When I Began Chasing JOY

It was the middle of April 2015 and I had been getting depressed.  It seemed that my life consisted of going to get infusions, watching kids, keeping up with old reruns of Grey's Anatomy and maybe writing an article or two.   I knew it really went deeper than that.  I was going to turn 62 and I had been living with lung cancer for over two years.  The first year had been frantic.  The second revealing and as I entered my third year with this diagnosis I was also involved in a clinical trial that was working.  And working well with few side effects.  So why did I feel so stuck?  What the hell was this about?

Listen, I know the reality of this disease, but I had worked hard not to let it get me down.  Now, it all seemed to be running at me.

Then one day, I was researching online for an article I was writing and got involved in reading about the KonMari Method.   This is a decluttering and organizational method devised by Marie Kondo, a Japanese business consultant.  The KonMari Method is now a world wide phenom- there are groups all over Facebook, people are tweeting and liking this method like nothing I have seen in a long time.

I decided to read a little more, and then I ordered the book.  I accumulated enough information to begin with though, to start with the first category.

Clothes.

As I began  what was to become a VERY BIG project I had no idea I was going to be chasing joy- and finding it in little bits along the way.  

Anyone who knows me knows I am kind of cynical, and look at life with a sideways glance.  This was different.

Saying goodbye to two thirds of my clothes gave me enormous joy.   Saying thank you to them for being there when I needed them and taking a hike when I didn't was a party in itself.  I'll tell you more about purging all these clothes and what I did with them next time.