This Book Will Change Your Life.

This Book Will Change Your Life.

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend like we did. Saturday I had lunch with a friend and, since she’s also pregnant (so much fun!), we also went maternity clothes shopping. Yesterday Andy and I took Ruby to the Hingetown Sunday Market, where she proceeded to act horribly and embarrass the heck out of us. Then, since we were on a mission to keep her entertained, we went to an event at the Downtown Cleveland Dog Park, where she ran around full speed in the 90+-degree sun while all the other dogs huddled in the shade. Later in the day we took a friend to Swensen’s for his first time, which is great because I’m currently obsessed with their fried mushrooms. So all in all a really good weekend!

But you want to hear about this book….

You guys, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing will change your life. So technically I’m only about half done, but I’m too excited to wait to tell you about it. It’s been a goal of mine for YEARS to declutter, and every year I make a tiny little insignificant dent. But with the help of this book, I think it’s finally going to happen for real now.

What I like about this book is that it doesn’t just give you good reasons for decluttering (how can you truly appreciate the things you do love, if they’re shoved behind things you don’t?), but a useful strategy for getting rid of things. For example, start with the easiest things, clothes, and work your way up to the hardest, things with sentimental value. Lay everything out and ask yourself for each individual thing, “does this spark joy?” It sounds kind of time-consuming and maybe a little “new agey,” but I’m sick of having a bunch of things that we only bought because they were cheap or because we needed to fill an empty spot in a room. If we don’t love something, we should just get rid of it.

The hardest part for me is dealing with the guilt of getting rid of things, and the author also provides strategies for that. When it’s a shirt you paid a lot for and never wear or a gift you received that you aren’t that into, it’s sooooo hard to get rid of those things. I end up feeling really bad about the money I wasted (maybe I’ll wear it someday) or maybe I’ll hurt someone’s feelings. But author Marie Kondo says everything you own should bring you joy right now, period. So maybe you felt great when you went shopping and bought that shirt, and maybe it made you really happy to receive a gift from a friend… so this thing gave you joy in that moment, it served its purpose, and you can both move on. I love that.

So, I just wanted to stop by today and let you know I’m loving this book, and if you also struggle with clutter and have a hard time getting rid of things, I highly recommend picking it up and giving it a chance.

Have you read it? Do you think you’ll read it? Does it sound great or kind of silly? I’d love to know what you think!