I recently devoured Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.
I have a dilemma.
I found the book useful. The method described – as the subtitle promises – makes decluttering and organizing feel like art. As a result, although I am merely one week into the process, my apartment is already reaping the benefits. My closet and my files (which previously looked like a rabid badger had a fit and then nested in them) are the neatest they’ve ever been. I did that! AND I WAS HAPPY TO DO IT! I am my mother’s daughter after all!
Incredible.
However, I don’t know whom to recommend it to, for parts of it are strange. In this culture, at least. For all I know, talking to your belongings is a perfectly sensible thing to do in other parts of the world.
Fortunately, strange is not a deterrent for me. I have a pretty large inner world, and there are some weird things in it. So really – what’s one more? Especially when the one more is one that is so helpful! I already say, “Hi, house,” when I come home and “Bye, house,” when I leave, so it’s not too much of a stretch to say, “Thank you,” to all the bags (23 and counting – and yes, you read that right. Twenty. Three. God bless Marie Kondo and her nutty ways.) that I am getting rid of.
Books are next, which is problematic, because the book section is offensive. Do I ask you to get rid of your children, Marie Kondo? This will be my greatest challenge yet. I mean, I already get rid of books when I read them and discover that they don’t really belong in my house; I feel that all books should get to be with people who love them. So maybe that’s why this section seemed like overkill to me. I already only keep the books that give me joy. They get to stay.
Kondo says that it’s not unusual for this process to take six months to a year, so I’m going to relax about not being done yet (it turns out I have a lot of crap).
I didn’t know my closet could give me joy. Discovering that is itself worth the price of the book.
M. Suzanne Terry 
It’s interesting that you wrote about this book. My last blog post was about it, too. I’ve only read the first few pages, but she has given me motivation to get rid of the clutter. I wonder how many bags I’ll end up throwing away. After 16 years in the same place, there’s bound to be a lot! Glad you’ve made so much progress 🙂 Blessings to you, Suzanne!
Thank you, Gayl! I waver between excited and overwhelmed by how much stuff I had hiding to get rid of. Office supplies are next. Eek.
I probably need this book more than I want to admit.
It is more helpful to me than I currently want to admit (I’ve reached the book portion. Oh, my soul!).