Marie Kondo’s book, THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP, can change the way you experience this new year. Let me explain. It has to do with the author’s method. She addresses our “cluttered” life by asking NOT what we should get rid of but what we should keep. And, she has a simple criterion for selecting which items to keep. She suggests that when going through our possessions, examining them one by one, we should ask ourselves: does this object, this item, this thing, bring me joy? Does it spark joy? if not, out with it!
Many of Marie Kondo’s clients end up with one third to one half of the belongings they began with. And, they also end up with a lot more joy in their lives according to hundreds of testimonies. By letting go of all items that do not spark joy, the items kept have more space to emanate joyousness.
Get this: the focus in decluttering our lives is on what stays, not so much on what goes. Having read this little book, it seems clear that clutter does smother joy. This consumer culture in which we live definitely affects our spiritual lives. I am finally understanding that clutter not only bogs down the space in my house, but also the space in my soul.
I am surprised at how much I have bought into the consumer psyche and how I have allowed retail therapy to try to fill some empty place in my life. Having just retired, going through 17+ years of stuff just in my office, I find myself overwhelmed. I am hopelessly addicted to books and part of my therapy is giving most of my books away to friends (other addicts). I am keeping only those books that guarantee a time of joyful re-reading.
If you live within driving distance of Memphis (especially my minister friends), and want to help declutter my bookshelves without over-cluttering yours, email me (hipps1974@gmail.com) and I will gladly mark a time for you to drop by and carry away as many as will bring you joy.
Happy New Year!
Richard Hipps