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Jenna 's Reviews > The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
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I give this one 2 stars because I took a few things from it that I think are great ideas to help me organize. But about a third of the book was spent repeating itself and when it wasn't doing that...it was just weird to me. I wondered at times if the book was satire or a memoir of OCD disguised as the middle child syndrome. Some examples that had me wondering if this was satire or not include:
I would have probably taken more from this book if there was less of the above type of examples. Now I just think the book is a bit kooky.
1) She talked as though inanimate objects have feelings or as though they are alive so you have to say goodbye to them and a nice thought before throwing them away. You don't want to hurt their feelings since they no longer bring you joy. She thinks that socks shouldn't be balled up because they deserve to rest comfortably since they are a medium being rubbed between your feet and your shoes. Poor socks.
2) When she goes to someone's house to help "tidy" (organize) she bows in the middle of the room and greets it and also thanks it for allowing her to tidy it up. Basically she and the room connect at an intimate level before she goes stripping it down to its bareness. Oh, and she wears a dress and blazer when tidying to show respect to the house (not its occupant) and thinks you should too. Sweat pants are a big no-no ladies! And don't forget to clean out your purses on a daily basis. No bloated purses for you.
3) She claims that tidying rids the body of toxins and that she sees it quite often. She claims that it clears the skin and trims the waistline. So don't be alarmed if after purging you get a pimple or your belly starts to rumble. She said that after one of her clients tidied up her space she immediately had diarrhea (yes, she went there) as though her body was purging its junk out too.
4) Once when she replaced her cell phone, she was sure to send her previous phone a text message thanking it for its service. When she did this, her phone (that always worked properly) died and never worked again. It was like it knew it's job was done.
I would have probably taken more from this book if there was less of the above type of examples. Now I just think the book is a bit kooky.
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Reading Progress
July 8, 2015
– Shelved
July 8, 2015
– Shelved as:
to-read
July 10, 2015
–
Started Reading
July 11, 2015
– Shelved as:
can-i-have-those-hours-back
July 11, 2015
– Shelved as:
lifestyle
July 11, 2015
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-45 of 45 (45 new)
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Bill
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Jul 11, 2015 12:59PM
ha ha ha ... sounds like a new ager gone wild!
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Bill wrote: "ha ha ha ... sounds like a new ager gone wild!"Totally!! :)
Holy Nutcase, Batman! If this isn't satire, then this chick is off the rails. Nice review, though!
Anne wrote: "Holy Nutcase, Batman! If this isn't satire, then this chick is off the rails. Nice review, though!"Hahaha! Thank you. The scary thing is that she is dead serious. It was all comedy for me though.
Going to slap on some sweatpants and a blazer, walk into the center of the room surrounded by leaning stacks of neglected books and shout, "Thank you for attention and patience. If anyone has a problem with this organized chaos then speak now or forever hold your peace. You'll be read and properly shelved when the moment is right!!"
Mike wrote: "Going to slap on some sweatpants and a blazer, walk into the center of the room surrounded by leaning stacks of neglected books and shout, "Thank you for attention and patience. If anyone has a pr..."Hahaha!
I think the author has problems. The book is selling well so she will now be able afford therapy. On the other hand if your insanity is saleable...
Petra X wrote: "I think the author has problems. The book is selling well so she will now be able afford therapy. On the other hand if your insanity is saleable..."Haha, no kidding!
Oh wow ...this explains so much!!! I wear pjs around my house so much that it probably doesn't respect me any more
Kay Pamela wrote: "Oh wow ...this explains so much!!! I wear pjs around my house so much that it probably doesn't respect me any more "I swear I nearly started choking when I read this because I was laughing so hard!
Sandra wrote: "Sometimes there are just no words lol. Thanks for the hilarious snippets, Jenna."Lol I know, right?!
Hilarious! Great insight into diarrhea!
Debbie "DJ" wrote: "Hilarious! Great insight into diarrhea!"Hahaha! So insightful :)
If you think this book is kookie you should see the Facebook group "Konmari Adventures". Those women are absolutely insane. I had to read the book just to understand what had made so many women so completely batsh*t, but... I still don't get it, LOL. "I have two crockpots but I'm not sure which one to keep..." "Have you held each of them in your hands and really listened to them? What did they say to you?" I rated it a bit higher than you because it does have some good advice, but overall you pretty much nailed it!
That is hysterical! I'll have to check it out for fun, haha. The whole talking to objects and finding their "sweet spot" just kills me. But, I will admit that I'm considering the shoe box in my bathroom drawers and I may try putting my folded clothes vertically in a drawer to see how I like it. But I definitely won't talk to them, lol! :)
I think that if I tried to put folded clothes in vertically in a drawer.... I might try to coax them into position, but I rather suspect there might be a whole lot of cursing instead.
Vertically? I think that involves ironing...unless dressers suddenly are as long vertically as they are horizontally.
Debbie "DJ" wrote: "Vertically? I think that involves ironing...unless dressers suddenly are as long vertically as they are horizontally."Haha...this confused me when I read it so I looked it up. And of course she has videos (I'm sure she will probably get a show on TLC now). But instead of stacking clothes on top of each other (folded) you stack them vertically across (folded). I'm sure I made it harder to visualize, lol.
Mike wrote: "I think that if I tried to put folded clothes in vertically in a drawer.... I might try to coax them into position, but I rather suspect there might be a whole lot of cursing instead."If you did it like she expects then I wouldn't blame you! She has a video on folding and I assure you that I will fold it my own way. I don't know who has the time to fold to perfection and to properly fold their socks and unpack their purses and put the contents in their correct places to only refill said purse in the morning...oh and she talks to her house when she gets home everyday and thanks her shoes when taking them off...im exhausted just thinking it :)
Jenna wrote: "Debbie "DJ" wrote: "Vertically? I think that involves ironing...unless dressers suddenly are as long vertically as they are horizontally."Haha...this confused me when I read it so I looked it up...."
So, not on top of, but vertically across? Lol! I still don't get it. They have to be on top of if in a drawer...so, like diagonal? LMAO, will never do whatever it is anyway!
Fantastic review, Jenna. ROTFL! I LOVE your hysterical tidbits--that woman is nutso! And I loved your line: "I wondered at times if the book was satire or a memoir of OCD disguised as the middle child syndrome."And you guys, I hate to say it but I'm totally lost with all this vertical vs horizontal folding shit; I need a user's manual and maybe a map too, plus a tape measure to assess drawer size. Makes me want to crinkle up every shirt I own and wear one to a Tupperware party that Martha Stewart is hosting.
And will my piles de-pile if I sing show tunes to them? If I sing loud enough, will they march to the recycle bin? Oh, yea, I just have to be polite and respectful and wear the right outfit and I'll become a purging zombie!
This very polite tidier obviously needs someone to thank and respect and decided objects were safer than humans. Profusely thanking her cat (instead of houses and shoes) might have been a nice compromise.
If I had to get dolled up just so I could tidy up, I'd never get out of bed!
Besides, she lies. I hate my piles and they hate me! There ain't no respect coming or going, if you get my drift.
Debbie wrote: "Besides, she lies. I hate my piles and they hate me! There ain't no respect coming or going, if you get my drift."AHAHAHA!! We think alike! If I had to wear a dress and blazer to "tidy" aka throwing nearly everything I own out then I would be one moody woman before I finished with either a very wrinkled dress or nothing much done because when I wear a blazer I can hardly reach for anything. It makes me uncomfortable even thinking about it! On a plus side, I can happily wear a blazer to go to a nice dinner because I don't have to reach very far for my wine glass ;)
What a fun review, Jenna! That lady sounds like an utter nutter.
Zoeytron wrote: "What a fun review, Jenna! That lady sounds like an utter nutter."Thanks! Haha, it was quite comical for me most of the time :)
Lol. Tell me where you get your blazer. I didn't know they made them any more! Plus, those wooly Blazers, which, true, you can't lift your arms up in, also were real sweat machines. Ew! Maybe we should go the jumpsuit route?
I'm not sure your home would respect you Debbie if you wore overalls
Haha...I will not allow my house to decide...sweat pants it is, or better yet scrubs!!
The issues are a little more than OCD I think and none of it seems life changing.
Kay Pamela wrote: "I'm not sure your home would respect you Debbie if you wore overalls "R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to...my home.
Debbie "DJ" wrote: "Kay Pamela wrote: "I'm not sure your home would respect you Debbie if you wore overalls "R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to...my home."
"Sock" it to me...sock it to me...hehe
Stop it you guys! I'm ROTFL, and I must get up and tidy up!
Make sure to bow, greet, and thank the room first. Otherwise you might end up in Kansas.
Jenna wrote: "Debbie "DJ" wrote: "Kay Pamela wrote: "I'm not sure your home would respect you Debbie if you wore overalls "R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to...my home."
"Sock" it to me...sock it to me....."
Whoa, babe (just a little bit)
Problem = I think my home likes Cheetos and pjs ... In other news check out the Facebook page for this books followers...they all live in tidy but very empty homes --like generic hotels ...shudder...not for me. My home is a slob that seems to not be up for change
It says "only available to an audience you're not in." Kay?
I asked to join because I'm nosy but I left the group ... Not my thing, I will admit this book and author received a lot of press so I was curious. But not really interested in it ...to cultish for me ....plus I'm lazy
Just giving you a hard time! I bet there was a lot of press...this world has gotten a little strange!
omg a million times yes!!!
I thought the author may be Buddhist as they believe everything has a soul and a purpose , trees, grass, people, etc. And that was where the socks feelings came in. I'm in no way bashing the author , Buddhists or socks.
I also agree with your questions. Is this ocd? Is this something else ?
I love when ppl use examples from the book to explain/shed light. You picked four perfect ones. Wow...and wtf?! Author seems a little nutso. Thanks for your review. Another book I can avoid.
I couldn't get through the first third of the book. I hated it, but thought it unfair to write a review got a book I didn't complete. I didn't get up to the personification of stuff... But I read some of her anecdotes on how much she has loved tidying and it was exhausting.
Oh my goodness, I thought I was going crazy with thinking that some of these descriptions are similar to those who may have OCD. Thank you for putting this review out, I think I will now just make a personal trigger warning tag for myself.
