Thank You Marie Kondo

I just finished reading The Life-Changing Magic ofTidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, by Marie Kondo. I have been seeing the book everywhere I look, but didn’t really intend to read it. It didn’t make since for me to buy another book that tells me how to get rid of things. Is it just me or does that seem a bit backwards?

Well I have been saving up my Audible credits so I can stock up on books when the baby gets here. I am not buying the books though because then I listen to them immediately. Did I ever say I have no self-control. If you accumulate too many they don’t give you more so I was forced to buy a book, and guess what they had!

I guess I was really meant to read this book. And I am so glad I did. I think everyone should read it. Even if you don’t want to follow her entire method, which I do, she gives lots of great advice.

I have been puttering along getting rid of things for months, but it never felt like I was making progress. Ok I have made tons of progress, but I am not where I wanted to be.

Two things really helped me to jumpstart the tidying again.

First, if it doesn’t spark joy let it go.

I started with my clothes like she recommended, and also because its was the easiest for me. When I got all my new maternity clothes, I had given away most of my old clothes because they didn’t fit my body or my personality. I don’t really enjoy buying clothes so 90% of my clothes come from my mom or grandmother dragging me to get them and telling me “here this looks nice.” They would buy it for me and it ended up being worn a couple times then gathered dust in the closet. Thankfully pregnancy has made me firmer about things and when we shopped for maternity clothes I said no to things I didn’t like. Kondo helped me get rid of the last few things I was holding onto, even though I knew I'd never actually wear them. 

Since clothes was easy, and I have to wait till Vince can go through the books with me I moved on to knick-knacks and décor. I thought I would have trouble with this because a lot of my furniture and décor were hand-me-downs.  Turns out the “sparks joy” rule is amazing and I wedded down tons of things.

Second, An item may have fulfilled its purpose by being bought and now you can let it go without guilt.

I had tons of guilt giving away clothes with tags, or throwing away barely used products. Kondo says the purpose of an item may have been to make us feel good in the store, so if we get home and never use it, we can let it go. It’s amazing how much stuff I was holding onto out of guilt.

I have to say, if I tried this method at another point in my life I don’t know if it would have been as effective. You have to be in the right mindset, you have to want the change. In the past year, I have gotten married and am now expecting a baby, so my lifestyle and priorities have changed. I want to simplify my life so I have more time to spend with my husband and the baby when he arrives. I want the space we live in to reflect us as a family not be a “shrine” to stuff I have no joy for.

I think everyone should read the book at least once, it may be the right time in their lives, or it might be years later and they remember something from the book. For me it has truly helped motivate me to “get my house in order.”