Dry January - not what you think

I've kick started the year with a bout of bronchitis, a someone-is-standing-on-my-chest illness that renders one feverish and glassy eyed. So being laid up in bed for several days now, I've done no more than wheeze, drink copious amounts of water to hydrate and slept with a cold wet cloth on my forehead to try and get my temperature down. Between naps, I've done a fair bit of reading. On my new Kindle Paper white. I know I'm really slow when it comes to technology, but I finally get it. Laying here unable to do much at all, clothes strewn everywhere, too unwell to do any kind of tidying up, piles of dishes in the kitchen…the only thing I've been able to do is read. After finishing my 2^nd book, this one book kept popping up in my recommendations;  Spark Joy by Marie Kondo I wanted to know what all the fuss was about, so I got myself a sample to see if I’d like it. I did. At £9.49 it’s no cheap kindle book.  I pressed the buy button and started reading. I'm not finished yet. In between I've had to make a cup of good old English tea, swallow some Sudafed and throw away what looks like tissue hell on my bedroom floor.

For some time now I've realised I'm a bit of a collector (well I've always known!) And before you judge me, I have a tidy home, it’s just that I don’t like throwing things away. Anything from pebbles found on my local beach to old Toast Clothing brochures, going back to 2007 – why on earth am I keeping these? But then after reading Marie’s book, I’m beginning to feel like I need to get rid of some things. I bought a gold top on sale, thinking I might wear it (says she of the sturdy flat leather boots and brogues) Anyhow, this book is changing the way I think about the things I have and how I buy ‘stuff’.  If it doesn't bring me joy, it’s got to go and I can think of several things right now that don’t do that for me.

What I've also realised is that as soon as a new décor item pops up on the radar, either in a blog I'm reading or in an email I've subscribed to, I can’t seem to say no. I am constantly buying items that I don’t need. (Does anyone else feel the lure of online shopping?) So instead of doing Dry January, like the rest of Britain, not drinking for an entire month and then on the 1^st of February, lunging head first into a full sized bucket of wine (besides I'm teetotal) I've decided I’m going to do No Shop January, but instead of doing just one month, I'm really going to try and not buy a single thing for an entire three months (obviously I'm not counting food/toiletries). This is going to be EXTREMELY hard for me, but it’s a challenge I'm setting for myself to see if I have the willpower to end this continuous buying spree which threatens to take over my life and only have items in my home that Spark Joy. 

In the meantime, some photos I might or might not have posted before….because nothing cheers one up more than flowers…

 (all photos by me)

Have a good weekend

Sharon

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