The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo is a book I bought after reading Bybee's review.  I love this quirky little book about how to do a massive decluttering job and keep your home tidy. The author is Japanese so there are influences from her culture but it still applies well to my American home. The key concept is that you must get rid of everything that doesn't give you a "spark of joy" when you pick it up in your hands. If you keep only the things you love, you'll be happier. She advises going through items by type, rather than going from room to room or keeping only things you've used in the last two years -- two of the most common organizing methods.

I have some minor problems with her method. She says when you go through your clothing (clothing is first on the list of things to tackle) you should pull out absolutely every piece of clothing you own and touch each item to see if it gives you that spark of joy. If not, toss it or donate it. The problem is that even though we recently moved to a larger house, space is still at a premium and the sheer quantity of possessions we've amassed is just too much. I can do chunks but I can't do everything at once -- especially when it comes to books.

Fortunately, the concept is already helping. Although I may not be able to go through absolutely everything as a category at once because I've been that bad, the "spark of joy" is a concept that works for me. I doubt you'll ever hear me tell a piece of clothing thank you for the joy it gave me, but those eccentric touches to her style made the book doubly entertaining.

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