Corinne is reading a book entitled “The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.” She decided that we need to declutter our house, and since tomorrow is our neighbourhood garage sale, this is the perfect time to get rid of stuff.
I’m on-board with the project, but in my current condition I’m not able to provide much help. I can, however, act as a consultant about what things should leave our house. Corinne has been going through our stuff and periodically brings me an object, such as a lamp, to pass judgement on. I almost always tell her that the object can go.
Corinne believes that we have too many windsurfers, and she may have a point. One of my windsurfers is a sinker board that has been in our garage for many years. A sinker is a board that doesn’t actually float when you stand on it. It must be planing on the surface of the water in order to support your weight. You can only use it on very windy days by lying in the water with your feet on the board, pushing the sail just above the water, and hoping that a strong gust will pull you out of the water. If the wind stops, you sink. I never mastered the technique of using the board, and so I haven’t used it. But, I’m not ready to give up on the idea that I will someday master the technique, even though I never practice it. I reluctantly agreed that we should get rid of the sinker; however, I told Corinne that I would need to organize the rigging, and we both agreed that it would be too much trouble for me in my current condition. So, the windsurfer will stay in our garage a bit longer and won’t contribute to the life-changing magic at this time.
Corinne decided that she should sell her 1962 Barbie’s Dream House at the garage sale. She looked online and saw that people are asking $50 for a vintage dream house. But those ones look pristine, and Corinne’s looks like it’s hosted some wild parties. So, Corinne brought the dream house up from the garage, and because it smelled like her mother’s damp basement, where it had been stored for 50 years, she put it on the back deck to air out. Here are some pictures of the dream house as it looks today.
As you can see, it’s a small but comfortable house made out of cardboard. That’s the bed on the right. Apart from that, Barbie has a couch, easy chair, coffee table, and make-up station–everything that Barbie needs. There’s no kitchen or washroom, but Barbie doesn’t need those rooms.
If you look at the house from another angle, you can see that Barbie has a stereo with a TV in it, and a large picture of her boyfriend Ken.
Corinne looked at Barbie’s Dream House wistfully and said to me, “Ron, do you really think I should sell it? Whenever I look at Barbie’s Dream House I’m flooded by feelings of attachment.”
I said to her, “Corinne, don’t sell Barbie’s Dream House. Let’s keep it a little while longer.”
“OK,” she said, sounding relieved. “We’ll keep it.” And she thanked me for my support.
So there won’t be much life-changing magic happening at our house this weekend. Decluttering isn’t as easy as the book leads us to believe. We may not have many articles to sell at the garage sale tomorrow, but at least we still have the sinker and Barbie’s Dream House.
Ron's Hip Adventure 
I love this post. My husband and I are going through the same sort of decluttering exercise at the moment. I believe that parents who keep all their “stuff” until they move to a condo or retirement home, are putting a curse on their children who have to clean it up. We’ve done it three times already, with my mother’s place, my father’s, and my mother-in-law’s.
However, instead of selling our stuff in a garage sale, we’re donating small items to Children’s Wish, and furniture to a charity called The Furniture Bank. We don’t “make” any money, as we might in a garage sale, but we do receive a tax receipt for the value of the furniture, and we also have the satisfaction of knowing that a needy family will be using our “gently used” furniture.
But we are certainly going through the same painful process of deciding what we can, or cannot, bear to part with. It sure is difficult to make some of those emotional decisions!
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I’d keep Barbie’s Dream House too, especially since it is all cardboard. I can’t believe it still stands! I was expecting pink plastic. Look at the amazing retro full-sized TV furniture! Reminds me of the credenza-style stereo at my grandmother’s house, way back in the day. You don’t need to give it away to create life-changing magic. It is already magical!
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I like the idea of getting rid of things.Fewer things mean less hateful dusting! If I had my druthers I would live out of a caravan and after squatting for a while simply moving on and thus avoiding clutter.
Corinne sell the Barbie house. And Ron sinkers are for fishing lines.
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I love Barbie’s House, very Mad Men ! Corinne has to keep it for a while longer. Definitely get rid of the sinker Ron. I too am painfully making decisions on what to keep or give away.The younger generation doesn’t want any of our stuff either,so you can’t even pass it down to our own kids.
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Take copious pictures of everything for your own memories, then sell them or give them away. Imagine the pleasure that future owners will have from these items that your generous spirit made possible.
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I’ve got the very same book, Corinne! Sent Steph and Luke a copy too, and shortly received a photo of their collective pile on their living room floor. Inspired, I set to, myself. Read the book, earmarked pages. Then, as she said to, I threw some stuff on the floor. “Tops” they were. That needed grouping. So I moved on to socks, because “Tops ” were proving a challenge. Socks were excellent! Roll up tightly, stand on edge, colour code , no sweat! …… And now it’s today. Seems , with the flinging of tops, and rolling of socks, I misplaced the book. But, no worries. It’s around here somewhere.
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