Book Club: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

By Marie Kondo

Why I first picked up the book: I, like you, had heard all about this book. I heard the words "spark joy," I read about the debates on her method, and it seemed like I saw the book's cover everywhere I went. I started getting into Feng Shui a few years back, and began arranging the apartment based on a bagua. In doing so we began to rearrange and move things around, including throwing things away. On a whim I added this to my Amazon cart and a week later I'd devoured the book and started to practice her recommendations throughout the book.  The book really resonated with me. I soon realized that I was holding a lot of dense energy in our home, along with a closet full of sad clothes that only reminded me that either I no longer fit into or even liked. I followed the book chapter-by-chapter and really cleaned the heck out of our apartment!

This book is good for: Anyone with a slight interest in organizing their stuff. People who know they have a mess in their closet that's been waiting to be cleaned for too long. Those with an attachment to physical objects. Memory hoarders. People who just simply have a lot of stuff.  

The book is also easy to digest and acts as your cleaning plan of attack. Each chapter is dedicated to a new area of your home and is filled with drawer-by-drawer suggestions on how to cut through the junk and keep what's important. One deep clean with this method and it will set you up for a clutter-free lifetime. (Or at least I hope it's that way for me!)

A few select quotes:

“The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past.” 

“When we really delve into the reasons for why we can’t let something go, there are only two: an attachment to the past or a fear for the future.” 

“Imagine what it would be like to have a bookshelf filled only with books that you really love. Isn’t that image spellbinding? For someone who loves books, what greater happiness could there be?” 

“The process of assessing how you feel about the things you own, identifying those that have fulfilled their purpose, expressing your gratitude, and bidding them farewell, is really about examining your inner self, a rite of passage to a new life.” 

Final thoughts: If you're about the clutter in your life even a little bit, read this book. I was always referred to as a "pack rat" growing up and used to have a really hard time holding on to material things. I realized I placed too much value into having things, as opposed to experiences...or just going outside and experiencing life. Marie Kondo's method of "sparking joy" really resonated with me, and I'm happy to report that I'm living my best, clutter-free life now.  Pick up your copy here!