Earlier this year, after several recommendations, I sat down with Marie Kondo’s The life changing magic of tidying up. A slightly eccentric, but highly enjoyable read, about tidying up. The book closely examines the connections we hold to our ‘things.’ Why do we keep clothes, trinkets, books that do not bring us joy? And how can we learn to part with them.
These ideas fascinate me. Why do we feel compelled to buy things? Furthermore why do we buy things that we do not love? Is it to fill a void, to mask sadness, to fit in, to buy in? Why bring these mediocre pieces into our lives. Why look at them and use them day to day when we do not draw any pleasure from doing so.
Now this is not to say that our ‘things’ must be expensive or complicated, much to the contrary. I do believe, however, that we must have a connection to our things. That we should want to know the story of how or where they were made and what they are made of. And all this ties into the form and function of objects.
If you look around your house, in your bag, at the clothes you are wearing and just see ‘stuff’ I encourage you to read Marie Kondo’s book. It may leave your cupboards feeling bare or your bookshelf a little spacious but there is a beauty and simplicity in this that allows for you to begin collecting and curating your life slowly, mindfully. Living, and ultimately buying, like this makes way for a more meaningful and simple was of life, finding happiness with less.