I feel that I should start this by confessing: I love stuff. While I do enjoy the occasional purge of my belongings when my room becomes too cluttered, I am more likely to go through my things simply to feel nostalgic and rarely have any real intentions of organizing my possessions. I decided to tidy up my collection of earrings, which I have been meaning to do since last summer. I began this assignment by asking myself one of Marie Kondo’s pertinent questions: “Why do I want to tidy?” Quite frankly, I think I want to tidy because I have this fear that my house might one day look like it is straight out of the Hoarders show; also, I got a new earring organizer for Christmas and figured it was finally time I use it. For approximately the past five years or so, I’ve been using the earring organizer pictured below. It’s not very practical and has been sitting there for so long that the pockets are filled with dust and dog hair.
The process of removing all of my earrings and laying them out on a flat surface was both laborious and messy; the earrings kept getting caught in the pockets and I got clumps of dust all over my kitchen table. The below photos illustrate the process as I began to look over all of the earrings I had accumulated over the years (approximately 50 pairs, which was astounding to me) and decide what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to get rid of. Usually, when I take the time to purge my belongings, I focus only on what I don’t like anymore, what’s out of style, and what I haven’t worn or used in a long time. However, I tried to apply Kondo’s “joy test,” picking up each pair of earrings and trying to discern whether or not they sparked joy and if I felt a true attachment to them. In the beginning of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Kondo states that her successful clients are ultimately “surrounded only by the things they love” (5). This sounds whimsical and wonderful in theory, but felt next to impossible for me, as my brain tried to convince me that I loved every single pair of earrings that I owned.
I’m very sentimental, and I kept making excuses as to why I should keep the Mickey Mouse earrings from when I was little, the feather earrings I only ever wore once when I dressed up as a hippie for Halloween, or the various pairs of earrings that I had never once worn because I did not like them but kept because they were gifts from family or friends. In the end, I did feel that I made some progress and got rid of about 18 pairs of earrings (along with a bunch of old string and lanyard bracelets that I made at camp years ago, which had been living in the bottom of my old earring organizer for a long, long time).
While it was genuinely fun to have an assignment that forced me to neaten my perpetually haphazard earring collection, this task also reinforced, for me, just how terrible I am at letting go of my belongings. I have always had very strong connections to physical objects; I love how even the tiniest mementos can remind us of a specific place, a certain time in our lives, a dear friend or family member, or even of just a particular emotion. I sometimes find it hard to recall fond memories or events that have occurred in my life if I do not have a concrete, tangible reminder. Tidying up my earrings was not as magical of an experience as Marie Kondo seems to believe it should have been, and if I’m being blatantly honest with myself, I probably could have gotten rid of quite a few more pairs of earrings. However, I did feel accomplished at the end of this, and I did feel joy at seeing my organized earrings in their new and significantly more aesthetically pleasing container.
(I should add that only a few minutes ago I remembered I have been keeping some of my mother’s and grandmother’s old earrings in a separate spot; I clearly did not do well at thinking in “categories,” as Kondo suggests, and ensuring that I had gathered all of the same items in one place before tidying up. I ultimately decided to leave these earrings where I found them, as I consider them to be heirlooms and do not wear them for fear that I will lose or damage them. Marie Kondo would likely not be pleased with this decision, but her organizational methods have not cured me of my cluttered and sentimental habits just yet.)
The Materials of History, Thought, and Art 
I totally relate to the struggle of getting rid of things as they serve as tangible memories. In sorting my clothes I had similar difficulties in parting with objects friends and family had gotten for me. I also really like how you chose to do just earrings, as they are such small objects I think we can tend to forget about how much they can accumulate (or at least I do). Especially, since for myself I tend to wear the same 3 pairs of earrings daily out of convenience, rather than joy, when I know how many other pairs of earrings I have.
I really relate to the struggle of getting rid of something that belonged to other people and were gifted down. A few years ago, I decided that I had way too much jewelry and rarely wore any of it. I then made the decision to purchase one necklace that I really enjoyed, and to never take it off. In doing this, I got rid of all of the necklaces I owned, except those with sentimental value that were given to me either from my grandparents or at my christening. I found myself wanting to keep other necklaces, but in deciding that I would wear only one, to ensure that I wore any at all, I could find no justification for holding onto necklaces. I have to say, I have continued this method for three years now. I change necklaces once a year, when the one I have been wearing either breaks or tarnishes. It has been very effective in preventing myself from purchasing more than one necklace a year.
I really relate to this post. I, like you, have a large earring collection and have a hard time of letting things go. It may sound kind of funny or strange, but earrings (dangle ones) symbolize a lot to me. I bought my first pair of dangle earrings when I was a senior in high school at this funky tattoo parlor/art and jewelry store in my hometown. They were bottle caps that were hand-painted with images of the Mexican holiday, the Day of the Dead–something I’ve always been intrigued by. They were different, and kind of weird, but bold and funky. They symbolized my transition into a more self-confident person, as I was getting ready to graduate from high school and start a new chapter in college. Since then, I have been obsessed with funky dangle earrings, and am always on the hunt to diversify my collection. I’m never not wearing earrings out, and when I don’t, I feel like a part of me is missing. However, as you mentioned as well, I know there are pairs that I never wear anymore, or never have worn, but I don’t give them away because I rationalize that one day I’ll wear them, or because they’re from a friend or family member and I don’t want to insult them. For my experiment, I went through my clothes, but this inspires me to go through my earrings as well–I think it will make me feel better about my collection, and a bit more light and free. I also appreciate your honesty about this whole experiment and can relate to those feelings as well.
The part of your post that struck me the most was the discussion of jewelry that has been passed down to you. A lot of the jewelry I own was either gifted to me, given to me, or made specially for me. For this reason, I always find it difficult to part with old jewelry, due to the sentimental value they hold. I am also certainly guilty of owning way too much jewelry and never keeping them in a single organized space. Rather, like your organizer, mine are kept in small boxes that are filled to the top, contain hairs and dust, and that must be dumped out anytime I try to find a pair of earrings. Your post inspired me to fix my own disorganized collection and put all of my jewelry in a single spot. I also believe it will be a nice experience to look through everything I have and remember where it all came from.
I really enjoyed your post and that you decided to tackle your collection of earrings. I also find it to be a very difficult task to let go of my belongings, especially those I have a strong sentimental attachment too. I found it very fascinating that you chose to do your earrings because these are actually objects I typically don’t form strong attachments to. I’m always losing different pairs of them, or even forgetting to put earrings in for weeks at a time. However, for my birthday in January, my dad got me this one pair of black diamond earrings that I have not taken out since he purchased them for me because it meant a lot that he got them for me, so I can relate when you said that the tiniest mementos can remind of us of important things like dear family members. Also, I agree with you that when I finished my own personal “tidying up” of my clothes I probably could have gotten rid of a lot more, but like you said before it’s hard getting rid of personal belongings, so be proud of what you were able to let go!