I finally did something I’ve been putting off but desperately needed: de-cluttering my closet.
My motivation? A book my interior design friend Kathi Graves told me about which I then promptly googled. It’s called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. It talks about The KonMari method, which basically says that if something doesn’t give you joy, pitch it.
Way easier said than done. But on a recent Saturday afternoon, I found myself coming to enjoy the process of asking if this dress I wore once and feel self-conscious in is worth saving, and if the only reason that designer top is only hanging around because of its price tag. No joy? No go.
Afterward, weirdly enough, I felt so happy. It was crazy how purging through stuff that didn’t give me joy felt liberating.
The KonMari method can be applied to a lot of other facets of life besides your closet, and there’s something to be said about how it relates to my patients who are trying to get pregnant.
The main philosophy here is to put a mental attachment – perhaps even an obsession – aside, choose to find and focus on the joy, and watch how good things can come to you without trying so hard.
That doesn’t mean you should stop caring about or trying to get pregnant. Caring and trying are important! But caring is the keyword here, not obsessing.
In Chinese medicine, obsession depletes the liver energy. The liver is the commander of your body’s qi (energy). When your liver energy gets stuck, nothing moves. But when you accept and truly acknowledge that you’re doing everything you can, it frees up the liver energy and everything flows better. It’s like a traffic jam has been lifted.
And guess what? I see so many more success stories from women who have been able to free themselves of their pregnancy obsession and choose acceptance and joy. So if this has been weighing on your heart, give it a shot and let go—you’ll feel lighter and liberated… and your liver will thank you!
