The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

This amazing book by MARIe KONdo (see where Konmari came from?): The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying. Okay. The title seems a bit, uh, presumptuous, egotistical, dare say – altruistic. You may ask, “This book on keeping my house tidy will change my IMG_9508life?” We see what looks like hyperbole from other Asian-looking books. Perhaps those with Buddhas and golden temples may also scream (ever so quietly) life-changing claims, such as “Breathing, a life-changing perspective.” But, alas, this blog isn’t to criticize golden Buddhas, as breathing, er, is a life saving quality to embrace. Yet, good ole Marie Kondo, in her sweet and quiet – and somewhat extreme way – did change my life. We have all heard it before, “If you haven’t worn it for six months throw it out,” and we toss out certain items, but then the sentiment kicks in and we realize that we only wore it twice so it still has some life left in it. Even though it doesn’t quite fit right today maybe someday it will look on us how it looked in our mind’s eye when we saw it. That is not the Konmari approach, though. Her approach is just a slight paradigm shift. “Does this spark joy? If it does, keep it. If not, throw it out.” (page 47) This approach, although simple, is empowering and frees us from sentiment or allows us to embrace sentiment. Either, yes or no. I’m telling you, my four-year-old daughter had the easiest time with this approach as she doesn’t have as much nostalgia as us adults. HIMG_7673er ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ was quick and fast. I had more sentiment to her stuff than she did and actually kept some stuff she said ‘no’ to (grimace – that’s the mom in me). And she actually likes to keep her stuff tidy (well, as tidy as a kid can keep things) after this experience. But the Konmari Method isn’t just the simple prescription of the question of joy. There is actually a formula. A way to ultimately and practically change your life. You have to do it in one go, or one set time. It took me three days to do it the first time. And I only have a 750 sq. ft. apartment, but I went through every nook and cranny. I have spoken to others who have read the book and tried the approach, but tried to split up the time. Maybe the kitchen one day and a month later the bedroom, but then kind of trailed off. Marie knows what she is talking about as she very strictly says to do it altogether. There’s a reason for this. It’s like (well, it actually is) doing a cleanse and doing it over a couple of days is much more beneficial for us and realistic for us to complete. If we take a weekend and schedule it, then we are actually scheduling rather than getting around to it ‘one day’. Yes, it will take some time, but afterwards cleaning your house on a regular basis is much easier and just keeping it tidy is easier. Plus, you save time in the long run as you know where everything is and where everything goes. Okay, saying all this, if you don’t keep it up, your house can start to go back to crazy land. That’s what happened to me as I became intensely busy and after several months I had to re-set. But this time it only took me six hours to Konmari (yes, I am using it as a verb) my house AND do major deep cleaning. Now, everything – even my files – are all nice and organized. I think every quarter I may need to do this, but at this time I also bagged up more stuff (as did Bella – we did have a yard sale, as well to share our former treasures with others and to have a lesson in the costs of goods), and it is just a regular process that will become easier and easier. (see my vlog and blog for video and pictures! [...]) There is also an order to this Method. Marie gives you a breakdown of which room to tidy and in which order. She even gives you a technique on folding clothes, hanging them up in the closet, and storing them. There are ways to use boxes so your stuff doesn’t scatter in drawers and ways to arrange your vegetables in your refrigerator so you see them and eat them. The only thing missing is that I don’t feel like she really goes into depth for kitchen storage and cabinets like she does for clothing. Maybe it’s because Japanese have way cuter, hIMG_7675igh-tech appliances compared to our American clunky ones, or that they have way smaller kitchens so just can’t store as much. Also, I don’t feel like she wrote very much about tidying with children, but that’s probably because she doesn’t have kids. That might be a great second book. Just saying. But, I still do love this book and it did make a very real impact! So, how did this change my life? Well, simply being able to relax more in my house and to feel organized is huge. I primarily work from home so I require a tidy space. Also, this has changed my perspective on consuming, especially clothes. I don’t shop a lot anyway, as it is super hard to shop when you have a little one, but I do only shop at places where I know they have quality products. For clothes, I shop at Etcetera (the prices and styles are awesome and I know the owner and want to support her), and at Stilettos (they have good quality clothes and carry limited amounts). I only buy what fits amazingly and what is comfortable. After listening to Andrew Morgan on the Rich Roll podcast, I would also like to start looking at more ‘fair trade’ clothing stores online. I am veering away from quantity to quality and understand now that having fewer clothes, but those that actually fit right and don’t fall apart, is better than having a bunch of clothes that you can’t find in the closet. But, I would like to really examine where products originate from. Has the process for making them been caught up in the system of slave labor and sweat shops? I am so looking forward to watching The True Cost by Andrew Morgan and have it in my Netflix queue for the next movie I watch. I really believe that tidying is life-changing when done right, as it relates to environmental and Eco-friendly ways of living. It may sound strange, but when you are asking the question, “Does this item I am about to buy spark joy?” you really start thinking about many things: Is it comfortable? Does it have a purpose? Will it last? Do I actually like it? Will it be used? How was it made? Will it benefit others if I buy it? The fewer things you have and the fewer things you purchase, you ultimately have more respect for them and simultaneously demand more service from them. So that is how it has changed my life. With the American consumer industry – we IMG_7741just buy and throw away and buy more. Things are cheap so it’s okay if they fall apart, right? No, not at all. Things still cost money and that money is your time. For me, I learned how I was disrespecting myself and others by buying indiscriminately, and then crying about my credit cards (because all those $3.49 trinkets and $.99 bulls*** adds up pretty quickly). What tidying your house can do for you, can somehow lead to social justice empowerment in the strangest, yet most logical way. I know some of you just want to be able to see your bed and don’t want a social agenda. I get that. But, we all care about where our money goes and relish that moment of clarity when our house is in order. I’m just saying – you can get that and more.

I adore this book. I first heard about this method on message boards online. Everyone was talking about it. At first I started going through some of the advice from her book second hand, but eventually I got caught up enough in a decluttering whirlwind that I decided to buy the book (ebook format of course!). I'm really glad I did! It's a very fast read and does tend to repeat itself at times (I think there may be some awkwardness from translation) but well worth the read through. I love that in the book she tells about her own journey involved in developing her method. We see the places she stumbled and get to learn from her experience. Marie Kondo seems to have stumbled upon a lot of concepts that have been heavily researched in the social sciences sciences without knowing about the evidence base form them, just drawing from her own experiences. To me this method maps on conceptually to the concept of mindfulness although the book never uses the word "mindfulness". (Buddhist scholars forgive me here, as I am going to talk about mindfulness from a western psychological research perspective rather than a religious one since that is that area I am familiar with.) Kondo instructs people to attend to their present moment feelings as they hold each object. Even when discarding objects it is done so in a way that expresses gratitude an acceptance for all experiences the objects brought both positive and negative. Did you love this object in the past, but now it is worn out? Taking Kondo's advice of thanking each object for the role it had before discarding it may seem a little silly, but it works. It creates a context in which removing the object from your life is not about you expressing hatred for the object, rather it is acknowledging that it has served it's purpose and can move on. This makes it easier to discard objects like that dress you used to wear all the time and loved, but now has a stain on it. In Kondo's method discarding is not about you waging a battle against your stuff, rather you attend to end object and the feelings it evokes in the present. By removing this antagonistic perspective about cluttering I was able to part with some formerly beloved objected that at present no longer evoked that that feeling of joy that they had in the past. Similarly I love that in this method a similar expression of gratitude is used when discarding object that never met expectations. Kondo recommends thanking the object for teaching you about what you like and/or for bringing you joy at the time you bought it. She targets logical fallacies suck as the sunk cost fallacy without using technical jargon. One of the most brilliant parts of this method is the emphasis on separating the process of identifying what to keep and the process of organizing. These are two very different types of mental processes. To me this again maps onto the concept of mindfulness. This process of attending to the feelings evoked by each object requires one to attend to their feelings in the present. As soon as you switch to organizing you are no longer in that same mindful present-focused place because organizing requires thought about future use of the object. Kondo does a brilliant job of targeting common reasons why people hold onto objects they no longer need. This was very helpful for me regarding books. I had a large number of books that had moved with me 6+ times in the past 10 years. Kondo pointed out that often the thing we needed from the book is already inside of us after reading it. I had held onto so many books because I had fond memories of reading them, and Kondo helped me realized that for many of these holding onto the physical object was not important because I had gotten everything I needed from the book. I love that she does not emphasize going out and buying a million containers. That has long been my decluttering downfall. I am great at having lots of neatly organized stuff in lots of little containers. With Kondo's method though I realized that much of this neatly organized stuff was not actually stuff that brought me joy. This book is not just for someone who is very messy, it can also be for the person who is overorganized to the point where they have lost sight of what they really want to have. Don't be tempted to reject her method of folding clothing. I was skeptical but decided to try it out. Over a month into this with many laundry cycles, the organization has held up for me. This is the most sustainable clothing organization method I have ever used. It's not burdensome to put clothing away and it is so easy to find each item in the drawer. I love this this method has helped me become more attuned to how items I own make me feel. Those little feelings of irritation can add up and it's lovely to look in my drawers and on my shelves and have a feeling of quiet contentment. I am close to reaching the goal of going through every object in my home. There have certainly been bits that didn't resonate as much. For example, I'm not super into the idea of greeting my home. But some of the anthropomorphizing of objects does resonate with me and help me keep things more organized. When I see my shoes out of place thrown out on the floor now I feel a twinge of empathy for my shoes which pushes me to place them gently in their proper location. I'm not on board with her suggestion to empty the purse each day. I understand why, it helps reduce clutter from accumulating there, but I am someone who has enough trouble just remembering my phone and car keys. I don't want more things I can forget in my half awake morning state. There are some areas I think she could have better addressed though. I think there are a lot of ways that a functional necessary object might be modified to bring joy rather than being discarded. I realize this could be a slippery slope making it harder to discard, but I have personally found that items I have modified with crafting in some way have become favorite items. Similarly some clothing items may be able to bring joy if repaired in some way. Overall I loved this book and have been recommending it to everyone I know.

If you like to have context and a boost of inspiration, then go ahead and BUY THIS- any format. If a simple concept such as "spark joy" can bring some peace and order to the cluttered homes of overwhelmed people, then I say it is already a win, and worth reading (or looking up information on)- and worth buying. Yes, of course you can also glean as much information from an internet search, or turn on the show for more info. But some of us like to curl up with a book and let the magic of inspiration happen that way too. Go for it. Read it, then pass it along. Or if Kindle format, well.. it takes up no space. :) The ideas outlined in this book are approachable and doable. Marie Kondo is not trying to make you see HER way or do things HER way; it is bigger and more finely nuanced than that. It is a matter of do the items that you have bring you joy? If you can touch it and feel the joy as you consider it, then it is worth holding onto. If you have no feeling toward it, then it may be a good opportunity to let it go. Or if somewhere in the middle, how about organizing it into a better system, or organizing it so stuff isn't spread out all over. It isn't about paring down to nothing, but if you are in a situation, or state of mind where your items own you rather than you own them, then this non combative style of decluttering will give you guidance in how to do it. For those that have more scathing remarks regarding the message being overly simple, I think that people who are in need or desire of help are more apt to understand, be inspired by, and ultimately follow through when the information they are presented with is not overly complicated. Sometimes THAT is what people are buying. No you do not have to follow it all to have it work. There are ideas to adopt, there are ideas that you will not want to use (and you dont have to). Ultimately, there is more that could be covered, but the foundation is there. Just generalize. It isn't a masterpiece, but it does motivate me to take a closer look at my cupbaords, closets, and so on. I am not going to do all the things she does- but I know that asking myself if something sparks joy when I have been hemming and hawing over whether and item should go in donation pile.. I have been able to make a choice rather than stay stuck in the indecisive cycle. I guess that is what I am getting at when I say this book is allowing people to buy into a better frame of mind. For a few bucks (no more than $10), I'd say it is worthwhile.

Review: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering by Marie Kondo. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is an absolute gas! I can’t find any other way to say it, but to use that old fifties slang word, for a very new book. I never knew cleaning up your crap could be this much fun. I’m not sure why I picked it up to read? I had lots of vital reading/research to get done for my own book. I certainly didn’t have time for someone else’s. But that title: ‘Life changing?’ Tidying up could be life changing? Oh, come on. It drew me in. I needed to know what this woman had in mind. On top of that, there was that word: “Tidying.” Who says that? Say the word out loud. Doesn’t it feel strangely wonderful in your mouth. These must have been the things that got me to purchase the book. But could what was inside keep me going? Well, I’m here writing this review, so you know the answer to that. There was much to keep me going and I found myself totally excited about the potential of ‘tidying’ up my apartment by the KonMari Method. There was really only one spot in my place that visibly looked messy and then, of course, there was the closet. But, I didn’t think this would be all that much of a job; I was eager to go on a spiritual journey by tidying up. I was ready to have my life changed through the KonMari Method. This book is about much more than just “tidying up.” Let me share how to store your socks according to the KonMari Method. Kondo tells a story about an interaction she had with a client. (Professionally, she consults with individuals and groups about tidying up) She opened the woman’s sock drawer and “gasped. It was full of potato-like lumps that rolled about.” I found Kondos’ reaction hysterical; she certainly takes her work seriously. In bold, she says, “Never, ever tie up your stockings. Never ever ball up your socks.” This sounded like good advice even though I was guilty of this shocking behavior. I thought it made sense because you could stretch out the tops of your socks. But this was NOT Kondo’s reasoning: “Look at them carefully,” she says. “This should be a time for them (the socks) to rest. Do you really think they can get any rest like that?” I discovered I had been torturing my socks and knew I couldn’t ever ball them up again. The guilt would be too great. I switched to the KonMari Method for storing socks. Wonderfully explained in the book. Some Tenants of The KonMari Method 1. Do it all in one day (This prevents rebound) 2. Take out all your things—and she means everything—and put them on the floor. 3. Don’t even consider putting anything away. Discard first. (“Keep only those things that speak to your heart and discard the rest) 4. Fold, hang and store by category, not location. (Sorting by location is a “fatal” mistake) 5. The special order for tidying that you must follow is this: a. Clothes b. Books c. Papers d. Miscellany (Kondo calls this komono) e. Mementos How to Decide What to Discard Now, here’s my favorite part of the book. Throughout she tells you things like you have to pick up every single item in your space one by one, hold it in your hand and ask yourself if it gives you joy. The question is NOT whether it gave you joy at some past time; the question is ‘Does it give you joy NOW.” If not, it goes in the Discard pile, but FIRST, you must thank it for giving you joy in the past. When I was only thinking about doing this tidying project, I found this humorous, later I thought of it as kind of cute and now I love the whole idea of it. Kondo thanks objects all day long and I’ve begun to see what a terrific idea that is. You begin to live in a world in which everything is alive and you’re always grateful. There are lots more goodies in the book. These were the things that endeared me and made me decide to go on my own spiritual journey. I chose a day (Kondo says the day you choose to tidy up should be especially chosen. Make it an event) I decided that I would not just clean up that one messy area and the closet. I would, instead, use the KonMari Method to tidy up everything: my closets, my drawers, my desk, my medicine cabinet, the whole place. The Results of My Own Tidying Up Spiritual Journey I started at seven in the morning and ended at ten at night when I could barely move. I was attempting to follow Kondo’s rule to do it all in one day to prevent rebound. I got a lot done in that day, but I did not finish. I was slowed down by deciding whether items of my clothes gave me joy or not. The only way I could tell was by putting them on. How I looked in the clothes was what generated the joy, not the simple fabric by itself. I probably saved some time on the books, however. A few weeks before I read Kondo’s book, I had organized my bookshelves and turned them into a kind of library giving each book its own place and recording the location on my laptop. As a researcher I often have to go back and read a section of a book. I am frequently frustrated by not being able to find a book among the many I have on my shelves. Sometimes, I’ve bought the same book a second or third time. It turned out that my organizational system wasn’t too different from Kondo’s, except there was one giant difference. She says you should throw out books you’ve already read because you’ll never re-read them. As a researcher I may not read a book cover to cover, but I’ll go back to the same section or sections often. Kondo has a unique way of storing clothes. She recommends folding some blouses in a specific way, instead of hanging them on a hanger. This type of folding allows you you to stand your blouses up in the drawer. I tried it and I liked it. I also liked the extra space I had in my closet. But as I said before, I didn’t finish in one day and I only have a studio apartment. I think someone with two or three rooms would have a worse time getting done in one day. Kondo doesn’t mention the bathroom, the kitchen, or the bedroom which I consider part of my tidying up. Overall, though, I learned a lot from Kondo’s book, and I think I’m going to continue using her approach in the future. Instead of risking rebound by doing the tidying I have left in short bursts over a number of days I have planned a second event for next week in which I will complete my spiritual journey. Kondo says, “Tidying is a dialogue with one’s self…There is a significant similarity between meditation under a waterfall cascading down your body and tidying. Personally, I’d rather have the waterfall, but I do love Marie Kondo’s approach to tidying up and life.”

Every year, well-meaning individuals read tons of books, magazine articles, and blog posts on decluttering and organizing your living space. Yet despite their best efforts to apply what they learn, the goal of perfection is elusive or temporary, and everything reverts to how it once was. If you’re like me, when this happened, you’d blame yourself: “I didn’t work at it hard enough,” “I didn’t evaluate my storage needs correctly,” “I’m just lazy,” etc. Maybe that’s true, but maybe it isn’t. Did you ever consider that the method was the problem? That’s the position of professional organizer Marie Kondo (blog; other website) in her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (Ten Speed Press, 2014). This book is cute, feminine, and an easy read, but most importantly, its method works. Unlike your favorite magazine, Kondo doesn’t want – and doesn’t have – repeat customers. Why not? She teaches her clients how to conquer their clutter problem once and for all. No, this is not a promotion on the “minimalist” lifestyle. The “KonMari method” is not about getting rid of things for the sake of getting rid of them. It’s not about “learning to live without.” Rather, it’s about conquering the suffocating clutter that rules people’s lives by helping the reader see her possessions in a whole new light. That was true for me. I’ve had a lifelong battle with clutter, forming bad habits early on, learned from my hoarding parents. Rather than enjoying my possessions, I clung to broken Barbie dolls I’d long outgrown just because of a fear of not having anything. I “saved” boxes worth of Lisa Frank products, only to find the pencil erasers disintegrated and stickers unusable years later. I kept stuff just because other people wanted me to keep them, and I concocted bizarre scenarios to justify saving the strangest things. And even though I had so much, I was never happy because, rather than ruling my possessions, I was letting them rule me. After decades of reading hundreds of resources on storage and organization, I had no results. Then I read Life-Changing Magic, and it gave me the “Ah, ha!” moment I’d been searching for. I needed to quit buying into the lie that clutter is manageable. I had to conquer it, totally and completely. And that meant getting rid of stuff…a lot of it. I asked myself, “What do I want to keep?” instead of asking, “What can I throw away?” I forced myself to be honest about not wanting to finish certain projects. I tossed conference papers and seminar notes that I had no desire to read. And I gave my collections of books, music, and mementoes their first real purges. Whew! What a relief! I really am a lot happier now. It’s a slow process, which Kondo admits, but I can see results already, especially in how I view my possessions. They now work for me, and I can eliminate what I don’t enjoy quickly and guilt-free. There have been hurdles. Kondo doesn’t address joint ownership and what to do when your spouse isn’t onboard with the program. She also doesn’t anticipate people’s tendency to keep things longer if they think they can sell them, something that’s incredibly time consuming and rarely pays off in the end. Maybe garage sales and Craigslist don’t have the same allure in Japan as they do here in America. There has also been some skepticism on my part. I remain unconvinced that everything should be stored upright. It’s worked pretty well for somethings, like socks, but I’m sure Kondo’s ruining her laptop by storing it like a book! I also think that she discounts the enjoyment that storage containers with their sleek, uniform look have over old cellphone boxes and such. In my opinion, cardboard boxes need to go. All things considered, however, I love Life-Changing Magic. If you have a problem with clutter ruling your life, than I wholeheartedly recommend you take a look at Kondo’s book. Sure, it reads a bit awkwardly, possibly due to the translation. And as Japanese culture and the Shinto religion permeate the book, you might have to think about how to “translate” it into American culture. But I hope that none of this will discourage you from giving the KonMari method a chance. I’m sure glad I did.

I know a secret. If you have too much stuff and it’s bugging you then get rid of it. All of it. Well, nearly all of it. Save a few things but only the things you absolutely love, the things that spark joy within your being (you’ll know it when you feel it, says the author) and don’t bring more things into the house unless you love and/or need them. Don’t think you can do that? Well, never mind then. This author wants you to be absolutely ruthless with your possessions and do it in one fell swoop. Don’t dilly-dally and put certain unpleasant things off. Absolutely do not waste money buying “storage solutions”. Just get rid of your stuff and you won’t have to store it or dust it or leave it there to feel bad for itself. Now, none of this is a bad thing (though the last might be a wee bit kooky) and honestly I’m all for it. I had way too much crap lying about and it was driving me crazy. Broken crap, ugly crap, gifted crap, crap that had been there so long it was invisible to me. But this book has a problem and it is a BIG one that I’m betting many of you here on this site may take issue with as well. Step #2, you see, is books. BOOKS! Step freaking two is BOOKS. As you can probably easily imagine, I am stuck here on step #2 because, well, it’s a call to action to rid myself of my precious books! I’ve been collecting books since I was twelve years old. I have a lot of books but I’m afraid I may love them all. #1 was clothes, shoes, accessories and that was a breeze. Who needs clothes taking up space that could hold a few books? This was easy, thought I. My closet was done in an hour or so. Everything culled, sorted and color coded and folded all nice and tidy-like. I could blow through this, thought I. A zen and clutter-free life was within my grasp. I had this. Then step #2 happened and I was instructed to rid myself of all of the books I have loved before (but may not love again) and all of the books I have not read yet. Uh oh. I was told to remove my TBR pile(s) from my life. Forever. And almost always. She’ll allow you to re-buy digitally if you are pining away and dying of sadness for it. I was instructed to touch each one and see if it sparked that apparently not-so-elusive feeling of joy within me. Trouble is they all kind of did. I suppose I am broken. I tried folks, I truly did. I took pictures and even posted them online in an attempt to humiliate myself into following through. I even went so far as removing a gigantor bookshelf, stocked three piles deep, floor-to-ceiling, from my room as well as an armoire I no longer needed. I have to admit my room looks and feels calms and free and spacious. The bookshelf now neatly resides in my basement. I pulled off all of the books and starting sorting them but it made me incredibly sad to think about tossing them out of my house where they might potentially end up in a trash/recycle bin (according to the author everything has feelings so how could I allow this? Better they be a little lonesome on my shelf than DEAD, right?!). Instead of tossing them into bags, I started arranging them by color (which she wants you to do with clothes) and then I put all but a dozen or so back up on the shelves. They look happy and pretty and they brighten the back wall of the basement. I have decided that I am keeping them. They are my one and only vice and I work hard. They are not clutter. I think I shall pretend that step 2 was nothing but a fever dream. After I was revived with sniffing salts I got back to business. So next comes all of the other stuff which I can easily part ways with; the paper, the stuff no one ever eats, the gadgets (my days of bread baking are over), the broken things that we’ve been thinking we’ll fix someday, the mementos, pictures and all the other useless crapola that has been residing in the basement since we moved in a million years ago. I’ve removed countless bags of trash and several car loads of “stuff” and hauled them to Goodwill and I miss none of it. It is so much easier to clean my house now. I haven’t followed this plan as written, it’s difficult when you live with several other people, so we still have some bins and crud to get to but now I'm inspired to keep at it. This book will give you some unique tools and I do recommend it if you skip step two or perhaps save it for last, if you’re anything like me. She has a nifty way of folding clothes that helped me fit everything into a few drawers and will keep me in check if I decide I need more yoga pants. You really do see just how much of each clothing category you own when you pile them all on the bed/floor and separate them into their own little categories. She doesn’t declutter by room but by category. This stops you from getting stuck (on pictures or mementos which are left for the end) and forces you to deal with an entire category and actually finish the job so you never have to do it again. She also tells you to start with a clear vision of your end result. That bit of advice has helped me tremendously. The author clearly has an obsession with tidying. She does not deny this. Apparently, she’s been this way since she was a wee, strange child and goes into great detail at the beginning of book about her childhood hobby of “tidying”. This makes the start a bit of a slog. I found some of her beliefs a little quirky and I will not be emptying my bag out each night so my stuff can “breathe” only to put everything back in come morning (what the?!) but if you can overlook some of the odd things she says, you’ll more than likely find something here to help you out.

I've recently started the process after reading the book. I'm enthusiastic and surprised that it really does help to talk to the things you own. I got a sense of appreciation for the things around me in a way I never have before. I started with shoes and bags, so far. I decided the shoes were easiest because I have some foot problem and there were lots of shoes I won't wear again. None of them spark joy, and many spark pain! The ones that do spark joy are my new unfashionable shoes. They spark joy because of the way my feet feel in them. There were a few in-betweens and I think I sorted them reasonably well. Like one pair that didn't cause pain and I could wear briefly for dressier occasions, though they weren't that comfortable. Something said to keep them. Not joy, but utility. I don't need to dress up a lot, but when I do, finding shoes that look appropriate was hard enough before. The thing to note here is that it's not the look of the shoes that spark joy. I did need to try some on in order to see how they felt. If they didn't spark pain, and did spark comfort that's my criterion. Comfort=joy. The bags were similar in that function had to be considered. There are some things I now carry nearly every day (for my profession) that are clunky, like a small computer, so again, it was function that also had to be tested. There were some that clearly did not spark joy. That was easy. There were some that I thought did spark joy, but when I tried putting in the stuff I usually carry, they did not fit, so the idea of trying to cram things in and the zipper not closing, etc. did not spark joy. What I'm saying is that I had to test each one and see if it still sparked joy with things in it. Also, how did they look with the things in them that I usually carry? Did they still spark joy? My point here is that all this was much more work than just holding them in my hands and seeing if they sparked joy. It was not just whether I liked the look of them (the ones I donated looked more fashionable than the shoes I kept). I'm glad I did it, though, because for the first time I have a very clear picture of my shoes and purses and how they work for me. The astonishing thing is that I have never had this clarity before! This clarity is what sparks joy for me. The next major group of clothing will be pants. This is difficult because my clear goal is to lose weight, about 10-15 lb, for health reasons, and so some things that fit me now will not fit me in a few months, and vice versa. I don't like shopping for clothes, so getting rid of things that once fit does not make sense. But how well did they once fit? Unknown. I'm just going for things that spark joy now (fitting well is one criterion) and things that would spark joy if they did fit in a smaller size. Again, there are some clothes I never liked and this will be easy, but there are gray areas and hopefully I'll end up with two sets of clothes that spark joy. For me joy is comfort and utility. I tend to wear "uniforms" for work. Not actual uniforms but a certain look that I have in various colors. I have uniforms for casual wear, too, jeans and t-shirts. What sparks joy about that is comfort and ease. High fashion does not spark joy, but I do like certain colors, textures, and fabrics and don't like others. Just beginning to consider this helps me think about my kind of joy. Maybe some of this will help others who wonder about process. That's how it's working for me, anyhow. And I'm happy with it so far. The books will likely be more of a challenge. I'm a book lover! If you can guess from this review that I'd be a person who doesn't like to dress up but would rather sit around and read, you'd be right. I got the Kindle version, and read it on my small computer. I like that because it's always handy. I carry it everywhere in my bag :). Adding: 5/31/16 I'm working on books, but still have more to go. I decided not to obsess over the fact that I am not getting rid of many books. I may go through them again, but for right now, I'm just enjoying that I'm getting rid of some that I clearly don't want or need. I am customizing the process for myself. I do have some books that are mainly practical, like how to fix plumbing. Does this spark joy? Not at all. But the idea of not having to pay a plumber to do things I can do myself, like replace the mechanism in the toilet, is practical. Unlike some books that I love and read repeatedly, or novels that I haven't read yet, but will enjoy when I get to them. I did go through my kitchen recently, and got rid of a bunch of outdated food (like flour, cornmeal, mixes, canned goods). I'll still go thru the kitchen again later to look at pots/pans/dishes, etc, but this was great! It was prompted by a suggestion by my doctor to make some dietary changes. What I realized is that my health is more important than frugality. The idea of staying healthy definitely sparks joy. I went about it in the ways I learned from this book, by pulling everything out of the cupboard, then going through it and looking to see whether it was expired or too old to keep, as well as whether it was healthy for me, per my Dr. I donate to the food pantry if it's still good but something I shouldn't eat. This way there's more room to put the things that I can eat. Oh, and more about clothes. I do a lot of stuff that is messy, hard on clothes, like gardening and some crafts. I kept quite a few things that will be used for this. At least enough for a week. If I get gardening clothes dirty, I need to be able to put on clean ones for the next day's gardening. I don't want to ruin the clothes that do spark joy because my gardening clothes are in the laundry. I am finding my own modifications as I go. If I see something that doesn't spark joy, and I know it won't, no matter the category, I just get rid of it. This will make that category easier when the time comes. I'm still thrilled with the process, though it's hard to find time to do it, eventually it will be done. The things I've completed, like clothes, shoes, bags, help me stay on track when I have the time, and remind me that I can succeed where I've failed before.

I bought this because the simple-living bug has been biting me lately. I'm not cluttery but I do have a lot of stuff, you know? It's not just laying out in heaps; it all has a 'place', but I've realized I just want less of it. This book seemed to be very well-liked, and to offer a different approach than the standard home organization book. Boy howdy. I'll be honest and say I'm NOT following her system exactly, because some of it is physically not possible for me. But even not doing EXACTLY what she said, I can tell you it's a better approach than all these other organization/decluttering books. You know, most of the gurus just have ideas on how to store your stuff. It never occurs to them to ask, instead of just telling you about cool boxes and bins to buy, well...do you really NEED all that stuff in the first place? Or, if they DO recommend getting rid of stuff, it's along the old if-you-haven't-used-it-in-X-time-lose-it line. But what happens is you still have a bunch of stuff you don't REALLY LIKE. Yeah, I wear this skirt four times a year, so according to the rule of have-you-used-it-in-the-last-year, I should keep it. But what if I only wear it four times a year because it isn't very flattering? Or it's scratchy? Wouldn't I be better off getting rid of it in favor of some other skirt I'll wear every two weeks because it IS a flattering cut? I notice lots of folks putting this book down because that's 'no big revelation'. 'Uh, you need someone to tell you to only keep stuff that you like having around and keep it put away?' Yeah, lots of people DO need someone to remind them that's okay. Don't even TRY to act like there's NOTHING in your house that you only have because someone gave it to you and you feel like they're expecting to see it or you'd feel guilty getting rid of it, or it was your great-great-grandmother's and it's an HEIRLOOM,or you spent good money on this and dang if you're gonna get rid of it till you've got your 'money's worth' out of it, etc etc. That is FAR more common than 'I only have things in my house that I WANT to see/use'. And I'll tell you too, the whole thing about you needing to physically touch everything to make that decision is true. I have NOT followed her recommendation of pulling every single thing in a given category together to go through it, although I can see the sense of that. You have to know what ya got and how many before you can make educated decisions about how much storage space you need. So you get every piece of clothing you have, every book in the house, etc. I haven't been able to do that. My garage is FULL OF BOXES. Going through every one to find any clothes that might be lurking in there, then going through them again to root out any books lurking in there, and so on for every category? Not gonna happen, sorry. I'll do the books in the garage when I get to the garage. But in, say, the library, the advice to actually pick up each book and hold it DID help. The first time I just looked at each shelf. Yeah, I still want that. Still want that. Eh, I don't need that one. Oo, I still want all these. But later on, when I did it AGAIN and actually picked up every book, I ended up with THREE BOOKCASES' worth that I was totally OK parting with. Not three shelves. Three bookcases. I mean, I discovered I had four copies of the same book. (I rebuy books because I lose track; I have several thousand). I did NOT NOTICE when I was just eyeballing them that there were four of the same. It's like your mind just stops seeing things it's used to seeing, a common phenomenon. Do what she suggests and physically lay hold of your stuff! That brings me to the other thing people are really dumping on her about...her suggestion that you talk to your stuff while you're holding it and thank it for its service. Some of you, first of all, are extremely small-minded. 'Talking to inanimate stuff is bats#$%'...? It depends on what culture you're coming from. Here, yes, for the most part that is odd behavior. (Don't pretend that you've never yelled at your car or your printer or your phone, on the other hand. Do you actually think it understands you or will respond differently if you speak harshly to it? No? Then why do you bother?) Unfortunately for your crack theory, the author of this book is NOT from a Western culture. It's pretty obvious she's Shinto, or was at one time, and for them, objects are NOT inanimate. They DO have a 'spirit' of a certain kind. That doesn't make her cray-cray, it just means she's not American. Jeez. I mean, Native Americans thought that rocks and rivers and clouds and such things had a life, a spirit, as well. And we all think of them as being a wise, knowledgeable people, with a connectedness to the world that we don't have. If it offends your religion to thank a coat before you send it on, then direct your commentary to your God of choice instead. What she's really getting at is BEING THANKFUL, and if you have a problem with that, there's something wrong with YOU, not her. Pick up the coat. Say out loud or in your head: "God/Allah/Zeus, thank you for blessing me with this coat, and now I'm going to share the blessing...I know You'll get it to someone who will benefit...thanks for everything You do for me'. Fold it up, put it in the donation bag. Easy. Her religion involves thanking the object itself, your religion involves thanking the deity who sent the object your way, everyone's happy. It's not that complicated, for pete's sake. It's a GOOD thing to be more mindful of what you have. It causes you to a) become more careful about what you bring into your life, and b) to take better care of your stuff. What's wrong with that? Nothin'. So basically, while I have to say that in most Western households, where we have more square footage than the average Japanese house,some of what she says is physically impractical/impossible, and I certainly haven't followed her system to the letter, it DOES have useful things to say and I have found it to be of benefit even in an abridged, half-#$$ form. If you are in a place/frame of mind where you're ready to let go of the stuff that our houses are saddled with, cluttering up our minds, check it out.

From the very first impression, I thought this was gonna be a book on how to sort and store things. Well boy was I wrong. It's much more of a psychological master piece on how we live with things. It cures the problem of clutter not technically but from the deep source. A must read for the ones who are searching improvements in this area.

انصح بالكتاب جيدا جدا ومفيدة

I really liked the passion with which this book was obviously written. I have only just finished reading it, and have only just begun the tidying process in my home, but I knew from a very early stage whilst reading this book that 1) I loved this book and 2) I was definitely going to be putting much of her advice to good use. Just a word about Marie's habit of anthromorphising everything. I am a straight up atheist at peace with myself and I steer well wide of anything touching on supernatural or superstition which I consider rubbish. Never the less I was moved by Marie's approach. Her take on fung shui really epitomises the situation; That is to say, it's not some mystical force at work magically improving ones life. Rather, it's the relationship we have with the inanimate objects around us that in many ways determine the quality of our lives. That relationship may be created only in our mind, but that doesn't mean it's not real. This was made clear to me one day at work - the bathroom door had been changed, from a rather heavy door to a light door, and so when I went to open it, I inadvertently slammed it open. You see, every inanimate object in our lives has a relationship with our brain - we know where it is, how to treat it, how hard to push it, pull it, etc. Marie simply takes that relationship and let's it work *for* us by giving it more strength, more independence than we otherwise might. Of course in reality they are just objects. But the truth is our mind doesn't care about the difference: we are in a relationship with everyone and *everything* in our lives, whether we realise it or not. Was there anything I disliked? I suppose at times it does feel a little fluffy at times, as if the publisher said "Well, we can't sell it if it's too short!". So there are times one feels the message gets a little repetitive. But really there weren't many times I felt I was starting to skim. And though I do feel there's power in Marie's approach, at times I wished she would occasionally stop and acknowledge that yes, well, there is a stack of anthromophising going on here and she's not really so crazy as to think all our clothes, shoes, books, etc have feelings. I chose a rating of five stars because so far I feel that this book has delivered on the promise made in the title (and yes, I know I have not yet completed the tidying process so take that as you will) and does so with passion and purpose. It was a pleasure to read, and just the few times where I have started applying Marie's advice I already feel the power and yes, magic, of her approach. I have no reserve at all in recommending this book to others. As Marie herself says, those who aren't interesting in tidying their home will never pick up this book anyway. For the rest of us; learn from Marie; it seems that she's been doing this a very long time and she's darn good at it.

Goed

Amazing book! Simple to read and straight forward. There were a lot of parts where she makes you treat your items like people and i thought it was weird at first. However, the more i thought about it and the more i read her reasons it make sense! If you have internal conversation (small giving of appreciation) with them, you notice them more, have more care for them so they'll be vibrant and you'll have joy wearing them. And i love the premise of this book. Truly her technique is not restrictive to cleaning but allows you to gain a mental state of growth and strength. A mental state of optimism and joy. Although she doesn't have scientific research or any psychologist backing her up, what is backing her up is years of experience and practice. This is a method that you can actually PRACTICE and see improvement. I believe that's why its great for people to read this book because through cleaning, individuals will grow mentally and improve in other aspects of life. You do not need to be conscious of improving your mentality, you just have to follow the method and you'll find yourself a new person.