I’ve been talking a lot about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up lately, so I thought I’d do a more concise “review” of it – at least a look at why/how it resonated with me and at some of her key points. I do recommend it, and think it was definitely worth reading; even as much as I think/read about wardrobe minimalism and paring down in general, this book inspired me to look at things in completely new ways. Books, especially.
I read the book in a few hours, sitting in my chair in my office, looking out the big window and at my bookshelf. As she spoke about books and photos and papers, I started to think about what those things meant to me, and why I was holding on to them.
A lot of my books were part of my past, and looking at them made me feel guilty. I also had quite a few books that were meaningful to me, but hadn’t been cracked open in years, and that I thought someone else would appreciate.
Ultimately, if I try to boil down what this book did for me, it is that it made me realize that things are just things. They can have meaning, and indeed, they do serve a purpose, but to me, right now, the “things” I thought were important to me, are not. The books I thought I’d hold on to forever? Thanked, and sold so someone else could enjoy them. My college papers (printed out, because it was before there were thumbdrives)? Re-read and discarded.
My family, Dagny, my career, my health, and my plants (yes, technically things, I guess) are important to me. Along with a few other “things” but only because they have a purpose right now in my life, not for their memories.
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