Books Love

Yes, You Should Get Rid of Your Books.

I’ve avoided it so far, but I think the time has come to weigh in on the KonMari Controversy about books. In case you’re wondering what the heck that is, I found this article a fairly balanced and genuine reaction that isn’t knee-jerk about books in the way the NRA is about guns. Marie Kondo, …

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Practice

The Practice of Asking “Why?”

The working title of this post was The Practice of Letting It Go. Then it started: Perhaps the title of this post should have been “The Practice of Giving Yourself Permission. I was looking at the human characteristic of doing things we really don’t want to because there’s some imaginary (and usually arbitrary) rule getting …

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Love

Guest Post: What is a Spark of Joy?

I’m happy to welcome my partner Natasha to the blog with this guest post. Her company, Domestic Systems Solutions, helps people create space and relieve stress in their homes and workspaces. I asked her to write about that great concept: the Spark of Joy. As I start writing this post, I realized that there are quite …

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Love

MicroAggravations: Things You Don’t Love

A while back I mentioned the idea of “micro-annoyances” here on the blog, planning on following up on them later. Today’s the day! In case you don’t have time to click the link, the idea of “microannoyances” is working alongside the term “microaggression”, defined as: …the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, …

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Love

Building the Box

“Please. Draw me a sheep.” For some folks, reading that is going to make them smile. They remember the story that is attached, of a lost pilot in the desert and a Little Prince who kept him company for a time. I warn you, those who are tempted to pick it up again: it’s not …

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Practice

Essentialism: Scarier Than KonMari

The post title isn’t accurate; KonMari could be considered to be a form of Essentialism. Certainly David McKeown, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, is a fan. But having read an interview with him (after reading this article by Margaret Everton) I found that while yes, I have jumped on the Essentialist bandwagon, …

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Love

Pruning the Loveless

I promised a while back that I wasn’t going to keep harping on about the whole Do what you love philosophy, and I’m not – really. I confess, though, I still like reading about it. A lot! Everytime I come across some article about “following your passion” – whether in favor of it or against it …

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Love

Loving Things

“Thank you, bear! Good job!” – me to Natasha’s stuffed bear just before sending it off to the grandsons. One of the stranger parts of the KonMari method probably hearkens back to Ms. Kondo’s background in the Shinto religion. I’m not going to try and summarize an entire belief system in a blog post (we …

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Life

Why Are You Hanging On?

One of the many reasons I’m able to handle this “KonMari” method of ruthlessly purging my stuff is because in the book Ms. Kondo brings up many pertinent questions about why we hang onto things in the first place. The above quote is one of the better examples of this; when you pick up something and …

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