In The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, Japanese author Marie Kondo introduces readers to the KonMari method. This method was created to assist folks with tidying up their homes — one category at a time. In tidying up our homes and workspaces, our affairs, our past, and essentially our lives also end up in order.
According to Kondo, books are one of the three things people have the hardest time letting go of. However, it is something that needs to be done and can be done with some small steps. The key to doing this successfully is to be honest and realistic with yourself. The first step is to take all your books out of their various shelves, nooks, and crannies. Put them all on the floor. This would enable you to actually judge whether a book really grabs you. But also, books that are on the shelf and are only visible through their binds are actually “invisible” to us. To Kondo, invisible books mean that it is dormant; we don’t actually remember that they are there and are often surprised when we do notice it. Your books need to be conscious in order to ask yourself the infamous question, “does this spark joy?”
Kondo’s KonMari method is really centered on that one question. In order for you to truly be able to tidy up your life, you need to be able to discern which objects of yours you actually want and which you don’t. To do so, you need to figure out if it sparks joy to you and your life. If it doesn’t, put it aside to get rid of, whether through donation or by trashing it. After organizing your books into four piles — General (books you read for pleasure), Practical (references, cookbooks, etc.), Visual (photobooks, etc.) and Magazines — you must take each book into your hands and decide whether it gives you a thrill of pleasure when you touch it. Not read it, but when you touch it. If it does not, you must discard it. Now, for those who just love books and are aghast at the thought of getting rid of any of them (me!) Kondo asks you, wouldn’t you be happier surrounded by books that actually spark joy in your life? As a book lover, isn’t that #goals?
Now, for those, like myself, who have a ton of books they have bought but have not read, Kondo has a very easy response for you: you’re never going to read it. To Kondo, you may have wanted to read a book when you bought it but if you haven’t read it by now, that chance is gone. In her own words, “the book’s purpose was to teach you that you didn’t need it,” and while that thought makes me incredibly sad, she does have a point. At the end of the day, books are essentially just paper and their true purpose is to be read and to convey some sort of information to us readers. That information is what carries the meaning of the book, not the book itself. You purchase books for the experience of reading them and if you aren’t reading them, do they really serve a purpose sitting on a shelf collecting dust?
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