I’ve just finished reading a book, I have to write about.
Even as I made notes and underlined and laughed while reading it, I thought, “I
can’t wait to blog about this….”
I need to qualify all that I’m about to write by saying,
this woman is nuts. But it’s a good nuts. Pretty much every chapter had me
shaking my head and muttering, “What a lunatic,” but I said it with a smile on
my face. I adore this woman and her ideas. I just wouldn’t ever want to live
with her.
The book is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing by
Marie Kondo. Maybe you’ve heard of it? It’s been all over the news lately. It’s
a small book that’s selling like hot cakes.
Most of us are enamored with the idea of organizing our
stuff, but this book goes beyond that. It preaches that you get rid of huge
amounts of your belongings – anything that doesn’t “spark joy.”
I loved this concept that we should only wear clothing that
sparks joy for us and we should only keep things in our home that spark joy in
our lives. Sure, there’s the stuff you need that maybe doesn’t spark a lot of
joy – a spatula, the paper-towel holder, the sheets for the guest room bed –
but it’s something to strive for. My teenage daughter has a ladle on her Amazon
wishlist that is shaped like the Lochness monster. She loves it. It sparks joy.
Maybe it will grace her kitchen someday. She also has a tea infuser that looks
like a shark swimming around your cup as it makes your tea. My kid definitely
gets the sparks joy concept.
I’ve been trying in recent years not to bring anything in to
my house that I don’t really love. No furniture to serve a purpose – it needs
to be something that makes me happy.
Our living room is large, there’s room in there for lots of
furniture, but currently there is only a couch (it sparks a tiny flicker of joy
only because my mom recovered it for me and I remember that fun weekend, but
it’s filthy and it’s days are numbered, but it’s the only real seating left in
the room, so there it is.), a coffee table (which does spark some joy because
Nick refinished it and it’s functional, simple, and pretty), and the dog’s recliner
(an ugly, worn out, hand-me-down recliner that our incredibly untrainable dog
sleeps on most nights – we hold on to it so that she won’t get on the other
furniture.). I know we need some seating, but I’ve yet to find anything I can
afford that even remotely sparks joy.
We moved the screened porch furniture in for the winter, so
for now there’s lots of seats, but as soon as it warms up that room will be
barren again. No matter – I’m not buying anything until I find the furniture
that speaks to me. Kondo backs me up on this and I love her for it.
When it comes to clothing, Kondo spends almost half the book
on her system.
