Marie Kondo, the super popular cleaning guru, has her clients stack all of their clothes in a huge pile before separating what stays and what goes. I always thought this was a bit excessive and a waste of time, but I guess it’s a good exercise for people who hoard clothes. I don’t have a “problem” with clothes…

..but this morning as I sit here looking around our home, I realize I have a problem with everything else.

We just moved back to Florida from North Carolina.  Yesterday my husband and I started unpacking our large U-HAUL truck. My goal was to empty all of the boxes immediately so I could see what I have before putting things away; I was essentially creating “Marie Kondo piles” in each room without even realizing it.

Let me just say, I get it now.

Now I understand why it’s so important to confront all of your stuff in one mound. You see when I pick up that never been used, 5 year old, red brie baker (soo cute!) I can fall in love with it all over again.

When I see that same red brie baker in relation to all the other crap I have, I suddenly don’t feel the same way about it anymore.

Walking through room after room and seeing all of my stuff in piles brings me face to face with the truth that I have shopped waay too much. I’m embarrassed in front of my husband who deserves a medal for putting all of the boxes into the truck and then taking them all out again.

So yes, I get it.

I get the importance of this honest moment and see why this first step needs to happen. Without this reckoning I would have organized my way out of this mess without ever appreciating or understanding that I actually have a bigger, underlying issue.  This pivotal, uncomfortable, humiliating moment is absolutely essential when facing ANY problem. It doesn’t matter if your life is buckling under the weight of closets stuffed with clothes, booze hidden in cabinets, a pantry full of donuts or too many brie-baking dishes..FACING the ugly truth of personal excess must be step one.

When you see it, really stare at it in its totality,  it will change you.