When something sparks joy, you feel it viscerally, Kondo said. You can look at a sentimentally freighted item and feel happiness remembering the times when you used it. Sparking joy can be different from evoking happy memories, Kondo said. Most people are aghast when they see how much they’ve accumulated, and wind up keeping only a fraction of the total. Kondo advocates gathering all items of the same category, such as clothes, from all over your house, putting them together on the floor, and handling them one by one to decide what to keep. This isn’t an approach where you tweak a little around the edges, plugging away at one closet at a time. Sparking joy is a high bar, and one that results in radical decluttering. This is altogether a different yardstick than the more common, “Have you used the item in the past year?” which is likely to prompt rationalizations such as, “No, but I will need it again if I ever have a fondue party/lose weight/write that book I’ve been planning since college.” Kondo offers a specific gauge by which people can decide what to bring with them to their next phase of life: “Does it spark joy?” is the question that should be asked of all items, from clothes to books to electronics and sentimental items. It offers the opportunity for spouses to work together toward their shared vision of their future. “Moving together is a precious chance,” Kondo said. Maybe a couple is moving to be closer to their grandchildren, or to give up their cars and enjoy urban living. In other words, she’s a tidying evangelist for those who have decided to make a change.īefore people begin that task, they should reflect on why they’re moving, and what kind of life they want in their new location, Kondo said in a Skype interview from Tokyo. That said, Kondo writes that her method is only intended for those who want to truly declutter, regardless of the size of their living space. Japanese homes tend to be smaller than American homes, and are less likely to have attics and basements. While Kondo’s approach isn’t specifically geared to moving, or to boomers, her method offers concrete tips for those looking to pare down a lifetime of possessions. Kondo helps clients hold what she calls a “tidying festival,” where they unburden themselves of all the objects that don’t give them pleasure. One of the most prominent proponents of positive purging is Marie Kondo, the young Japanese author of the international best seller, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” (the eighth-best-selling book on, as of this writing). (Full disclosure: Goldstein helped your Retire Well columnist declutter and organize her closets a few years ago.) And some midlifers find that the number of belongings they treasure is surprisingly small. who has developed a specialty as a senior move manager. “You can only bring with you the things you truly treasure, and it isn’t everything,” said Deborah Goldstein, a professional organizer in Brooklyn, N.Y. The rightsizing approach emphasizes what people take with them as much as what they leave behind. Some are ditching the word “downsizing,” with its potentially negative connotations (think job loss), and embracing “rightsizing,” or getting the space that’s right for the next phase of life, said Katie Davis, business development director at Let’s Move, a move management company in Fulton, Md. To help them lighten their load, a growing cadre of organizing and moving professionals is reframing downsizing from drudgery to a cause for reflection and even celebration. As more boomers become empty-nesters and retire, experts expect this trend to accelerate. It could be an apartment in a nearby city where they don’t have to shovel snow, climb stairs, or drive to get where they need to go. Most boomers have expressed a desire to age in place, but some have decided that “place” doesn’t have to be the home where they raised their children.
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