I have always been a pretty messy person. It is something that I have struggled with ever since I was very little. I would constantly get in trouble for having such a messy room, but I would never do anything about it. I chalked my messiness up to me just being lazy, but as I got older, I realized that was not the case.

I can be very lazy, but there were times that I genuinely tried to clean my room. I filled up a few bags of trash and I picked up all the clothes on my floor- which was pretty much my whole entire wardrobe- and I washed everything. I was doing good, but I still had a long way to go. I was extremely proud of myself for getting so much done in my room, but that did not last.

After I washed my clothes, I did not really have anywhere to put them. I have dressers and a closet, but everything was so messy and cluttered that I did not know how to even start putting my stuff in there. I folded up and hung up some things, but they just ended up sitting on my bed because my drawers were too messy to put anything in them. My clothes eventually ended up back on the floor because I did not put up the clothes that I washed and I did not keep up with washing my clothes once I wore them. Once all my clothes ended up back on the floor again, I lost all the motivation I once had and I just gave up on cleaning my room.

I graduated high school with an extremely messy room and I almost went away to college with an extremely messy room. I had about a week and a half until it was move-in day and I knew that I had to do something. I had no idea what clothes I wanted to take with me because everything was everywhere. I found out that I like to watch cleaning videos a while back because I would watch them so I could learn tips on how to clean my room. The tips never really worked for me because I had some other issues I needed to work through, but I would still watch videos and read articles so I would be able to get all the help I could.

Through my love of watching people clean and organize, I found out Marie Kondo. I did not really understand her method at first, but once I tried it for myself, I realized that it was amazing. I have a lot of hoarding tendencies and Marie Kondo really helped me get rid of some of those tendencies. Asking myself if something sparks joy and thanking my items before getting rid of them has really helped me. I always had a hard time getting rid of stuff because I just told myself that everything I ever owned was important to me. Really taking the time to ask myself if I really need something has helped me get rid of all the purposeless things that I have had for years and thanking the items before tossing them makes it so much easier.

I actually clean and organize for fun now. It is something I really enjoy doing. I am not sure that this would be the case if I did not learn about Marie Kondo. I am so thankful for her "Konmari" method and it has helped me so much. I am so much happier than I used to be because I am not living in such a cluttered space and I am actually able to enjoy being in my room.