“the life-changing magic of tidying up” was neither life-changing nor made me tidy up. Discuss.
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This book has been praised in the media and recommended by friends galore. As someone who doesn’t really like to read about hands-on things I should be doing with said hands, I was skeptical. My gut told me that reading about tidying up was not exactly going to make me tidy up. And boy, that gut, she on to something…
I must preface this by saying I already live a relatively tidy life — in small part, (ok, in LARGE part) to the Music Man – who borderlines OCD and ADHD when it comes to cleaning. He states that it “relaxes” him. I state that THAT is “totally cool”, seeing as the only satisfaction I get out of cleaning is the faint aroma of Orange Glo and no Ollie hair in my La Croix. But I digress…
So – this book may not be preaching to me, is my point. I read (skimmed) through it in an afternoon, swallowing its sporadic words of wisdom…(see Don’t Let Your Family See (What You Ultimately Throw Away), Unread Books (Will Always Remain Unread) and Vertical Folding Methods (Will Let You See More))
…and choking on its hippy-dippy, woo-woo nonsense…(see Socks Have Feelings Too, Feel (Up) Your Clothes and the author’s own description of walking in the door of her house – full of innocent bravado, exclaiming to her shoes, “Thank you very much for your hard work.” before putting them away…))
Those kind of passages made thisauthor’s gag reflex activate, but again, I do not think I am the targeted audience.
Here’s my take:
In the PRO column – these things ring true:
“…if you haven’t read it by now, the book’s purpose was to teach you that you didn’t need it.” – So true.
“People never retrieve the boxes they send “home”.” – Somewhere in the basement of my parent’s abode, my molding Xerox box of high school mementos is crying.
In the HELL NO column – these things were just plain weird:
Feeling the souls of my clothes. — Um, that Forever 21 tank that I wear the crap out of and has holes in it? I will never “feel” it up – it’s a piece of crappy material that “sparks joy”, but let’s just leave it at that.
Emptying out my purse daily – just not happening. In fact, every time I DO empty out my purse to switch it to another, I end up forgetting to put something in the new one. Seriously, works every time.
Look, people may think this review may be a little harsh. And seeing that I am reviewing this book gratis from Blogging for Books, I probably should be sugar-coating at least my first review for them. But they asked me to be honest, so this is me the only way I know how – blunt, sarcastic and a bad liar.
It is not as if this book is TERRIBLE, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. But it does have some great (common sense) pointers like…(I’m paraphrasing)
– if you don’t LOVE something, set it free (right into the donation pile)
– take the time to fold (and stack vertically)
– stop being overly sentimental and LET IT GO already (the memories in your head are enough)
– never go to Costco without a list (or a storage unit)
And most importantly, life isn’t about THINGS. The more crap you amass, the more crap you will feel amassing around you. So clean out that closet of yours already. Have a garage sale. Get rid of the crap that is bringing you down, and stick with the stuff that “sparks joy”.
But as for this book? It will have no place on my bookshelf, for it does not “spark joy”. Ironic, don’tya think?
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(Sorta) Sponsored Post: I received this book gratis from the publisher through the Blogging for Books program. I was not required to write a positive review (#obvi). All opinions above = my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising
