The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

[calzephyr]

Marie Kondo's popular book landed on our messy coffee table over a month ago. My husband had ordered it and I ribbed him that the first step to being a tidy person was opening the package. Once that was done, the book went unread until I had a chance to read it on Sunday. It is a very quick read although I ended up skimming parts.

Like most self-help books, you can pick the advice that suits you and discard the rest, but I wasn't finding advice very easily. Kondo is a windy, self-absorbed author and I felt misled as a reader. It's not really a how-to guide but more of an autobiography of her obsession with organization. Perhaps some of my resistance is due to the fact that she likes cleaning, much like how people who like exercising find going to the gym a breeze.

Or perhaps it's just my frowny face at another person promising happiness if you just buy their book. There is really little in this book that is new if you are a student of material culture, have been on the downsizing journey for some time  or follow great blogs like Declutterer.

Some of the advice is terrible for cohabitating couples, like designating a space for everything. For example, I have designated spaces for everything in the kitchen, but when my husband goes to use something, the object isn't in the space he would designate :D Then I wonder why the measuring cups are in a place I can't reach ;)

This book is not written for people like me who just want the straight goods and don't need the cultural or ritualistic appreciation of what an object is doing half the time. If you like fluffy anecdotes and want to have an intimate relationship with your stuff - so far as to thank your socks for working hard - you will get much more out of Kondo's book than I have :D

Comments

[gingervere.livejournal.com]

That's interesting. I like the bits of advice that I've heard from that book, but it sounds like pages of it would be just too much.

It's another confirmation that people can be competitive and extreme about *anything.* I've noticed that there are some blogs and communities where people are basically trying to out-minimalist each other, and I find it kind of unsettling...

[calzephyr77.livejournal.com]

LOL perhaps that was my problem - I tried to read too much in one go. A page a day probably would have gone down better.

You are so right about how competitive decluttering is. IIRC, first there was the 300 item challenge, then the 100 item challenge and then 50...goodness, there's probably someone sitting in a bare room with just their iPhone for the one item challenge. It's such a race to the bottom instead of supporting others!

[mrs-dragon.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed her book, but I was also reading it during 4am pumping sessions, so take that for what you will. The things I took from it were:

1. Actively deciding what to KEEP, as opposed to what to DISCARD. It's a subtle shift, but it makes a huge difference.

2. Asking if things "spark joy" as a way of being liberated from guilt.

3. That it's okay to give away gifts, even if you have never used them, because they have served their purpose in just being gifted.

I didn't agree with everything (I am not going to thank my socks and somethings do not spark joy, but I'm still keeping. Like my broom or dustpan.), still it was useful. :)