Good Read: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
I recently finished reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. Japanese tidiness and organizing expert, Kondo, believes that decluttering your home can truly change your life. Kondo has a waiting list for her services, and apparently, she does not have repeat customers as her “KonMari Method” really works. Kondo firmly believes that serious tidying up cannot be done in baby steps of fifteen minutes daily or throwing out a few things every day. Her philosophy is to do it all at once.
Kondo focuses on the relationship between three things: “In essence, tidying ought to be the act of restoring balance among people, their possessions, and the house they live in.” She believes that the art of de-cluttering is “a special send-off for those things that will be departing,” and part of the process should be “a ceremony to launch them on a new journey.”
I do not like clutter and this book provided great suggestions for de-cluttering, which is really freeing. Some of my favorite quotes from this book are shown below.
“The best way to choose what to keep and what to throw away is to take each item in one’s hand and ask” ‘Does this spark joy?’ If it does, keep it. If not, dispose of it. This is not only the simplest but also the most accurate yardstick by which to judge.”
“When you put your house in order, you put your affairs and your past in order, too. As a result, you can see quite clearly what you need in life and what you don’t.”
“Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest. By doing this, you can reset your life and embark on a new lifestyle.”
“Tidy a little a day and you’ll be tidying forever.”
“Clutter is caused by a failure to return things to where they belong. Therefore, storage should reduce the effort needed to put things away, not the effort needed to get them out.”
“I recommend you dispose of anything that does not fall into one of three categories: currently in use, needed for a limited period of time, or must be kept indefinitely.”
This book inspired me to go through my closet and attic and get rid of items that do not bring me/us joy! If you are looking for help getting your house in order, I recommend this helpful book!
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I also reviewed this book! I loved it too! Check out my review at: http://anitaozo.com/2015/07/08/the-magic-power-in-tidying-up/ might be interesting for you to see what I had to say about it too! I loved it! 🙂 Makes me want to go home and throw everything out! ha!
Thanks for the post! With those ideas in mind, decluttering does sound much simpler, might have to take a read, followed by a good ol’ de-cluttering session. You know you have too much clutter, when this is the #1 reason you don’t want to move house! hehe Thanks 🙂
I have read this book also. There are a lot of good ideas for “decluttering” but I can’t understand how it got to the top of the best seller list. I have been known to be a neat freak but now I am down to the basics and still don’t have enough space. Whenever I use something I reevaluate it – I’m constantly “decluttering”.