The term “Sentimental Items” can apply to pretty much everything in my house, which means that as I continue to tackle “Miscellaneous,” I can also hone my skills on what Marie Kondo has referred to as the hardest category. This post examines why it’s so hard for us to part with things in general and why I hold on for (maybe) too long.
Papers are where my hoarding tendencies come into play, and the pile I assembled at the beginning of this week rivaled my mountain of clothes in Week 2. It took a lot of time and energy to make it through everything in this category, and I’m aware that although I’m already at the halfway point, it’s only going to get harder from here.
No, Marie Kondo never said you should limit yourself to 30 books. She wants you to keep what makes you happy, and for me that was most of my books. Although I kept most of what I already had, it allowed me to reacquaint myself with my collection and inspired my husband to go through his books. He was a little more merciless than I.
I have never gotten rid of any of my clothing, ever. This first week of sorting through my belongings was emotionally exhausting as I battled my own hoarding tendencies to part with perfectly good clothes that I’ve owned for decades. On the bright side, I can fit all of my clothes into the storage space available for the first time in my life.
Eleven months into quarantine, and despite my best intentions, I still haven’t started any type of cleaning or home improvement projects. With the COVID vaccine (hopefully) bringing an end to social isolation soon, I need to get cracking! Although I tried and failed with Marie Kondo’s method before, she has developed “an eight-week calendar of bite-size tasks to guide you through the tidying process.”
Physical activity, particularly running, helps the body process and release stress, and it helps the mind work through lingering problems with meditative silence. I have benefited from both in the past, which makes it all the more odd that I did not avail myself of running during the most collectively stressful year we have experienced in a generation. I intend to change that in 2021.
Traditions bind families together but also contribute to stress that can tear them apart. 2020 was anything but ordinary, requiring flexibility and patience from all of us. Working and learning from home pulled back the curtain to reveal how much really happens behind-the-scenes, making many moms feel more seen, especially during the holidays. In this two-parter, we will look at finding balance in an unbalanced year.
Over many years and several D&D campaigns, I have reluctantly become more comfortable with the concept of asking for help when I need it and letting someone else revel in a success. Incredibly, participating in this game with friends has not only made me a better leader and team member in real life, but it has probably also helped keep me healthy through stressful times.
We’ve had a rough go of it in 2020, and the year isn’t over yet. Between pandemic, recession, violence, and political strife, people are experiencing chronic stress in the best of cases. What if I told you there was a way to work through unprocessed emotions, celebrate successes through diversity, and release brain chemicals that are designed to keep you healthy and resilient?
Halloween is the time of year when we think of death and of natural cycles coming to an end. But what is Halloween like when we’ve already been thinking about death all year? This post examines our attraction to the expression of death in art. Watching outbreak movies during a pandemic and laughing at dark humor during times of crisis may actually be a psychological necessity.