Title: The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Author: Marie Kondo Genre: House & Home Publisher: Ten Speed Press Release Date: October 14, 2014 Format: Kindle e-book Pages: 226 Presents a guide to cleaning and organizing a living space, discussing best methods for decluttering and the impact that an organized home can have on mood and physical and mental health. Amazon I originally picked this up on April 18th when my brother Steve had asked me if I could track down a copy for him. Last week another friend mentioned it at brunch with her recommendation, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Kondo does an excellent job of highlighting the most important parts of the book as she goes along, so it’s rather easy to skim back through the book for important parts. The basic gist is to get rid of everything in one’s home that doesn’t “spark joy” when physically holding it. It’s not too dissimilar to the philosophy set forward by designer/artist William Morris who once said, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” Most of the book is devoted to some of the basic philosophy as well as recommendations about how to go about paring things down and storing them. In particular I found some of her ideas about folding things interesting and I was a bit surprised at how one can differently fold things to not only save space in drawers, but to also make them easier to see and choose. I went so far as to watch some videos about how she folds: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLWO_78eueoOWV6TjQjWY95_kVkJ15rs_d&hl=en_US&w=840&h=473] This series of short videos and a few longer talks do a relatively good job of encapsulating the contents of the book. An interesting thing I find in what I’m supposing is a translation from Japanese is that though the translation is strong, the flavor of the writer’s Japanese culture still burns through the philosophy and story of the work. To me these were some of the most interesting parts of her story. Reading Progress 05/06/17 started reading 05/06/17 72.0% done; “A quick and breezy read with some simple prescriptive actions.” 05/08/17 100.0% done Finished book on 05/08/17 Highlights, Quotes, & Marginalia Why can’t I keep my house in order?
If you tidy up in one shot, rather than little by little, you can dramatically change your mind-set.
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Tidying is just a tool, not the final destination. The true goal should be to establish the lifestyle you want most once your house has been put in order.
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Putting things away creates the illusion that the clutter problem has been solved. […] This is why tidying must start with discarding.
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…the space I live in is graced only with those things that speak to my heart.
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Start by discarding, all at once, intensely and completely
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The urge to point out someone else’s failure to tidy is usually a sign that you are neglecting to take care of your own space.
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In fact, that particular article of clothing has already completed its role in your life, and you are free to say, “Thank you for giving me joy when I bought you,” or “Thank you for teaching me what doesn’t suit me,” and let it go.
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To truly cherish the things that are important to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose.
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You may have wanted to read it when you bought it, but if you haven’t read it by now, the book’s purpose was to teach you that you didn’t need it.
Highlight (yellow) – Tidying by category works like magic > Location 1013 This is essentially sacrilege to me, but then again most all books give me a spark of joy. Added on Saturday, May 6, 2017 Storing your things to make your life shine
…storage “solutions” are really just prisons within which to bury possessions that spark no joy.
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Never pile things: vertical storage is the key
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Never hang on to them in the belief that you might use them someday.
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This is why I urge you to refrain from stocking up on things.
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This is why I urge you to refrain from stocking up on things.
Highlight (yellow) – Tidying by category works like magic > Location 1759 She’s talking about socks/stockings here. Pun intended? 🙂 Added on Monday, May 8, 2017
When you treat your belongings well, they will always respond in kind. For this reason, I take time to ask myself occasionally whether the storage space I’ve set aside for them will make them happy. Storage, after all, is the sacred act of choosing a home for my belongings.
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I truly believe that our possessions are even happier and more vibrant when we let them go than when we first get them.
Highlight (yellow) – The magic of tidying dramatically transforms your life > Location 2044 Added on Monday, May 8, 2017 Guide to highlight colors Yellow–general highlights and highlights which don’t fit under another category below Orange–Vocabulary word; interesting and/or rare word Green–Reference to read Blue–Interesting Quote Gray–Typography Problem Red–Example to work through Syndicated copies to: