January 17, 2017 – Marie Kondo’s tidying – Part 3 – Books

          Refer to January 15^th and 16^th.  This is part 3.

OH MY – I am on a roll – and a really nice one.  I feel like I have accomplished something great.

          Yesterday afternoon I took trash to the dump and then a trunk full of useful and usable “stuff” to a thrift shop close by.  Let someone else find some “joy” from which I did not.  Liberating.

          I was amazed at the books that I have shoved in every nook and cranny of every storage area or closet. 

          One area of instruction was how she handled the issue of BOOKS.  “Please start by removing every book from your shelves and putting them all on the floor.”    It is a jolt to you when you actually do this.   [I admit, I am cheating as I have them on the floor in every room they resided in, but nonetheless, they are sitting on the floor in uneven piles shoved against the wall so that they don’t topple over.]  Just taking them all out from their nooks and crannies I read the title and tossed a dozen or so with the “been there, done that, attitude”.  Out went the “felting and the mushroom growing” books.  Someone at the thrift shop can enjoy those two groups of books.  I experimented in both and found them both challenging and fulfilling but I don't need to keep the reference books.

          I have had to pause in this project in order to live life, so I will have to return to the books that are stacked around awkwardly in a few rooms. I now have a better understanding of how many volumes I had tucked away in hibernation that were using up my valuable storage space and I know I can easily reduce my books to just the "spellbinding ones."

          However, I have made good progress.  I’ve taken about 5 bags of books out of the house.  I now need to go to the liquor store to see if I can’t get some sturdy boxes in order to mine the rest of the stacks of books.  The carrying out will be easier.

          And, surprisingly, no, I haven’t second guessed myself and retrieved something after I had made the decision.  The tidying manual indicates that a book should give you a “thrill of pleasure when you touch it.”  I think that is the key – the touch part.  The ten page instruction on the BOOKS alone is well worth the cost of the book.

          I highly recommend you obtain a copy of Marie Kondo's The life-changing magic of tidying up the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing and practice what it preaches. So far, it is the best tool I have found to “get rid of stuff” which is magic in and of itself.

Today, I mentioned this tidying book to my hair dresser that I finally got space in one closet to store my canister vacuum cleaner.  What a milestone that is for me.

She wanted me to come do her

house – I must not be the only one with this problem.