For the record, the photo above is definitely not my home. If it were I would be rocking to and fro in a fetal position in the darkest corner I could find.

I merely used this photo to paint

an image. Of a slightly less cluttered, but item filled > 1400 square foot home, inhabited by two earthlings and (at the time) two Bengal cats and one Bengal kitten. In short, a madhouse.

I’m not sure how I how the topic came up, but one day my chiropractor started telling me about an open house he had visited. He was gushing about the labels on the shelves in the cupboards, and how each drawer had a divider… a place for everything, and everything you know where.

He had asked the owner of the house how she got to be so impressively organized. She told him of an ancient holy text (slight exaggeration) that a friend had bestowed upon her during her travels (the library.) The text read of organization, decluttering, anti-stress, and joy.

Needless to say, I was seeing stars… and that weird hazy light that shines around the love interest at the pivotal moments in a cheesy rom-com. But not around my chiropractor, (sorry ladies, he’s taken,) but around the book he had just pulled up on his phone:

(Queue drumroll please…)

“The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo.

Why aren’t you clapping yet?

Are you seriously still seated?

Come on! It’s a book about organization and purging unnecessary clutter!

Still no? Ok, let’s see if I can change your mind.

This is the perfect book for spring cleaning. I feel as though there may be a placebo effect just from purchasing it. You unwrap the cardboard box that you shove into your recycling bin and hold in your hands the key to a less cluttered life.

After reading the first page, you are inspired to go organize your desk drawer, but chapter two you are purging the contents of the spare bathroom no one ever uses, halfway through the text you are starting to sound like a zealot while you are explaining to the woman behind you in the grocery line why she absolutely needs to read this book and how it will help her find her chapstick at the bottom of her purse…

Is that weird? Maybe.

Is it awesome? I think so.

Before I even finished the book I was halfway through my house. I systematically attacked each room of our home (much to my husband’s chagrin,) and cleaned out each and every drawer, cupboard, pirates chest (What? Nothing..), shelf, bucket…. you get the idea.

With each giant garbage bag of donations I felt a little bit of burden and anxiety release, but what I didn’t realize was that it was floating down the hallway, into our perfectly barren bedroom and settling in my husband’s shoulders.

My husband is an artist. He creates music, drawings, paintings, sculptures. He works with wood, metal, plastics. He repurposes our flea market finds into instruments or turns instruments into furniture. His mind works so fast that often times one project is abandoned when he is inspired by another, and another, and so on.

Unlike his type-A, OCD, anxiety-ridden spouse; a whole-house purge was not something on his bucket list.

In retrospect, I should have verified that my enthusiasm was shared by my life-long roommate before commencing with the purge, but the end result was a reset home in which we could prioritize what was important to both of us, and to hold one another accountable before bringing in another unicycle (one is enough.)

So I definitely suggest you check this book out, whether you are a hoarder or already semi-organized. But a word of caution before you start dumping out the contents into your life and holding each item to determine if it actually gives you joy (no sarcasm, an actual chapter in the book,) make sure all members of the household are aware of what is happening around them, and be sure to tell them the new location of the can opener.

We’ve discussed in the past the necessary evil of some labels. I don’t feel that being either an introvert or an extrovert is in any way a hindrance.  I’ve debated with some folks that feel that being an introvert has held them back, or deterred them from living, but I don’t believe that labeling yourself one or the other determines all decisions for you from that point on.

I am a very cautious person. My father is a retired Lieutenant in the Sheriff’s department, so I was raised to always plan ahead, exercise situational awareness and to not take unnecessary risks. This way of thinking carried into my adult life, where I continue to over think sometimes and don’t jump in head first into the unknown. I also suffer from anxiety, so breaking out of my comfort zone is easier said than done. 

When I learned about the varying personality types in Psych 101 it opened my eyes to how different people truly are. I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that some folks actually get “energized” at parties, or they are happiest in a huge crowd of people. It’s challenging for me to imagine someone programmed 100% the opposite of me.

My husband is an extrovert – at least he was when we started dating. He is also a musician, and recharges his batteries by putting on shows, going to concerts, hanging out with friends at parties etc. We had hung out a lot in high school at small parties, so he thought that I was also an extrovert – turns out I’m just an amazing faker.

Whether or not I was faking it, the parties were the same, small groups of close friends who knew me. They where in a safe location, there wasn’t any danger, I knew my exits and I always had a escape plan. All of this was all internal, so to Jon, I just seemed like this ostentatious girl who laughed the loudest and had the most fun.

The difference between the two of us is that he’d walk away from the party completely pumped to go take on the next adventure, and I would be completely and entirely exhausted and crawling toward my flannel pajamas.

All Partied Out!

As mentioned before, no one is 100% introvert or extrovert, they are somewhere in between.

I am an INTJ, on the extrovert side of introversion. Interestingly enough, my mother, sister, mother-in-law and besties are all Introverts, but all different combinations and percentages!

Take the test to see where you fall! Let us know your letters in the comments below!