The Life Changing Magic of Tidying
Marie Kondo
2011
Vermillion
pp. 248
In this book Kondo summarises her method of tidying around the house. She claims that this can have far reaching impact on how you live your life. I don’t dispute her claim that a more organised lifestyle at home is going to have an impact on your life outside of home. But the kind of impact that she at one place claims it is likely to have is a bit far fetched. Losing wait or getting sick because your body is purging toxins after you clear your living space is more likely to work for you if you believe in it.
I get her central argument of tidying up in one go rather than taking it slow. Also I get her idea of discarding. In fact all her work is based on the idea of discarding what you don’t need or as she says “doesn’t spark joy”. She doesn’t propagate minimalism but just loving your possessions. Yet at one place I was deeply appalled when she suggested ripping out pages of a book when deciding on which books to discard! Thankfully, she quickly gave up on that idea.
There were many places in her book where I felt that everyone should read this book. At least everyone around me. There is a huge need to discard things and some of her suggestions on how to store clothes, bags, nick knacks are quite good. There is a cultural misfit in which she visualises a house or a cup board. I guess she has mostly seen Japanese homes and her ideas would resonate well there. I could sense some of these things not working for me. I do plan to implement much of these and am keeping the book as a reference guide.
If you plan to read it, a word of caution here. She is quite stereotypical in the way she understands gender. You will repeatedly read about being feminine and wearing clothes with flower prints and the like. This was without a doubt a bit of a dampener. I appreciate her for her honesty though. She has shared some of her escapades as a child quite honestly and apologised where needed. I also give it to her that despite the successful career that she seems to be running tidying around other people’s homes, she acknowledges that she has based it all on her experience.
Well you have to take what she says with a pinch of salt. If you have a better suggestion, do let me know.
Marie Kondo
2011
Vermillion
pp. 248
In this book Kondo summarises her method of tidying around the house. She claims that this can have far reaching impact on how you live your life. I don’t dispute her claim that a more organised lifestyle at home is going to have an impact on your life outside of home. But the kind of impact that she at one place claims it is likely to have is a bit far fetched. Losing wait or getting sick because your body is purging toxins after you clear your living space is more likely to work for you if you believe in it.
I get her central argument of tidying up in one go rather than taking it slow. Also I get her idea of discarding. In fact all her work is based on the idea of discarding what you don’t need or as she says “doesn’t spark joy”. She doesn’t propagate minimalism but just loving your possessions. Yet at one place I was deeply appalled when she suggested ripping out pages of a book when deciding on which books to discard! Thankfully, she quickly gave up on that idea.
There were many places in her book where I felt that everyone should read this book. At least everyone around me. There is a huge need to discard things and some of her suggestions on how to store clothes, bags, nick knacks are quite good. There is a cultural misfit in which she visualises a house or a cup board. I guess she has mostly seen Japanese homes and her ideas would resonate well there. I could sense some of these things not working for me. I do plan to implement much of these and am keeping the book as a reference guide.
If you plan to read it, a word of caution here. She is quite stereotypical in the way she understands gender. You will repeatedly read about being feminine and wearing clothes with flower prints and the like. This was without a doubt a bit of a dampener. I appreciate her for her honesty though. She has shared some of her escapades as a child quite honestly and apologised where needed. I also give it to her that despite the successful career that she seems to be running tidying around other people’s homes, she acknowledges that she has based it all on her experience.
Well you have to take what she says with a pinch of salt. If you have a better suggestion, do let me know.