FYI, Marie Kondo’s book “The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up” was going for $1.99 USD on the Kindle Store a few days ago.
I bought her other book “Spark Joy” in 2016, and I really got into decluttering. This photo of my wardrobe shows how I have maintained my tee-shirt collection for the past 7 years. I keep my tees to a minimum and I don’t buy a new one unless an old one has been recycled into a rag. My wife helps me keep them well-folded and chides me if I fold them poorly.
My friends sometimes make fun of me when I bring up Marie Kondo, perhaps because it’s cool to mock the idea of decluttering. But once you grasp the concept and start throwing out stuff, you realize what you really declutter is not your household items, but your mind.
Ms Kondo wrote, “…when you put your house in order, you put your affairs and your past in order too.”
Her decluttering method has Shinto origins, but I found it to help me live out the Christian way of “not loving the things of earth”. After I cleared up my wardrobe, I went on to discard many things, including selling off my Ducati motorcycle. I loved motorcycling, but it was taking too much of my time which I needed for self-improvement.
And because I had developed a habit of not buying unnecessary things, getting retrenched last December didn’t make any difference in my lifestyle.
What’s not to like about decluttering? Anyway, for just two bucks, you can buy her book and decide for yourself if you want to get into decluttering.
I help people and businesses grow with my passion for communications, AI and visual art. I also partner Oo Gin Lee in helping people tell great stories. Ping us if you are keen to know more. #storytelling#decluttering