5 Lessons Learned From Marie Kondo

A few years ago, I remember hearing so many great things about organizing consultant, Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. When the book first came out, I was in college and worked a part-time job. Because of those two time consumers, I never really found time to tidy up my space. It felt like I was always cleaning and coming back home to a huge mess of clothes everywhere (usually resulting from getting dressed in the morning). I figured I had nothing to lose. Why not give this book a read? Here are my overall thoughts and the 5 Lessons I Learned From Marie Kondo.

After reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I literally binge cleaned my closet and got rid of piles and piles of clothes! I was disgusted with myself when seeing how many clothes I owned that I did not love. Seeing the piles of clothes lying on my bed, made me realize I had a shopping problem (I wish I still had the photos). And not just a regular shopping problem… I had a thrift shopping problem. I would literally go thrift shopping twice a week every week for at least a year. I would also go the Goodwill Clearance Center about twice a month, where I would buy 50 pounds of clothes for less than $10. All of those clothes went straight into my closet!

I was addicted to the thrill of thrift shopping, plus the items were super inexpensive. This resulted in me accumulating a lot of clothes that I barely wore. Or as Marie Kondo would say, clothes that did not bring me joy. At that moment, when I stared at my pile of clothes on my bed, I asked myself what good is it to buy a ton of clothes from the thrift store, if they were just going to end up right back at the thrift store in a couple of months? That is the moment I told myself I would no longer thrift carelessly. From that point on, I would only go thrifting for items I need and for items that bring me joy.

I think it is important to point out how wasteful the Marie Kondo method of binge cleaning can be. Throwing out pounds and pounds of clothes and giving them to the thrift store is great…except for the fact that those clothes have a high chance of ending up in the landfill. Sure donating the items, gives them a second chance at life; but that isn’t always guaranteed. Unsold items at thrift stores often get sent off to other countries, and a good amount of those items end up in the landfill.

So my “fix” to getting rid of the items that were a result of my crazy shopping problem was to give the items to my friends who may love them. I started hosting my own clothing swaps and inviting my friends to take my bundles of clothes home with them. It was really cool seeing people I love fall in love with items that no longer brought me joy.

Giving your loved items to a friend or a clothing swaps helps to give the item an even longer life span. Think about it, if you give the item to a friend who loves it, he or she will wear it for a while, and once they get sick of the item, they will hopefully give it to one of their friends. Sure, one day the item might end up at a thrift store, and maybe that item will end up in the landfill, but by giving a longer life-span, you are slowing down that process.

Overall, I really enjoyed the The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and I’m even enjoying the Marie Kondo Netflix series, Tidying Up. Watching the recently released Netflix episodes makes me reflect on my old behaviors. I really credit that book with changing my mindset around consumerism and for that I am thankful.

5 Important Lessons Learned from Marie Kondo:

1. Only bring items you love into your space
2. Less really is more
3. Shopping does not need to be a hobby
4. Clothing swaps are a great way to get rid of clothes and to update your wardrobe
5. Acknowledging and changing unhealthy habits is the key to growth

What have you learned from Marie Kondo?