The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

As always, I like staying in a minimal environment, which covers from my physical environment to my presonal plans. While I was trying to find any book relating to the minimalism, I found this book, “The life-changing magic of tidying up”, with really high rating on Amazon. Therefore, I read it.

Overview

I can think of no greater happiness in life than to be surrounded only by the things I love. How about you? All you need to do is to get rid of anything that doesn’t touch your heart. There is no simpler way to contentment. What else could this be called but “the magic of tidying”.

The book is about a method for tidying designed by her: the KonMari Method. She suggested that we should only tidy once a while instead of cleaning the place regularly. And, she also mentioned that we should discard all the things that don’t “spark your joy” by touching the item and feeling it. Last, by having only small amount of items, it’s easy to store things in your eyesight, and be surrounded by only the things you like.

Quotes

Tidying in the end is just a physical act. The work involved can be broadly divided into two kinds: deciding whether or not to dispose of something and deciding where to put it.

Books you have read have already been experienced ad their content is inside you, even if you don’t remember. So when deciding which books to keep, forget about whether you think you’ll read it again or whether you’ve mastered what’s inside.

My basic principle for sorting papers is to throw them all away. I recommend you dispose of anything that does not fall into one of three categories: currently in use, needed for a limited period of time, or must be kept indefinitely.

There are three approaches we can take toward our possessions: face them now, face them sometime, or avoid them until the day we die. The choice is ours. But I personally believe it is far better to face them now. If we acknowledge our attachment to the past and our fears for the future by honestly looking at our possessions, we will be able to see what is really important to us.

Takeaways

The method in the book tells me the occasion of tidying, and the order of tidying different items. However, most of the content is about encourging the reader to discard things. The author believes that most of the things should be discarded, and that’s the key to have a tidy place with stuffs that you truly love.

I am not sure how this idea can be applied into my life, but it’s definitely a way to obtain a minimal lifestyle.