It's been a hot minute since I've kept up with Marie Kondo's teachings and put them into practice, but now that the holidays and Mardi Gras are past, I'm back in purge mode!

You may not recall, but last September, I read Kondo's book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and started my journey to decluttering my life. The first step, which I did then, is to declutter your clothes and accessories. The reason this is the first category that Kondo has her clients tackle is because of all the things we own, our clothes (for the most part) hold the least sentimental value (but I'll be damned if I can say that about my wedding dress!). Something like old photos is way down the list and something you tackle after you become addicted to the purge-high. 

Now, five months later, I'm moving on to the next phase, which is books. I honestly thought this phase would be a lot harder on me. I love books, and even though I would never just chuck books in the trash (they are going to a thrift store), it is still hard for me to let go of my precious books. Well, come to find out, I have no freakin' clue where most of my books are! Ha ha. I'm serious though. The only books I found were a couple of coffee table books, my Wicca books, and boxes of books that Mr. LL's friend gave us. Now, I know somewhere, probably in a closet and out of my reach, is a box of books. I own a lot of books, but Mr. LL has hidden them from me. In my search though, thinking through what books I know I should have, it has made it clear to me what I will be keeping once they are found.

I'll keep my cookbooks, because I really do need them. I really would like to find them, too. I'll keep my complete set of the Chronicles of Narnia because that series had a HUGE impact on me when I was a little kid. I thought about keeping my well-worn copy of Jane Eyre, but honestly, I don't think I will. The older I've gotten, the more flaws I find in that romance between Jane and Mr. Rochester. So, that's really it.

What I kept out of the books I did have at hand was a cook book, those two coffee table books (one is Mr. LL's anyway) and books that don't actually belong me (oh and my signed copy of Destroying Angel). I need to return the books I borrowed from Diana (Part Time Monster) and from the editor at work.

These days, I do a lot of my reading on my iPad through the Kindle app and through the e-reader apps that my library uses. I also check out books from the library (like I did with Kondo's book). 

Next up, I have to tackle what Kondo calls "komono" which includes: CDs/DVDs; skin care products; make-up; accessories; "valuables" like passport, credit cards, etc. I'll probably do each sub-category of "komono" individually, but don't worry, I'll bring you along with me! And hopefully I'll be able to take pictures (as I've mentioned in a few posts now, my camera isn't really usable at the moment).