Sometimes you need to have someone gently and firmly grab you by the face and tell you to just get over it already. This book is all about telling you to get the f*ck over it and move on, it just does it really nicely.
Number one: this is not about getting rid of everything you own, unless that's what makes you happy. This is not about having a minimalist white space with one perfect teacup, unless that's what makes you happy. This is about asking yourself which of your belongings bring you joy, and being honest with yourself about it. A friend of mine KonMari'd her art studio and it's been a big inspiration to me - she's still a collector, it's still a lot of stuff, and it's a beautiful reflection of her personality. You can see photos in her Instagram feed: brandiislight
Number two: if something isn't bringing you joy, sometimes you can make a simple change to make it something that brings you joy (and sometimes that thing is changing the way you think about it). Although Kondo is about the immediate gut response, I think it can be worthwhile to take a moment and ask yourself why something doesn't bring you joy, and if it's an easy fix, consider doing so. One of my shirts failed the joy check, because one of the buttons would pop out of the buttonhole at inconvenient times. I fixed it in a couple of minutes with a needle and thread, tightening the buttonhole, and now it's joyful! Sometimes you can't afford to offload everything that isn't pinging the joy meter. What Kondo has to say about gratitude and appreciation for the things that you need in your life can really come into play here. The curtain in the living room window may not spark joy in me immediately, but I can appreciate that it keeps the afternoon sun out of my eyes when I sit on the couch. I'll replace it when I can, and until then, I'll appreciate the job that it does.
You know what doesn't give me joy? 5 page care labels in clothing. A few minutes and a seam ripper made a few not-joyful items joyful.
Number three: you don't have to do it all in one day. I know that's what the book is telling you to do, but that's just not workable for everyone, so break it up into chunks if you need to.
Things I was surprised by:
- how resistant I was to the idea that I deserve to be surrounded by joy
- how much it freaked out people around me
- how much fun it can be
Have you read the book? Have you KonMari'd your living space? What surprised you?