Saturday, December 03, 2016

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondō

A Bijin-ga by Shimura Tatsumi (1907-80)
(December 2) I really liked this -- it definitely speaks to a need I have, and makes it seem like tidying up in the Marie Kondō way would solve all the problems in life -- the income tax, the house insurance, the how-much-more of that to buy or get… and the method is fascinating… and Kondō treats it spiritually, which is so interesting but so much in line with Abraham-Hicks that it’s scary.

The book (the philosophy) gives you a lot of hope.

Marie Kondō’s voice is so sweet and pure, a joy to read even if you didn’t like her tidying-up philosophy one bit (but, as she says, you wouldn’t be reading the book if you were messy and didn’t care).

I want to follow the plan properly -- I`m pretty sure it will bring the magic she talks about. I will probably buy this one. (ETA: I did buy this book, but I have not followed the plan in the two and a half years since I read it, because I haven’t found the time to do it “properly.” Kondō warns that if you don’t execute the sorting properly and completely the first time, you will never achieve the magic part.)

I can’t find a note about why I wanted to read this or where I heard about it -- I am pretty sure it was recommended by someone I follow… I can’t remember who… but I’m glad I was directed to it…

I identified closely and tenderly with Marie Kondō’s interpretation of the psychology of her interest in tidying -- she feels like she never trusted people, but could always trust things. To her, things never deserve anything but tenderness and gentleness. I totally get that.

The only negative vibe for me in all of this was: where is all this stuff going? Kondō often boasts that clients she works with will have 30 - 45 trash bags full of items they are discarding after just the first day, and they will have dozens more over the course of the subsequent stages. She’s had thousands of clients. Is it all just being moved around Japan?

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