Can We Keep It?

 "Does it bring you joy? If you answer yes, you keep the item. If you hesitate or say no, you donate it or throw it out. It's simple, it's brilliant, and it's something that's completely intuitive."

-Marie Kondo

I will be the first to admit that I am not a follower of Marie Kondo, and I am guilty of keeping a lot of things simply because I feel compelled to keep them for some sentimental reason over actual necessity. I have boxes and totes of items that I have not used or even looked at in years, yet I will probably never get rid of them. Somehow doing so feels like it is erasing some part of my past or that I would be discarding some relic that my children or grandchildren may cherish in the future as some way of holding on to my memory... or something. Anyway, all of that is to say that I am aware of Marie Kondo's concepts of decluttering and that is what came to my mind as I read this article. 

We are quickly approaching the time of year where I begin looking ahead to the next school year. There is still plenty to accomplish this year, but once the calendar turns to the new year, preparations begin for the start of the following school year. We begin working on master schedules, pouring over anticipated enrollment numbers, making decisions regarding personnel needs, etc. The coming months will have a whole new aspect as we (hopefully) begin to emerge from pandemic schooling and return to normal. There are a lot of things we have been doing that I am sure we are all going to be very excited to unclutter from our lives, but I also think it is worth taking the time to reflect on what changes have brought us some semblance of joy during this time. Is it the hours you haven't spent making copies by pushing more assignments to a digital format? Is it the lack of books scattered around your classroom and hallway because we aren't using physical books nearly as often? At some point, we will have some conversations about what we want to keep around and what we want to throw on the burn pile, and I would like all of you to be thinking purposefully about what that looks like for you over the coming weeks so that when that conversation happens, it can be fruitful.

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