The KonMari Bandwagon

I'm sure almost everyone has heard of Kondo Marie and her innovative de-cluttering method by now. It's been all over the blogosphere for quite some time now. There are many, many, many articles out there which go into the method in more or less detail. In the last few days, it's captured my attention. As the second anniversary of buying our house approaches, it's been more on my mind that my house isn't the way I'd like it. In fact, much of my stuff isn't even unpacked yet! There's a story behind that, but I won't go onto it today.

Serene-looking Marie Kondo and her book.

When reading about Kondo Marie and her KonMari method, I have to admit that I was in two minds about it. I did go ahead and order the book, but in the meantime while I'm waiting for it to arrive, I thought I'd note my initial impressions of what I've read so far.

Not my house, but it could be!
Picture Source.

THINGS ABOUT THE METHOD THAT REPEL/MYSTIFY ME

* Minimalism. I've always had a lot of stuff. My family has always had a lot of stuff, and I grew up being used to that. We're not hoarders - we'll quite happily throw stuff away, and we like to have everything tidied away where possible. Admittedly though, that doesn't always work out in the bustle of everyday life.
* Working from items you're least attached to, to most. I think the concept is great, but Kondo suggests starting with clothes, then books, then other items. I'm very attached to my clothes and especially my books! I guess my concept of sentimentality is a little different to hers. If I haven't read a book, then I will not get rid of it.

THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THE METHOD

* The main title of the book uses the words 'tidying up' rather than 'de-cluttering' or 'organising'. I've always had a resistance to those two words, but my brain can cope with tidying up.
* Kondo's method involves working by category rather than by room or area. For example, you need to collect together all of your clothes, no matter what room they are in, before you start deciding what to get rid of. That makes a lot of sense to me and appeals to my sense of completism.
* It's a one-shot prospect. Kondo says that if you follow her method faithfully, then you should only ever have to do it once - ever. In fact, she even says that once finished, you should give her book away, as you will no longer need it. I love that detail, as it shows that she is genuinely dedicated to her method. It sounds exciting but, to be honest, I'm a bit sceptical. I tend to buy a lot of stuff on impulse, which I then need to find spots for in the house. But I'm open to the possibility that this might change once I have a nice, tidy house.
* She's against buying elaborate storage systems, but she's big on putting things in boxes and trays. I do this a lot too, so it makes sense to me.
* She folds her t-shirts and socks the same way I do! We're folding twins!
* She acknowledges that people have trouble getting rid of things because they have emotional attachments or feelings of guilt associated with them. Her method turns traditional de-cluttering ideas on their head and looks at why we should keep things, rather than why we should throw them away.
* She has a spiritual way of looking at physical space and belongings, which I can relate to.

The beauty of socks.
Picture Source.

In the end, I decided to buy the book because I was intrigued by Kondo Marie as a person. She has been preoccupied with tidying and arranging physical space since the age of 5. She worked for many years in a Shinto shrine, where she became accustomed to thinking of physical space in a spiritual way. In some ways, she reminds me of myself. I've been known to spend an afternoon happily sorting hama beads into different colours, and can't wait for the day when I'll have time to get right into the compactus and get all those files properly sorted out.

Now ... when is that book going to arrive??

7 Things I Do When I'm Depressed

I accidentally deleted the first version of this post, and didn't realise it for about 3 weeks. Thankfully that doesn't happen to me very often, though I found myself thinking, why this post in particular??! It was difficult trying to remember that far back; and the second version never seems as good as the first, but I'm going to persist!

I do think this is an important topic to write about. Most people only show the best side of themselves on the internet -- and who can blame them? I like to stick to writing about my hobbies and fun things I do on my blog. I try to avoid anything negative, because this is my fun place, where I come to escape. It's easy to forget though, that blogs and instagrams are just one aspect of a person's life, a carefully edited version. I can't count the number of times I've started feeling 'blog envy', thinking that the person I'm reading about must have a perfect life. No-one's life is perfect. I have the same issues as everyone else. I work 6 days a week, and my job can often be very stressful. Most times, at the end of the day I'm tired, and I don't have as much time for art, craft and writing as I would like. This can often lead to depression. I also have anxiety which sometimes makes it difficult for me to go out and do/experience the things that I would like to.

Having said all of that, at heart I'm a very positive person, so I thought I'd make today's post about some of the tactics I use to cheer myself up when I'm feeling depressed. I hope that they might help anyone going through the same things I am.

DAYDREAM
When I'm at the dentist having my teeth drilled, I think about playing with puppies and kittens. Believe it or not, it actually makes the experience a lot more bearable. The Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus was the first one to suggest this idea: when his followers were in pain, he encouraged them to reminisce about past times enjoyed with friends. If I feel depression or anxiety getting the best of me, I imagine myself as a character in one of my favourite films (one with a happy ending!), or I think about being in a beautiful garden, or playing with baby animals. This has been a lifesaver many times when I've been in a crowded train feeling overwhelmed.
I can't remember where I read about this next trick unfortunately, but I read of a girl who relaxes by imagining herself painting with beautiful sparkly glowing paints, paints that don't exist in real life but her imagination makes them come to life. Sometimes I find it relaxing to imagine myself crocheting or knitting. I call it 'head crafting'.

REMEMBER MY BODY
Your body is an amazing and very complex organism. Sometimes there might be physical as well as mental and emotional factors at work. A few months ago, I went to my doctor to get a general check-up. I was surprised when he told me that my Iron levels were extremely low -- so low that the lab's instruments don't even measure such small amounts! I wasn't surprised to hear this, because I'd been feeling down for a long time. I thought it was just Winter that was making me feel so tired and sad and cold. I started taking Iron supplements the next day, and within a few days I felt much more myself. I had much more energy and felt like doing my hobbies again.
If I'm feeling depressed and grumpy for no apparent reason, I check where I am in my cycle. Yes, it's PMT time again! I tell myself that it'll only last for a few days, and that means I have permission to pamper myself in the meantime.

I HAVE A SHOWER
This one is for those weekends when I can't bring myself to get out of bed and the thought of doing anything is excruciating. Having a shower is such a simple, everyday thing that it doesn't feel like a luxury and so I don't have to feel guilty about it. Usually though, once I've done it, I have more energy -- I feel like getting dressed and doing something. Even if I end up getting straight back into bed, at least I'm clean and I smell nice.

I DO JUST ONE THING
This is what Barbara Sher calls the Complete Willingness Unit and Havi Brooks at The Fluent Self calls One Tiny Thing. I love One Tiny Thing myself, because the acronym OTT is the same as Over The Top, and that makes it sound outrageously fun! You might be thinking, but that's just another way of saying the old cliched phrase, "baby steps!". In some ways that's true, but you're only taking one step. And it's a step that you're absolutely willing and able to take. If you feel any resistance whatsoever, then don't do it!
For example, one of my biggest bugbears is putting away clean laundry. I have a huge pile of it in my bedroom, and just looking at it is depressing. My wardrobe is all disorganised and it's a complete nightmare. I say to myself, "I will put away one thing. One Thing. I can definitely cope with that." Once I've done that, if I feel like going on, I do. If I don't, it's perfectly fine.
Another time I was feeling depressed because I hadn't written anything in such a long time. I realised that my notebook and my pen tray were in different rooms. I retrieved the pen tray and put it together with the notebook. Even though I didn't actually do any writing, I felt better. I knew that it would be easier for me to find my materials if and when I felt like writing again.

The most vital part of this technique -- and yes, I admit, the hardest -- is giving yourself permission. Letting yourself take the credit for doing this one thing, acknowledging that it is enough, and not letting guilt in. Something that really helps me with this is a concept I heard of a few years ago from The Fluent Self called Fractal Flowers. The idea is that everything in your life is connected to every other thing in an infinite pattern, like a fractal. So, no matter what you're doing right now, it's having effects in other parts of your life.
I had to work on this for quite a while before it clicked in my head, but now it's one of my favourite techniques.

(Incidentally, while looking up the relevant links for this section, I also found this funny and inspiring post on brushing just one tooth.)

I LISTEN TO MUSIC
On my ipod, I have a playlist called 'Happy Songs'. It brings together all of the songs that make me happy from all genres, from Kpop to Disco. When I'm feeling down, I set it going, and I instantly feel better. Lately I've often been listening to it at other times, as well. Now that I think about it, when things are really bad, I could make listening to a song my One Tiny Thing.

I DO SOMETHING REALLY BADLY
I'm sure many people will be familiar with that voice in your head telling you not to bother writing that story or doing that drawing because it'll be the worst thing ever created in the history of man. I used to let that voice take over, but with a lot of work, I've learned to defy it. I do a bit of reverse psychology and try to prove the voice right! I'll deliberately do a really bad drawing, or just grab a bunch of textas in my fist and scribble all over the page. I'll choose some paints that clash horribly and just smoosh them around. Other times I might butcher the craft of writing by creating a story with no ending, or using horribly cliched words that I would never normally use. I turn making the worst possible creation into a game. Usually, I end up having fun and feeling a whole lot better.

I HAVE SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO
No matter how small it is, I make sure I have something to look forward to. I find that this one is most helpful when I'm in situations where I can't just run off and sit in a corner or spend time daydreaming, etc. It's nice to have a holiday booked in, but of course I don't always have the money or opportunity to do that. Even small things can lift me out of depression though, like having a session booked at the Cat Cafe, or arranging lunch with a friend. Declaring Friday to be pizza night. Deciding to walk a different route at lunchtime. It doesn't have to be complicated or expensive, just something that will break up the everyday routine of work.

I DO NOTHING
That's right, sometimes I just do nothing. I would have been ashamed to admit that until recently. All my life, I've always felt like I have to be doing something, anything, but never nothing. This is another situation where the concept of Fractal Flowers is really helpful. For example, sometimes all I want to do is lie in bed and stare at the ceiling for the rest of the afternoon. It sounds awful, but perhaps that's what I really need to do at those times. One time when I did that, I fell asleep and had an amazing dream that inspired a story. That story would never have come about if I'd gotten up and mechanically forced myself to do housework or cook dinner. I might even have gotten the extra rest that I needed to avoid coming down with the nasty cold that everyone else was getting. Who knows? Anything could happen.


If none of these wacky ideas work for you, there are plenty of others out there on the internet at your fingertips. If nothing seems to be working, please talk to someone in your life or online. It will get better. It's getting better for me, and it will for you, too.

Pen Update / Review

I didn't write about the arrival of my order from Jetpens straight away, but I can assure you, I was very excited! I've tested out a few of the pens so far.

I bought the Zebra Sarasa Gel Ink Pen in Grey, to compare it to the grey Pilot Juice pen that I have. Just as I suspected, I prefer the Zebra Sarasa. The colour is much more saturated and easy to read. I wrote some spontaneous bad haiku in my notebook to demonstrate:

I also purchased a Uni-ball Vision Elite BLX Roller Ball (0.5 mm) in Purple Black, mainly because I was curious about the colour. I don't normally like this sort of pen: I like a thicker line and I often find them a bit scratchy. It was beyond my expectations, though! The colour is lovely, it's comfortable to hold, and it's not scratchy at all.

I finally completed the Pilot Petit set and got the Petit3, the brush pen. I loaded it up with the clear blue cartridge that it came with and had a muck around with it. It's not like any other brush pen that I have experience with. The tip is only slightly more flexible than a sign pen. Perhaps I'm not enough of a pen afficionado, but it just seems like a thinner version of their Petit2 sign pen. Nevertheless it'll be fun to draw with, and I do love the way the writing ink looks in drawings.

The star of my haul though, was this fountain pen, the Jinhao X750.

I saw it when I checked out the New Products section of the website and couldn't resist. It looked amazing on the website, and even if it turned out to be no good, it was incredibly cheap at $8.00. For the price it also included a converter. There were 6 colours to choose from, and I chose the Ice Flower Red. It's compatible with the international standard short cartridge, which is produced by several brands in a large range of colours, so there's a lot of choice. I chose the more affordable Kaweco cartridges in Caramel Brown; they come in a pack of 6.

When I first unpacked the pen, I was instantly struck by how heavy it was. The barrel is metal and the whole pen seems to be of very good quality. Inserting the cartridge was easy, but unfortunately I had a lot of trouble with it after that. It took a little bit of effort to get the ink flowing, and then it would only write a few words or a sentence before the flow would stop again. I tried cleaning it and that still didn't fix the problem. Eventually I hit on the idea of storing it vertically, nib down. It seems to work fine this way so far. I can't store it in my pen tray with my other pens, but that's only a small inconvenience.

Now that I have it flowing well -- my gosh, this pen is a pleasure to write with! More bad haiku to demonstrate:

The line is lusciously thick, it moves over the paper smoothly, and the heaviness of the pen balances well in my hand. This pen is like a shy friend who is prickly at first and only shows her beautiful qualities after you persevere.

I haven't yet used the pen with the converter, but according to the reviews on JetPens, it works well. Now, where did I pack my bottled inks?

A First...

This .... is my first painting on canvas!

I've been thinking about taking this step for about 6 months. One day at work, a communique went around that a senior executive was looking for one or more artworks to decorate her office with. Did we paint? Or know anyone that paints? Well, I paint! But only in art journals, and that isn't the kind of thing you can hang on a wall. If I ever want to share my art with others, then it has to come out of the journal and onto something displayable. "What???" the voice in my head says, "share it with others? Are you crazy! The first time anyone criticises it, you'll be completely crushed and crawl back into your hole and never create again!"

Enough of that, voice!

In the end the painting came about because of the fortuitous convergence of my Mum's 60th birthday, and a 50% off sale on canvases at Riot Art & Craft stores. I wanted to make something special for my Mum, and seeing the sale in my email gave me the idea to do it. I tried to choose colours that she would like, and they're colours I like too, so the painting is actually very similar to what I create in my art journals (except I actually finished it!). There's luscious colour, patterns, mark-making and collage bits. And -- the bit that's been missing from my art journal pages -- there are a couple of my creatures. I dreamed of them once, they've been appearing in my sketches for a while, and now they appear here. This particular painting shows two, emerging from a hole in the ground. Are they mother and daughter? Probably. Are they me and my Mum? Possibly. Is the 'hole' a womb, or an emergence from the 'Stuff' we both struggle with in our lives? Who knows?

I made the two figures the same size because we are both adults now: sometimes she leads me, and other times I lead her. Or they might not be us at all. I deliberately made it ambiguous. The only sure thing is that they are moving up towards the rainbow-coloured light above the canopy of the forest.

When I gave Mum the painting she said, "Wow! You've come a long way!" Later, when we were saying good bye, she said, "thanks for my painting!" I did notice however, that she didn't actually say she liked it. I had a slight crisis of confidence, thinking that if even my own mum doesn't like my art, then who will??! Thankfully it passed fairly quickly with the help of some sketching in my journals, and I'm ready to try another one.

Pruning the Roses

It's that time of year again: time to prune the roses, so I dug out my gloves and secateurs yesterday and hacked away! Last year (my first year) I left it too late. By all accounts you're not supposed to prune when new growth has already started, so I wasn't able to do much except tidy off some old dead branches. That's why the roses still look so tangled and out-of-control this year! I used instructions from here with diagrams from here as my guide.

The roses in the side garden, before:

and after:

Before:

And after:

The rose at the front next to the garage, after:

I don't seem to have a before, oops, but I didn't chop much off this one. As you can see, it never died back over Winter, so I was worried about chopping too much off. It's interesting that each rose bush is different. Each one grew at different rates, started and finished flowering at different times, and died back to different degrees once the weather turned.

I didn't prune this poor fellow at all except for cutting off a few tiny dead twigs. It had a bad case of black spot over the Summer and didn't grow at all, so I let him be.

I'm very pleased to see lots of new buds growing very strongly on it, though:

Just as I was packing up, it started pouring rain and this amazing double rainbow appeared! You can't see the second one very well in the photo, but it's coming up from behind the power pole.

The double effect had gone away by the time I took the second one, but it's so bright! I stayed outside for a little while under the porch, watching and listening to the rain falling onto the plants in the garden. At times like these, I can almost feel their joy at soaking in the rain, the heat of summer just a distant memory. Morning sun and afternoon rain -- it's perfect.

7 Directions : Lessons 2 & 3

During the last week, I've been continuing with the 7 Directions art-journalling workshop from Hali Karla. See my post on Lesson 1 here.

Lesson 2 was about colour and movement. This time we worked with paints. I was surprised and a little perturbed to read that we would be working with the same page again. After the first lesson, I considered the page to be, not exactly quite finished, but close. I came to terms with it fairly quickly though, when I realised that it would be a chance to re-work the parts I didn't like. I had a second chance!

Ironically, the part I didn't like the most took a lot of work to paint over, as the texta kept bleeding through and I had to add more and more layers of paint. Then I accidentally painted over a part I did like and the paint wouldn't wipe off enough to see it again (hence the irony). I was a little upset at that, but I tried to let it go and concentrate on what would come next. I started having fun, and even tried some of the same practice in my other art journals. I felt more confident that I could 'draw' with paint.

The Familiar: Combining different colours.
The New: Adding many layers of paint. 'Drawing' with paint. Putting paint on the page in a 'painterly' way. To me that means less controlled, working more in a flowing motion.

Lesson 3 was about letting go, which was interesting as I'd already started to do that in Lesson 2. It involved writing words on the page and adding collage elements. Adding new ideas, moving away from what was, towards what will be. I have to admit, writing words and using collage were techniques I'm already familiar with, but again, adding them in this order was new to me and took a bit of getting used to. I had to decide which parts I was happy to cover up -- to sacrifice, in a way. I must have found that difficult, because afterwards I realised that I'd only chosen small collage pieces, and stuck them around the edges. As I usually do! I wrote a long passage over the part that I'd accidentally covered in the previous lesson, and this felt really cathartic. Like I was making a statement that I was going to start afresh. The passage expresses something private, that I don't want anyone else to see, so in a way I was saying: I'm prepared to add even more layers, to go even further. I tried to choose words, images and colours that are symbolic, not just because they look pretty or relaxing to work with at the time. All of the collage pieces have a meaning.

I'm starting to become more confident that I can improve the parts that I don't like. I can go over them in layers without 'ruining' them. This lesson has also encouraged me to see art less as 'just' a hobby and more as an expression of myself, more the way an artist might. I'm looking forward to the next lesson.

The Familiar: Writing on the page; using collage.
The New: Choosing elements and their location for their symbolism; telling a story.

My July and Preview for My August

I have to admit, I didn't do much this month. When I get home from work, it's already dark and I'm instantly in hibernation mode as soon as I walk in the door. There's nothing more appealing than snuggling down into my blanky on the couch and watching TV. As I mentioned last month, it's been colder this Winter than it has been for years, and everyone seems to be having trouble adjusting to it. I try not to complain though, because I really do love the cold weather, though to people in Europe and the U.S. 12oC (54oF) probably doesn't seem cold at all. Whenever we hear on the news about heatwaves in Europe, I have to confess, many Australians tend to scoff. I listen out for the announcement of the top temperature, ready to mock the heat lightweights who start to keel over when it hits 28oC. However, the top temperature announced for last week's heatwave was 36, which I was quite impressed at. That is pretty hot! A week of that has many Australians grumbling, too.Well, Melbournians at least....

Anyway, I'm rambling now. I haven't been in the mood for writing much in the last couple of weeks, not even blog posts, which I normally enjoy. When I try to force myself to write, it feels stilted and mediocre to me. Like right now. Egh. Let's move on to some good news!

I have the next two weeks off work! I'll be staying home and doing whatever the gosh-darn-dang-oh-damn-I-needed-a-holiday-heck I feel like. Which may include: reading, painting, blogging, napping, making amigurumi, baking, writing, etc etc. Meanwhile though, here were my main activities from the month of July. I don't really have any craft or things I normally show on the blog, but at least it's honest!

What I've been playing ...
I've been really addicted to my iPod games lately, especially Grow Legends, Pocket Frogs and The Blockheads. It's just so good to snuggle down into a blanky with just my eyes and a couple of fingers sticking out, playing simple relaxing games.

▼ Some of my frog collection in Pocket Frogs.

▼ Buying decorations for their habitats is fun, too.

▼ I built a fish pond so that my Blockhead, Jonno, can go fishing.

▼ And a simple wharf for him to moor his boat at. He has big plans for it!

▼ I even got Jonno a girlfriend but she completely ignores him!

What I've been installing ...
Near the start of the month, Husband and I went on an epic trip to Ikea. It takes about an hour to get there, so that instantly makes it epic before you even start on the winding path through the store itself! We bought some lighting for the hobby room and our wardrobes, and a few smaller things. Installing lighting in my wardrobe has made such a difference. I'm very happy!

It even has a proximity sensor so it switches off automatically when I close the door. Now that I can see inside the cupboard, I really should get on with re-organising it and putting all of my clean clothes away....

What I've been watching ...
My favourite TV show at the moment is Drunk History. It's a very simple idea. Comedians get really drunk and tell stories from British history. Then they film the stories with live actors (or in some cases animated), with ums, aahs, swearing, rude nicknames and all. The results are hilarious! The show is on YouTube and Comedy Central.

Image Source.


What else I've been doing ...
A new feature that I started last month --

wrote 2 dream stories ~ wrote an essay ~ went to a new restaurant ~ walked twice as far as normal without even realising it ~ updated the compactus map ~ read 2 books ~ baked a treacle cake ~ had 3 painting sessions ~ wrote a book review ~ had brunch with friends ~ won a hot air balloon part in Pocket Planes ~ did yoga ~ ran an induction session using the projector for the first time ~ wrote 3 observations ~ voiced my ideas ~ wrote some haiku ~ went to the comic shop for the first time ~ bought some hobby room decorations ~ finished checking a list of 941 files ~ finished 1 pink granny square ~ started an amigurumi ~ got up-to-date with my podcast downloads ~ added Mori tags to all of my blog posts ~ thought of a possible pen name ~ started an art journalling course ~ baked biscuits ~ collected all of the Anura frogs in 9 colours (6 to go!) ~ watched 4 movies in 24 hours ~ went for a walk to the pond park ~ booked in to get another tattoo ~ thought of a possible name for my book ~ bought a new art journal ~ made a plan for the compactus clear out ~ bought supplies to make Mum's birthday present ~ made a gallery with columns in The Blockheads ~ wrote my first RM tip for the work newsletter