The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

A perfect accompaniment for my recent obsession with decluttering. Contrary to what most believe, decluttering is less about owning less and more about owning what really matters to you. As Kondo states repeatedly, keep only the things that give you joy and discard the rest regardless of how important it once was to you or even how important you think it may be sometime (codeword for never) in the future. Although she repeats herself a lot in the first few chapters, I think the subject demands that she do because unlearning what most of us consider normal behavior can take a little bashing in.

After stressing on the importance of discarding, Kondo spends the majority of the rest of her book by offering practical tips that let you discard more and often. Although she is at loss for words at times to explain her ways making her resort to spiritual reasons, her intentions are clear. As most Japanese, she anthropomorphizes inanimate objects but there is a method to her quirky obsessive methods. She even tackles the holy grail of book ownership that most bibliophiles put beyond debate.

Overall, it is an enlightening read and probably you may even chose to read it again to be inspired once more. I've definitely learned a lot and even implemented several of her techniques in addition to taking her advice to heart. My house is much more lighter now but definitely more airy and a pleasant space to be in.