I accidentally watched a Marie Kondo episode last night. For me, it was like rubbernecking at a car crash—morbid curiosity overpowered good judgment. The scene? A woman standing in stunned silence before a Mount Everest of clothes, as per the Kondo Method: take every item of clothing—closet, drawer, under-bed bin, forgotten suitcase in the garage—and pile it all in one place.

Apparently, until you see the full scale of your stuff, you can’t really decide what should stay. As I peeked toward my own closet (and let’s be real, the coat rack, the hall closet, the chair that holds laundry in limbo), I had one thought:

What kind of fresh hell would this be for me?  Not today, Satan!

Instead, my brain went straight to wildfire mode. As in: What would I grab if my house was on fire and I had 90 seconds to run? I’ve actually done this before… and this was the result!! That kind of panic prioritization? It’s clarifying.

So, I ran to my closet, grabbed my absolute ride-or-die pieces, and tossed them on the bed. With my closet cleanse underway, I hit the “other storage areas.” You know the ones. The pile grew—modestly, intentionally. Then I left the room to grab a tall glass of iced tea.

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Front Porch Sweet Tea

5 regular-sized tea bags (Red Rose is best if you can find them)

4 cups of water (I use a 4-cup/1 quart glass measuring cup)

Put the above in the microwave with a small plate on top for 8-9 minutes (take it out before it boils).

When it comes out of the microwave, let it steep for no more than 3 minutes and remove (but not squeeze) the tea bags (I refrigerate them to put them on my eyes in the next morning’s bathtub).

Add about 4 – 5 Tablespoons of sugar (more if necessary).

Pour into your pitcher and add about 2 cups more of water.

Pour tea over a tall glass of ice and immediately serve.

** If you want to add lemon or mint- add it to each glass rather than the pitcher so that your refrigerated tea will last several days and not get cloudy.

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When I came back and looked at the pile, something clicked. Every single item had three things in common:

1. 1. Comfortable

1. 1. Flattering

1. 1. Regularly earns compliments (bonus points if it survived a date night trauma)

That was my “hell yes” pile. No spark-joy whispers necessary—this was more like a wardrobe truth bomb. I repeated the same process with shoes and handbags. And guess what? The same three filters held up.

Next step? I placed a giant empty hamper with removeable bags in my closet, aka the “Goodbye Bin“. Great for second guess free and immediate removal when the task was finished. Anything I didn’t instinctively grab in my fire-drill moment? On notice. I didn’t toss everything right away (we’re healing, not hemorrhaging), but during boring Zoom meetings or when I need a rage-cleaning moment, I pluck a few items and send them packing.

Does this process “spark joy”?

Not exactly.

But it does something better:

It “Reclaims Sanity”.

And honestly, that’s the vibe for this Spring. Clear space, clear head, and a closet full of “hell yes.”