Lovely! Don’t set your hearts too much on the Zen/minimalist theme, Pips. Well soon start cluttering up again, I am sure!

We would love to visit once you’re all settled in your Zen like minimalistic new home Marion!
xxxx

Thank you Pippa. Nick has found someone who can bring order to one’s paperwork/office but I haven’t dared go that far yet. And lots of love to you all, too. You’ll have to come and see us in our new house, when we eventually get there and if I haven’t decluttered everything away!

Hi Marion, I have only just seen your email! It somehow got lost in my masses of emails. Now there is an area of my life that definitely needs decluttering! Wishing you a stress free and happy move. Lots of love Pippa

Pippa, I just realised i didn’t answer your question about when we hope to move. The answer is, we don’t know, but we hope by the end of Feb, all being well. Our solicitor is well on with things but awaiting various vital bits from the sellers’ solicitor. We haven’t even exchanged yet, so nothing is certain. It will be a relief to (hopefully!) have it all settled. Meanwhile, we have de-cluttering time… which is a bonus.

Pips, that is what Marie Kondo says – that decluttering is ‘life-changing magic’. What we don’t know is how long this sense of well-being lasts… Hopefully until the clutter starts building up again, one doesn’t want to be in a permanent state of needing a decluttering fix!

Yes, incentives can be a wonderful thing! I do love a good clearing out, somehow it seems to make such a huge impact on my sense of wellbeing and mental clarity. It really does seem to free up space and energy in unexpected ways. When do you move Marion?

Mike, hi, how right you are! The computer? I hadn’t thought of that… Fortunately that clutter is very concentrated, almost invisible. The spark joy test won’t work there, nor on the filing cabinet, another horror story. We are finding it all difficult (and we’re still at the easy stage of categories) but the thought of our children having to sort everything because we can’t bear to is a strong incentive – also of course ‘the needs must’ pressure of serious downsizing. And it does feel very satisfying, liberating even.

Tim, imagine the sudden sense of panic as the last thing on the conveyor belt disappears, and you realise after all that we do need some things, whether we like it or not!! Crushed is very final. Our first batch of the second round of decluttering went off today, to the Air Ambulance. Not crushed, but still pretty final! I must say it feels good.
(By the way, hope your fingers are okay – not too frostbitten.)