Review:: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo

Title: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Author: Marie Kondo

Series: Magic Cleaning, #1

Rating: ★★★★☆

I have never really read a "self-help" book, but I promised my partner I'd read this one. I'm working on tidying our house -- something that seems insurmountable at times. After reading this, I actually feel motivated to clean.

Now, to be fair, this book isn't for everyone. It has a fair degree of animism in it, which I am comfortable with, but others may not be. I am the kind of person who talks to my belongings, so a lot of the advice seemed natural. To someone who doesn't, it might just plain seem silly.

There were many things in this book that were a revelation. For instance, a book half read's purpose has been fulfilled. Its purpose was to be read halfway through. That one is still sitting with me. As a completionist, I have a really hard time not finishing any book that I start, so maybe that can tidy up my life in a way I don't think she was expecting.

The idea of storing clothing vertically (not on hangars) had never occurred to me. That might really change the way that we store our clothes, once we get rid of all the ones we don't want.

Which gets us to the crux of the book. If something (that isn't 100% necessary) doesn't spark joy, don't keep it. And honestly, I think she's right. It's something my partner and I have been struggling with, especially with clothes. We've lived through really poor times, so we have a bunch of clothes we don't really like. We also have trouble doing laundry. But I realized after reading her book that if we just keep the clothes that spark joy it'll be easier to do laundry.

Personally, I don't know if the KonMari method will work for me, but I know a lot of people have had great success with it, and I've already thrown out three bags of garbage from my room. So at the very least, it's done that, which was worth a couple hours of a read.