it to her and in a distant tone she told me that she couldn’t take it back because that darn sticker was missing (in other words…). I pointed out that the bin was in a perfect condition and only bought a few days before that, which she could see in the receipt. She kept on ranting about it in a distantly polite way and proceeded to work on something on the computer with my receipt… After a while she had it figured out and handed me my cash back.
What was the fuss all about? – I thought to myself, since she clearly was able to take it back anyhow. I was happy, once more, and thanked her for helping me out when she let out another (polite!) rant about how she now had to discard the bin because they can’t sell it anymore. I was flabbergasted at the whole situation… Surely they could get another sticker from their storage areas or use another one when selling? I mean, how many times have I bought something without a darn sticker / bar code on it and therefore just another same item was scanned in order to proceed the sale? It’s not as it is an impossible issue… I tried to explain that to her but she wouldn’t listen and kept repeating that she can’t do anything about it. I then said she could at least give it to someone for free but she wouldn’t have any of it…
I left the store feeling utterly bad and guilty… Now I was the cause of some unnecessary waste – me, that always tries to avoid that… Me, that always brings things you can still use to a Brocki / Charity Shop in order for them to be re-used, specially if the items are new and in perfect condition… Would it not have been better to not get the money back and bring it to the Brocki instead? On the other hand, why do I have to feel guilty if a store isn’t able to manage such things in another way?
I felt absolutely torn about this whole issue and wonder – what do you think about it? How would you have reacted?
Living on my own means I can now take control over all the recycling procedures in this household. What. A. Joy!!!
I don’t know how I ever got to be like this, but from a very early age I took recycling very seriously. I remember discussing these issues in primary school and later high school, and looking back, I know my teachers were pretty “green”, as we like to call them here (people who take great care of the environment). I never remember them waving their fingers at us though or moralising about recycling issues. But I think it has impacted me – seeing all the waste we had here, and also experiencing places with people who barely had something. Seeing my world collide with those worlds I saw when we went abroad to so-called “Third World” countries made me want to do something about the waste we had in our own lives and try to recycle as much as possible. I think that also the stories I heard from my parents back in their days, growing up with very little or living in rather poor countries made me sensitive to the whole topic.
Growing up I then encountered many situations that just plainly shocked me. Once I was living with another family as an exchange student. We’d get food ordered for every single day of the week. Spare food was put into the fridge, which was good. Until I realized that every Friday was clean-out-the-refrigerator-day where just all the spare food, no matter if wrapped in plastic, paper, glass or tins, and no matter if it was still good, went into a big trash bag which wasn’t even filled to the brim in order to be taken out (waste of plastic bag – hello!). I asked them about it and they were taken aback, mumbling that the people would recycle everything from the trash bags at the trash center… really?!
Three big stacks of paper used for the move are now gone. About same amount was taken directly to the recycling center by my brother right after my move (bless him!). And yes, they have to be folded and tied together or the recycling companies won’t collect them 😉 Hello Swissness… 😀
Another time in my life I lived abroad for a while in a not-so-rich European country. The locals would give back work sheet to the teachers and copy the exercises into their notebooks, because in most schools students couldn’t afford to keep the sheets and it was common for them to return them. In the office where I worked we were several people from all sorts of nationalities. Our trainers had set up cardboard containers for us to put unused paper for recycling. Very glad about it I happily used it whenever I printed out something wrong. It was with shock I then often witnessed people from other “richer” countries print forms in very inefficient ways using only 1/4 of the whole sheet and copy these several times, and when doing wrong copies or prints, tossing them into the regular bin which was right next to the paper recycle bin… The lack of awareness really, really shocked me!
When I moved in together with The Man we had discussed this issue thoroughly. He wasn’t as much of a recycling freak, neither was his whole family… I’d been over to dinners when they would throw away spare salad and I’d jump up to finish it – I couldn’t believe it since we’d never do such things in my own family. We’d always eat up everything that was on the table and spare salad always found room in a tummy. They were not that bad, but The Man surely didn’t care much about recycling. He would throw away perfect envelopes and brochures into the regular bin instead of the recycling bin… He would put cardboard in the paper bin and not remove plastics from the cardboard containers for the cardboard bin… He would throw away perfect plastic and paper shopping bags instead of putting them aside for another use and stop buying new ones all the time. Hell, even Brocki’s are happy to have bags to pack the goods sold for the people!
So when I’d see these things, it was very hard for me to ignore them… We agreed on the fact that he’d leave me do my recycling and that he’d do his – if he ever thought about it, which – to be honest – happened very seldom… Until the very end of our relationship he’d sometimes offer me plastic bags with a grin for me to give away to the Brockis (thinking about it – I should’ve brought him over to the Brocki, but that’s another story…^^). I never felt supported or taken seriously and seeing those and other good things in perfect condition been thrown away always broke my heart…
Green food waste? That wasn’t a topic for many years since our flats had no green waste container. Way too late the landlord finally got one for our neighbourhood which I was more than happy to start using. But it somehow wears off when you realize you’re the only one actually using it at home and you see freshly cut fruit and vegetable pieces in the regular bin which is right next to the compost bin… I now wonder if he did that on purpose…
recycling-home in my new cupboard in the kitchen: left is the cardboard box being filled with cardboard and future Brocki bags alongside it. On the right is a plastic container collecting glass, toiletrie-containers, tins and aluminium. To be taken out to the recycling points whenever I feel like it 🙂 It’s so handy and out of sight unlike the home I used to live in where there was simply no room for such things.tea lights, chocolate wrappers and oven-foils collected in plastic container, handy and easy to take to the recycling points whenever I feel like it 🙂
Anyhow – now I am the head master of my flat and can decide how to handle things, and let me tell you: I – pardon me – feckin’ love it!!! I can now fully recycle everything I feel can be recycled and am in full control of it all and boy does that feel good! I’ve even started recycling tea lights since I’ve learned that you can also recycle them! I am very proud of my little recycling container hidden (…yes!!!) in a cupboard in the kitchen – Marie Kondo says hello here!!! I collect the glass, plastic containers of toiletries (which is a new thing here to be recycled – unlike, say, Ireland!) and tins in there and there’s an additional plastic container where I collect the tealights, aluminium foils and chocolate wraps. It sparks joy and makes me feel good about it.
I don’t want to moralize here or say what’s right or wrong but merely explain how happy this all makes me feel because of my experience that with just a tiny little effort I can contribute so much to our environment. Being able to now fully do so in my own liking just sparks utter joy living here in this new home of mine ❤
How about you – what are your thoughts on recycling? Do you recycle a lot or not at all? I’d love to hear about it, specially if you’re from different countries 🙂 !!!
It’s Whit Weekend and I got an additional day off work. Being so busy for the last few days / weeks I have been neglecting housework for a bit but today I was in full mood and swing to do some more organizing plus dusting and cleaning. And the thing was – doing so actually sparked joy…!!!
…because my apartment sparks joy, that’s the thing! I love it, it’s so bright even though it has been cloudy and rainy all day long. The tiles on the floor are bright as well and just everything about this place sparks joy, because it’s me. Fully me. And the dirt I clean up is mine – not anyone else’s…
Cleaning my home also sparks joy because I know it won’t get dirty right after I cleaned it up. I’m not a person who cuts the bread and leaves the crumbs all over the place and on the floor… I’m not a person who is cooking meals and leaving the kitchen behind like a battle field with oil stains all over the wall… I’m not a person who carelessly eats on the sofa and leaves all sort of stuff on it, or even worse – walks around with food leaving a trail of crumbs behind me… I’m not a person who leaves half full cups of drinks distributed all over the flat, to be found and collected. I’m not a person who doesn’t rinse the bathroom sink after brushing the teeth… and more… And if I feel like konmari-ing my (kitchen) towels I know they will stay nice and beautiful even after I take some out again!
Do you get my point here 😉 ? I really enjoy living on my own and looking after my own mess only!
So I just vacuumed the floors which are empty of clutter in the hallway and kitchen, nearly empty in bedroom and bathroom and getting there in the living room. I cleaned out and dusted my vacuum cleaner (…maybe I won’t tell you anything about this episode besides the side note of a suggestion to do it every once in a while…^^) and replaced the filter and bag. In a funny way it felt very good and energizing as the old dust from my old life is gone now and the new dust in there will only be mine. I mopped most of the floors with rinsing water which is quite a piece of work but my flat now sparks even more joy since it’s nice and clean. I tend to mop much more here in this place – I’ve mopped a few times since I moved in here a few weeks ago. But I really don’t mind for the reasons above, and it was also due to the fact that I had all sorts of people over to do house work and bring furniture and fix things and I don’t like people walking around my flat in shoes… But this is just something that I noticed – I didn’t mop very often in my old flat, and suddenly I came to the realization that I might have called my old home “home”, but it didn’t really spark that much joy after all…^^
And the cool thing about cleaning up is that I have this hidden jewel here next to my front door where I can store all of my cleaning supplies and put them away straight after using them. Many people asked me about the vacuum cleaner which you see for most of the pictures on my messy room’s photo project – the problem being that we had no place to store it properly but somewhere above the kitchen counters which was really difficult for me to get to. I hated asking for help to get it down, so most of the time I just kept it in my room to be able to get rid of the dust clouds whenever I felt I needed to. But now ( – dramatic pause – ) now with my amazing cupboard I found a lovely new home for my vacuum cleaner which sparks joy and makes it utterly handy and easy to store it away and get access to it 😀
As most of you might know, I read “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo and have been studying it thoroughly, trying to get a hold of my messy room here back home. The main thing she’s suggesting to get a more happy lifestyle is to only keep things that truly spark joy and let go of everything else.
I was mainly brought up in western countries. We were not super rich, but we were not poor either. We just learned to take care of our things to make them last longer, keep them nicer and use them with care. We learned how to save money and not to waste things. We’ve also lived in very poor countries where not everyone had enough, and saw what that was like. When traveling in non-western countries I come across poverty many times and it is always a very enriching experience to see how happy these people are despite not having much. It also makes you really think about them, about our planet and its ressources and our waste. In the end – my thought so far has always been the following:
If you have something that is not broken and still does its purpose, there’s no need to replace it.
Until I read that book by Marie Kondo… Her idea and mine clashed as hard as two stones ever could… My oh my – have I put lots of thought into this one! Why would you get rid of something that is still good and usable? The cute mug with a little split corner? I can still drink my tea in it alright, the broken part does not keep me from enjoying my cuppa, right? And it’s so cute anyhow that it’s really still sparking joy. So why would I replace it?
Exactly – why would I… I don’t! That’s the point. It get’s interesting though when you ask yourself the question does it spark joy ?
And that’s when I realized that many things that were well used or a bit broken actually didn’t anymore. Not my mug 😉 but other things!
Just recently I was in a bookstore and saw this gorgeous, but I mean gorgeous shopping bag. I looked at it and my heart melted <3. And then I put it back… Why? Because I already had one that was handy enough.
Luckily, I was standing in line for another while and waiting for a friend and had time to ponder about it. I then asked myself THE question… And I realized that my old shopping bag didn’t spark me much joy at all anymore! It was big enough and handy, yes, but that new one…?
That’s when I understood what Marie Kondo meant. How that simple question changes your life and brings you joy – every day – because you’re, in the end, only surrounded by lovely items that spark joy to you…
Isn’t it just adorable 🙂 ? I come across my new shopping bag nearly every day. And guess what – every time I see it, it sparks so much joy and makes me feel good and happy!
The good thing is that I’m lucky enough to live in a city where there are plenty of Brockis (charity shops) and so the old shopping bag went into my last Brocki bag.
Do you also know that feeling – that utter relief when after what feels like years you finally use up a jar of cosmetics and you can start using a new one that has been sitting there for a while, waiting for its turn? Or when something after many years or months finally breaks or is worn out and you can let it go with no bad conscience?
I don’t remember when this little jar of lip balm was given to me. I’d say though it was several years ago. It was very smooth and nice and tasted / smelled of vanilla. I loved it. It was always by my bedside so I could use it before going to bed.
The thing with lip balms is that I don’t use the same one all the time. I have several ready to be used – beside my bed, beside Me Man’s bed, in my working purse, in my training purse, in my go-out-purse, at work… If I only have one I keep forgetting to take it along with he purse I’m currently using, so to avoid such a thing (that has happened to me several times already) I keep a set of everything I need like tissues, lip balm, hand cream and so on in every purse / location.
So of course – I don’t use the same things all the time, which takes them even longer then to finish up. And when I do finally finish up something, I truly feel relieved…
Isn’t it strange though? Why would you feel relieved? Is it just the joy of Continue reading →
A few weeks back, I finally managed to get rid of my old computer. Believe it or not – it had broken down in fall 2014 I think… I then went on to buy my current one, at the worst possible time as Uncle Murphy usually manages to stop by when work is most stressful 🙂
I installed it and all, and had my old hard drive, monitor and keyboard / mouse sitting there for a while. In fact, no – I brought the monitor back to the store quite soon after buying the new computer, as it wasn’t so heavy for me to carry around and Continue reading →
Since reading Marie Kondo’s bookearlier this year, I really try to live after one of her “rules” that I think really does make sense:
Only keep what sparks joy.
While out shopping, I also really think about it when I hold each item and ask myself two things:
Do I really need this?
Does it really spark joy to me?
That has been helping me a lot when deciding what to buy. So when it was time to buy a new agenda, I went out to my regular store to go get one. For some reason I got stuck with school planners. I’ve tried different ones – daily planners, year planners… but I kept going back to a brand from this one store that does make weekly planners, but starting out from a school year. I was so happy with those though because that’s the way I have the best overview – a week per two sheet and not too big in sizes. So every year when I know that summer break is about to come for the kids, I go out and search for the new designs of those planners. They usually tend to be cuter than the annual planners since they’re designed for school kids 😉
Usually I get really lucky and they have gorgeous designs. Two years ago my planner had cute owls all over it ❤ Last year was also just soooo… cute! So when I finally Continue reading →
my messy world 
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