Well, Marie Kondo, I’ll tell you what I was thinking: “Hey! This could come in handy!” Did these weird items meet your basic criteria—that is, did they “spark joy” in me? Yes, as a matter of fact they did!
The cat hair remover sparked joy immediately and continues to do so. I have shown it to anyone who doesn’t want to hurt my feelings, and they seem impressed when I open the little receptacle and display all the cat hair the rollers pick up.
No one has witnessed me using the cleaning slippers because I’m too embarrassed to put them on when anyone’s here. However, they spark a considerable amount of joy when I skate in them across the wooden floors. It’s a private joy. I’m not sure they work much better than bare feet but the Velcroed-on soles make a satisfying crunch at the slightest movement.
Joy wasn’t the only thing these odd items sparked, Marie. They also sparked shame. What was I thinking when I ordered them? I can’t even remember what web site I used, though I was likely looking for one more way to remove cat hair wherever it gathers (everywhere).
Marie Kondo, here’s a different angle. I ordered online because I don’t like shopping, even if I knew where I could buy Microfiber Cleaning Slippers. One could argue that I am not adding to air pollution and traffic jams because I didn’t drive anywhere to buy them. On the other hand, our UPS guy, Victor (yes, yes—we are on a first-name basis) drives a big delivery van that probably causes more environmental problems than my Subaru.
And Marie, despite all my decluttering efforts, here we go again: more clutter. As I continue to go through the boxes of belongings we “inherited” from our parents’ houses, I think about my children doing the same with our stuff. Aside from what I know they would say (“Why would anyone buy this?”), I don’t want to burden them. And that raises the subject of Swedish Death Cleaning. It’s not aimed at the young, as Kondo’s method seems to be, but rather at those of us who have begun to realize we won’t live forever. That is a subject for another time.
Have a good week!
