If you have not seen the Netflix show “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” or read her books, I’d highly recommend it.
She’s terrific at helping people organize their homes, and she famously asks people to hold the objects or the items of clothing that they’re considering keeping or giving away and asking them if it sparks joy.
It’s very interesting to watch the reactions of people as they’re doing that. And while watching the show recently, it occurred to me that there’s two very interesting psychological processes going on as they do what she asks.
When she has them connected to the object and they start talking about their memories associated with it — maybe where they first saw it, how they acquired it, who gave it to them — she is connecting them back to their most important values.
The things they cherish.
The second thing, psychologically speaking, is that by having them bring those memories and attachments back into their conscious awareness, she’s re-bonding them to the object.
Interestingly, they’re not just reconnecting to the object, they’re reconnecting to the values and the things that make them happy.
By bonding them again with it, it’s not so much that they value the object more, it’s that each time they encounter it, it’s likely to make them feel good again by reawakening and reconnecting them to the things that are so important to themselves.
So if you haven’t done this, yet: If there are things in your life that you haven’t touched and held recently except to pick them up and dust them or dust underneath them or move them around, that same method she uses — whether you’re organizing or not – can help reconnect you to what’s valuable and important in your life.
You will reawaken these ideas for yourself … these terrific memories and the things that are important to you.
Question: What ways do you try and reconnect yourself to things that you value?