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“The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” is a #1 New York Times best-seller, so it’s fair to guess many of you have used it to (try to) tidy up your own lives. Tell us about it at facebook.com/ChatterChattanooga.
Perusing the book selection at Anthropologie, I found (among the guides to being more like a French woman that I already owned) “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.”
Lured by the simplicity of the book’s promise, I joined millions of others in reading Marie Kondo’s best-selling book. Upon her advice, I proceeded to place every item of clothing I owned into the middle of the floor. And there it remained, for much longer than the single day Kondo recommends the task of discarding be completed.
Her method – which basically involves picking up each thing, asking yourself if it sparks joy, and discarding what doesn’t – seems fairly simple and straightforward. And, it is. The difficulty lies in the items that do not spark joy but we are compelled to keep nonetheless. Kondo explains that there are only three reasons we insist upon holding on to such items: an attachment to the past, a fear of the future, or a mixture of the two. She stops there; probably for the same reason I stopped there when I decided to keep most of my stuff.
But if you decide to take a day, or a few weeks, to delve into your issues, tidying is a great way to do that. Just be prepared for the possibility of failure.