I have been a huge fan of Marie Kondo since her book first launched. And trust me, I binge watched her new show in an evening. However I often see people talk about how they couldn’t do it because they aren’t fans of minimalism (even my own sister said that) which blows my mind because I am far from a minimalist!
Here’s where I feel a lot of people get her ideas wrong. Because it’s not about throwing out everything and embracing a minimalist life style. It’s about only keeping things you enjoy. If having a bookcase full of books you love sparks joy great! A stack of magazines in a box in your basement isn’t doing the same for you. Keeping a dozen ugly oversized t-shirts isn’t bring joy to your life, they should go. Loving funky printed socks and having a drawer full on the other hand might spark joy in you so keep those.
This is why I actually recommend people read her second book “Spark Joy” before actually reading her first book. She breaks down the idea behind keeping only things that spark joy, and even explains what she means by that. I often see people ask “how can a can opener bring joy? Or a toilet plunger? How about my recycling can??” and as she explains it, you are thankful to have these things when needed, so indeed they spark joy.
Konmari isn’t about tossing over everything and living minimalistic, it’s about making sure you surround yourself with things you love so you can care more deeply (and in turn take care of them) it’s about being aware of what we have in our homes, and maybe becoming more aware of what we bring into them. It’s about envisioning the home you want and working positively towards that goal. If for you it is a simple and sparse home wonderful, but if not konmari is still for you. 😊
“if somebody becomes panicked when you accuse them of lying theyre obviously not telling the truth” shut up ugly im a survivor who got punished for shit i never did all the time of fucking course im gonna panic when im blamed for something i didnt do
since this post is actually getting attention rn i really want to emphasize this-
many of the “tells” of lying are traits commonly found in abuse survivors and mentally ill/disabled people.
stuttering, averting eye contact, panicking, raising your volume, fidgeting, and other similar traits are actions performed commonly by these groups, especially in situations of heavy stress- such as being accused of doing something we didnt do, especially if we are afraid of being punished for doing nothing.
im honestly begging people to think critically when accusing somebody of lying for small traits like these.
Oh illiterate honey that isn’t the topic of discussion
always be suspicious when someone tries to derail a conversation by talking about people taking ‘advantage’ of a social safety net. brings this to mind:
the drama junkie: lives to starts drama. silence makes them restless. must shade, indirect and and expose even just to get a rise out of people because everyone’s so damn quiet. usually found talking in the tags or with asterisks, and hosting unpopular opinions anon ask games.
the nostalgic: has aged 25 years since the start of the hiatus. remembers the good times in the fandom, makes long and sappy text posts about everything that dan and phil have accomplished and how much they’ve grown. probably cries a lot.
the supportive fan: is constantly reminding everyone that dan and phil DESERVE THIS BREAK. will fight anons and anyone else who disagrees. can sometimes get passive-aggressive.
the relentless gifmaker: swore that it would be a relief to take a break from giffing for a bit. on day 2 of the hiatus they started a best moments gif series because they were going insane. after two weeks they have probably run out of ideas and can be found begging anyone for gif requests.
the optimist: refuses to mope. sadness? nostalgia? doesn’t know her. the hiatus is a fun time! is constantly gushing about all the exciting things dan and phil have in store for the new year, doesn’t matter they’ve got no clue what those things are. daydreams of radio shows, podcasts and baking videos.
the ghost: one moment is posting and reblogging non-stop, then disappears for days. pops in and out, mostly quiet, comes back in the middle of the night with a random text post about a film they watched or a politician they hate.
the k-poppie: enough said. they tried to resist but they just couldn’t anymore. a moment of silence for another casualty. usually found screaming in caps lock STAN LOONA. probably by now they’ve emigrated to twitter.
the shitposter: can and will shitpost their way through this hiatus. anything is game. they will find a way to make a dan and phil version of every single new meme that comes up even with no new content to use. in case of lack of inspiration, no worries, they can always make beard edits.
the over-thinker: overthinks everything. too much time and no content leads them to think too much about the ins and outs of dan and phil’s lives and careers. will analyze every tweet or instagram story to get an idea of what’s going on with them. anything can be a hint to know what they’re thinking or planning for the future. probably stressed.
the conspiracy-theorist: is probably having more fun than anyone else. knows no middle ground. dan and phil are always either on the verge of breaking up or on the verge of adopting a child. compiles lengthy posts with references and #proof for their theories. very passionate about their ideas, they can probably be found trying to spot a ring on dan’s finger in the background of every new photo.
the veteran: constantly tired, tends to complain about everything, but there’s no heat behind it. has been here for 236568 years. has lived through the age of square hair dan, no-homo howell, dan’s low-rise jeans, has seen the fall of the radio show and the fantastic foursome, has witnessed the v-day video drama, the charlie skies mess, has endured the tatinof content drought, probably there’s a danosaur or phillion t-shirt hidden in some dark corner of their wardrobe. it sure as hell won’t be this hiatus that breaks them.
This was meant to provide motivation, but honestly, this is more of a list of ways to make sure you get it done, rather than make yourself “motivated”. Either way, this should benefit you somehow.
In the words of Chuck Wendig, “do not fucking multitask”. Carve out a specific time to write and use it to write. Don’t try to simultaneously write and tweet and check your email. Whether it be 15 minutes or 2 hours, write, and only write.
Take breaks occasionally. You can’t just sit there and fog up your creative lens. Go outside and go for a walk. Go to coffee with your friends for an hour. Do something to relax your brain for a while. It’s the same with studying. Don’t drive yourself up the wall because you feel you’re “on a roll”. Your ideas and plans will still be there when you get back. If you begin to get frustrated or your foot starts to fall asleep, take a break.
Use a rewards system. Say, for every 100 words, you get a piece of chocolate. After eating a regular sized Hershey’s bar, you’ve got 1200 words. Go you! (I personally fine this incredibly useful.)
Have people you trust hold you accountable. Have your best friend (or partner, if you’ve got one) check in when they know you should be writing to make sure you did.
Read books like a writer. Read a shitty book and pick it apart to find what you don’t like about it. Read a good book to find what you do like. Use these reflections and apply them to your own work. Nothing helps quite like learning from other people’s mistakes and success.
Don’t get stuck in the planning stages. You may get really excited while planning a story, that huge plot twist, a minor character’s backstory, etc, but keep in mind that at some point you’re going to have to sit down and hash it out. A lot of promising writers never get past the planning stages, so in the words of my very wise boyfriend: “Just write”.
Write in places that make your creative juices flow. Get cozy in bed with your laptop open to a word document, light a few candles, make some tea, get that incense going, and write. Music really helps to get in the mood as well, and if you would like to take a look at my writing playlist, here it is, free for public consumption.
Keep your mind open to new ideas and changes to your story. Your idea will develop and evolve over time, and the beauty of writing is that you can change anything you want and there are no consequences. If you decide to completely scrap a character, remove a subplot, add one in, or change the plot but keep the same characters, you’re totally free to do so. Nothing about writing is set in stone, so stay open minded to new concepts and changes and, most importantly, criticism. (I won’t elaborate on this because I might end up making a whole other post about this topic in the future.)
As always, this is just a compilation of the tips and tricks I’ve found the most useful in my own experience. They may not help, they may help a lot, it really could go either way or somewhere in between, but all the same, I hope this proves useful to you.
