With a goal of getting organized for the new year, I borrowed this book and am very glad that I did not waste my own money purchasing a copy. I should have reconsidered when I looked at the cover as is a pet peeve of mine when authors title their books and their names without capitalizing the first letters. This should have steered me away from the book but I gave it a chance thinking that there may be some helpful tips.
Sadly, it is hard to take an author seriously that says “the socks and stockings stored in your drawer are essentially on holiday. They take a brutal beating in their daily work, trapped between your foot and your shoe, enduring pressure and friction to protect your precious feet.” When speaking about off season clothing, the author recommends to “let them know you care and look forward to wearing them when they are next in season” like they are living beings with feelings. It is a good thing that the author did not write this at the beginning of the book, without much time invested, I would have stopped reading right then.
Her method of cleaning is unrealistic – seriously, who would bring every item of clothing from each member of your house and make a big pile to decide what to keep or get rid of? Who would thank a purse for a days work and who would walk into your house and greet it each day? Who would feel sorry for their clothes and treat them as if they were alive?
I think that this author must be laughing all the way to the bank! This book has become a best seller in many countries which must be reflective of our relationship with “stuff”. The one benefit is that the book may help the reader think honestly about the need to discard items and to reconsider bringing more items into the home. I sure hope that she recommends her clients donate unwanted items as she continually talks about the bags of garbage which is a concern to the landfill if others could use these items.
I would definitely not recommend this book. In fact, I think that I could have better used the time reading it, cleaning out my closet full of inanimate clothing! The back of the book reports that this author has a 3 month wait for her services but I cannot imaging how her clients could take her seriously!
A Year of Books 
I also found the worldview of the author to be distracting from the message, however, it’s so overt that it’s easy to set it aside. I used to run into this issue a lot with homeschooling books – I’d read something where the person’s philosophy of home education was counter to my own but there was always something I could take away from it, always something that I learned or some new idea I felt I could try. Marie Condo clearly has some animistic beliefs and that’s something we don’t run across very often in the West. Once I got past that, there was a lot in the book that I could benefit from. Actually, *because* of her worldview I was able to benefit. Take the whole thanking your object thing. When we decide that an object no longer sparks joy, we’re supposed to thank the object for its use and then discard it – this freed me up to discard a lot. Even being able to recognize that an object only brought me joy in the moment at which it was given to me (joy at receiving a gift, joy in the fact that someone thought of me and gave it to me) was huge. Instead of hanging on to the object and feeling guilty, I was able to be grateful for the joy it brought me and was able to release it so it could bring someone else joy, instead of collecting dust at my house. And perhaps my socks aren’t actually happy that I’ve folded them nicely and have them organized beautifully, but they bring *me* joy every time I open my sock drawer! I love the MC way of folding things. My closet has been organized for months, my drawers, too. I’m just starting on my kitchen and I already feel lighter and more relaxed. Marie Condo does look at the world in a very different way, but even though that’s not my worldview, I do appreciate what she taught me about being grateful for the purpose things served in my life, releasing things that no longer spark joy, and taking good care of the things I’ve chosen to keep. It may not be life changing magic, but it has made a difference for me.
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I am glad to read about your experience after reading this book and appreciate your comments. I too was inspired to clean out my closet and we donated a fair bit over the past week. It does feel great to be a bit more organized in a busy house!!
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An interesting review in the Toronto Star today: http://www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20160112/281535109983177/TextView
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