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OK, before you criticize this one — trust me that this is really a spiritually enhancing topic. This review is for a book I read (could not put it down) in a day recently (off an on). It is called
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KK0PICK?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o01 This is written by a Japanese woman. The Japanese have very small spaces in which to live, so clutter is a huge problem. The author Marie Kondo (an attractive Japanese lady) describes her unique approach to finding joy in your possessions.
She writes very simply and inspired me at the end of the book, almost to tears, about how having a clean environment, decluttered, and organized can transform your life. How it can help you understand who you are, where your passion lies, increase your productivity, and improve your health. Who you are is found in what you throw away, and what you keep. I learned what I am — a musician, a learner, a leader, an art appreciator, and innovator. All because the things I kept after decluttering and organizing a room in my house told me that was who I was. It was no surprise to me, and I was pleased to find that my life is organized around those missions categories. It empowered me to realize that I am living the dream…But she describes how her clients have changed their lives, and their health, lost weight, grew mentally stronger — in so many ways simply by being organized.
Her methods are phenomenal. Don’t confuse storage equipment with organization. Discard before you organize (sounds simple, but it got my room cleaned FAST). Look at each object and say “Does this object bring me joy?”. If so, keep it. If not, get rid of it. Be aware of how you feel when you keep an item which really does not bring you joy. Get rid of it.
Notice how she doesn’t use the “if you haven’t used it in 6 months toss it” mentality — she uses the joy factor. This means you CAN keep something if it brings you joy. You end up surrounded by only about 20% of your clutter, but it all brings you joy. And you actually feel glad to send off that stuff that doesn’t make you happy — that broken thing you never get around to fixing (dragging you down). That piece of clothing that never looked right on you, etcetera.
Do it all at once, so you don’t keep yourself in pain and never finish. And this was HUGE for me. Store things standing up on their end. It sounded TOTALLY STRANGE at first. But then I folded my t-shirts using her method. WOW!! She gave only general guidelines how to do it, so you can apply her method to a wide variety of fabrics and clothing styles, but afterwards, I was thrilled. It took the same amount of time to fold things as it normally does, but afterwards, my three drawers of t-shirts fit in ONE DRAWER, leaving the others empty. And the joy factor — it went way up. I actually go by my dresser and open it up to look at my t-shirts, all neatly folded, all visible, in a row.
I also liked how she inspired me to come up with a vision for a room we have in our house. She thinks you need a vision for what you want your living space to e. At first, I just wanted it “clean”. But as I read her book, she inspired a new vision. I wanted that room to be my Sanctuary. This sanctuary is a place where NOTHING reminds me of anything I have to do. It is painted in all places, the furniture needs no repair. There are no items that need to be put away. It is a clean, hotel-like room. I realized I wanted the Celestial room, but without the white and gold furniture (that would get dirty and make me feel like I had to clean). So, like the temple, but better.
She also gives you a lot of rational reasons to throw away things. Very rational, convincing reasons. As a result, I got rid of tons of bags of garbage in lightening speed.
What I like about her approach is that it is spiritual. She exposes the flashes of knowledge my possessions have given me over the years — that a well-organized space promotes joy and inner peace. Well-organized space is good for your self-esteem, for your confidence in your ability to make decisions.
I recommend this book to anyone, I am inspired, and today, feel far more hopeful and spiritual about my ability to keep my environment clean and tidy than ever before. And only two days ago, I was nothing but discouraged.
I had a few criticisms of her work — one is the idea you have to do your whole house at once. Her rationale is to get it over with. It may also be that as a professional organizer, she may be trying to get her clients to do it all in one sitting so she can earn faster. This didn’t work for me. With the absolute mess I have everywhere, that was overwhelming, so I did one room. Otherwise, I would have never done it. Also, I think Joy might not be the only criterion. My computer does not bring me joy, but I need it. But those kinds of things are easy to keep without anxiety or undue decision-making.
Finally, she seemed to miss the opportunities in the digital age to store things electronically. I got rid of a ton of business cards I needed to keep by taking pictures of them on my phone with an App called CamCard. Also, I now buy Kindle Books because they do not consume physical storage space. Facebook is a place I put a lot of memorabilia. Sometimes I scan stuff and put it in my journal (en electronic one) that puts it out of mind. Only there to be used when needed….
The other weakness is that she didn’t really address the bad habit of not putting things back. She did so indirectly in a couple spots, indicating things should be easy to put away, and easy to take out. This will help people who have problems putting things away after use, but I would have liked more attitude conditioners on how to keep things in a constant state of order. Also, how to prevent yourself from bringing more clutter into the house. Things that bring you joy in the store don’t always translate into joy at home. Any way of forecasting joy in the home while in the store? i would have liked more about that aspect of increasing joy through your possessions.
Anyway, if you want to improve your spirituality by managing your possessions better, get this book. I loved it.
I think this book belongs in my Hall of Fame.
Glad you liked it. I admire how you are always reading self-help books. I got out of the habit when I burned out on reading marriage help books and things never improving. Maybe I should put down a few church history books and pickup a self help book every once in a while. This seems a different take on minimalism. Heads the same direction, but with differnt criteria. I do thing this is an interesting way to break hoarding habits.
We often hang on to stuff not because of the sentimental value and sometimes the potential economic value. Minimalism is easier to do when you have enough $ to repurchase or rent the things you need only once in a while. In fact if you have the $ I think you are better off not tying it all up and it gives you more flexibility and options.
There was a talk a while back on how the more “stuff” you have (hinting at snowmobiles, boats, RV’s) begins to own YOU instead of you owning it as it take more and more of your time and mental energy. One person on a blog comment said that describes our church. There is so much extra “stuff” (the city creek mall, biggest ranch in Florida, etc.) that it is distracting from the core gospel of helping our fellow man.
But I am going off on a tangent. Thanks for sharing.
BTW – My wife went to a women’s book club where they they talked about this book and my wife said, “I was loving the book until I realized she wasn’t married and I don’t think she lives in the same world as I do with all my little ones”
After she described what the book was about (holding something and saying, “does this bring me joy?”) I said all the men need to be worried if when their wife is hugging them and they hear “does this bring me joy” – they are in trouble if they don’t hear a “yes”.
It’s true that she lives alone, and is not married, as far as I can tell. But I find her advice interesting. I can say with complete integrity that I have a room which is a Sanctuary today, where I can go and have complete cleanliness, no clutter….it gives me hope, peace, spirituality, tranquility. She says its permanent, but we shall see. I like comment about the world being too much with us — and how it bogs us down. I see the analogy with the church. Used to be the Apostles sat on a lot of boards of the church’s companies, and they got their pay from those experiences — and how those interests often eclipsed their interest and focus on church matters…
My daughter, who does live by herself, practices this method and says it did help her feel more Zen about what she kept and what she passed on. As a married person with kids, the project does get a bit tougher. Some things that I have no interest in mean something to another. mom3 wrote:My daughter, who does live by herself, practices this method and says it did help her feel more Zen about what she kept and what she passed on. As a married person with kids, the project does get a bit tougher. Some things that I have no interest in mean something to another.
I never thought about holding my kids and asking “Is this bringing me joy and if not, let it go”? Just kidding of course, but there are MOMENTS where they answer would be “what about the opposite of joy?”mom3 wrote:My daughter, who does live by herself, practices this method and says it did help her feel more Zen about what she kept and what she passed on. As a married person with kids, the project does get a bit tougher. Some things that I have no interest in mean something to another.
That’s why she recommends that only the person that owns the object should be the one to decide if they should throw it away….I love the question. First, it aligns with JS’s admonition to seek happiness — the object and design of our existence.
Second, it helped mc make decisions on a lot of stuff. I came across a guitar tuner that attaches to the headstock of your guitar. It didn’t work — the battery was dead. Where do I get a replacement battery? How do I replace it? I had no idea. I checked to see what it costs to buy it new on Amazon — $8 shipped to my door. Plus it was cheap and would probably break. It did not bring me joy to figure out how to make the thing work again, and had little value, so I tossed it. No regrets.
Stuff like that — all day. My room is clean, and now the family comes into it and spends time with me…And the stuff around me DOES bring me joy.
Silent Dawning – This line brings me joy. Quote:
Stuff like that — all day. My room is clean, and now the family comes into it and spends time with me…And the stuff around me DOES bring me joy.Love it.
High fives for you.
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