The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
By Marie Kondo
★★★★

I’ve always loved organizing, but I also tend to be a bit of a pack rat. I get sentimentally attached to old t-shirts and concert ticket stubs. Combining those two things can sometimes be interesting, but in recent years I think I’ve gotten better at getting rid of things.

Since getting pregnant and thinking about adding another whole person to our home. I’ve been wondering where on earth we were going to put all their clothes, pack and plays, strollers, etc. For a tiny person, babies sure do need a lot of stuff. I've also been thinking about all the things I need to go through and get rid of. Turning our guest room into a nursery is going to take some effort and the first step is getting rid of stuff. So I dove right in and ended up having a huge garage sale with all the stuff we purged.
 

(Yard sale with items we purged!)

I’d heard a lot about this book and wanted to check it out before I started my big purge. Kondo’s approach to organization is methodical and merciless. She has a good systems and lots of practical tips which I appreciated. I'll admit that some of what she says didn't resonate with me at all. I do not need to give my socks a rest; I'm still going to fold them. I'm not going to empty my handbag every night. I'm going to dump it by the door and leave all the contents in it and grab it the next day when I leave. But there are other things in her book that I just love.

I thought her system for the order in which you should go through your belongings to get rid of them was very smart. It does seem easier to start with clothes, then books, then papers, and sentimental items. I went through every closet, drawer and cabinet in my house over the course of a couple weekends. I got rid of tons of told paperwork, clothes, books, outdated electronics, shoes, and more.
 

(The guest room closet, full of my clothes, before)

(The guest room closet after. Half of it will be filled with baby things.)

One of the most helpful things she said was that certain things have fulfilled their purpose even if you’ve only worn them once. I tend to feel like I have to get more use out of an item in order to make it worth it. Even if it’s a bridesmaids dress or a top that I hate, I hang on to it because it seems wasteful to only wear it once. I felt like her philosophy gave me the freedom to let those items go. She said that maybe that items purpose was to teach you that a particular style doesn’t look good on you. Once you realize that you don’t have to keep the item, which you never wear, in the hopes that you’ll one day get more use out of it.
 

(Before the yard sale was set up)

BOTTOM LINE: A useful read and one that definitely inspired me to dig deeper into my closet and keep filling those Goodwill boxes.

“Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest. By doing this, you can reset your life and embark on a new lifestyle.”

“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.”

Love and Freindship

Love and Freindship

by Jane Austen

★★★★

At this point I’ve read and reread all of Austen’s novels. Each time I dive into her work I discover new things to reflect upon. This was my first foray into her juvenilia and I was surprised to find her sharp wit and sense of humor were already developed. She clearly improved her character and plot development with age, but these early works still have her tone.

I’d already read Lady Susan, which is included her, but the rest was new to me. I have to say the Penguin Clothbound Classics edition was excellent. The introduction includes information about the pieces in the book and Austen’s life, which provides context and depth.

"A remarkable feature of the juvenilia is its ability to subvert limitations imposed on young women, especially in the field of education."

Each of the tales focuses more on a single plot point than on character development. There's the girl who accidentally gotten engaged to two different men, and then commits suicide because she felt so bad. Another flirts at a ball and is scandalized. There are also quite a few glimpses of her later novels. In "From a Young Lady crossed in Love to her freind" we meet a young woman who is overwhelmed with heartbreak when she is betrayed by a man named Willoughby, just like Sense and Sensibility.

Austen’s sense of humor is particularly obvious in “The History of England”. She declares it is written by "a partial, prejudiced, and ignorant Historian". It includes lines like…

"During his reign, Lord Cobham was burnt alive, but I forget what for."

Her dedications at the beginning of each story became one of my favorite parts of the book. They’re intentionally overly serious and very amusing.

BOTTOM LINE: Austen’s juvenilia is playful and fun, but it also shows the promise of the writer that she will become. I loved having the chance to learn more about one of my favorite authors through her early work. A must for any true Austen fan!

Wordless Wednesday: Lauterbrunnen

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Wordless Wednesday

Photo by me.