The Books That Have Changed My Life

I know that I am extrememly late to the game writing about this now, but it's very rare that a book affects my life and I felt as though I needed to talk about the two that have made a big impact on me. Over Christmas I read Marie Kondo's 'The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying' and it has honestly changed my life. Literally on the day I finished reading the book, I happened to notice that there was a second book coming out (called 'Sparks Joy') and I pre-ordered it without a second thought. As with any self-help style book, there were obviously a few points that I will probably never put into practice (like tidying in silence - NO MARIE I have a dedicated Spotify playlist for that!). I'd not even read half of the book and I felt inspired to have a massive clearout! So I thought I'd share with you what I took away from the book....

1. Marie likes tidying A LOT. I'd even go as far to say she loves tidying more than anyone else. I also think she is a little crazy as she mentions that she speaks to her house on a daily basis...

2. Tidying is catching. Marie mentions that when you see someone else tidying, you feel compelled to start too. Since reading the book and having my own clearout, my family saw how clean and tidy my bedroom looked and they started work on their own. At the time of writing this post, my mum has already got rid of two thirds of her wardrobe (including some very dodgy pieces from the 90s). 

3. Marie mentioned that the average number of bin bags that her clients get rid of in a single day is 20. TWENTY. At first I was like 'woaaaaah who gets rid of that much stuff??', but when the first of January rolled around I managed to get rid of 21 bin bags of stuff. Including 7 bags from my wardrobe alone!! 

4. I was shocked when Marie said that downgrading pieces of clothing from your wardrobe to loungewear status is forbidden. I'm incredibly guilty of this, and I have clothes that I got when I was like 13/14 that I didn't wear but didn't really want to get rid of either. After taking a long hard look through my wardrobe, I realised that I didn't even wear these clothes round the house - so I knew I had to get rid of them! In the end I got rid of almost 50 items of clothing, and yesterday they went into the Tickled Pink Breast Cancer donation bin at my local supermarket!

5. Obviously being a beauty blogger, I am lucky enough to be sent products for trial and review. There are odd products that I really don't get on with, and they sit in a basket in the corner of my room collecting dust. But not having bought them with my own money I feel quite guilty throwing them away. Usually my sister will have a raid through to see if there is anything she fancies trying - but this time she only picked out a foundation. So that meant everything else went in the bin, along side some out of date makeup products and skincare items!

6. I don't really consider myself a hoarder as I have seen hoarding first hand with my own eyes. But whilst sorting through all my possessions, I realised that there was a lot of items that I was holding onto purely for sentimental reasons - not because I liked/needed/wanted them. For example, on top of my wardrobe I had a large box containing every single card I have ever received over the last 19-20 years. Birthday, Christmas, Christening, Easter, Thank You, Good Luck, Congratulations, Get Well Soon - THE LOT! After taking a few moments to look through well over 1000 cards, I realised that I had no use for them. I never take the time to sit and look through them, and so would I really notice if they went? The answer is no. It's been almost a month since they went out for recycling and to be completely honest I don't regret my decision in the slightest. 

7. Repeated mentions are made about the lack of clients that relapse into untidiness.  To my utmost surprise, NOBODY has ever become untidy again. I was certain that I was going to be the one and only person to relapse, but my bedroom has been tidy since my clearout - which is unheard of for me. Usually it will last until the end of the week - but it still looks spotless. Because I got rid of so much stuff, I know have a dedicated place for everything - which makes me want to put it away after using it! 

8. The book is centered around the idea of each item 'sparking joy'. If an item doesn't give you pleasure when you see or use it, then it is time for it to go. I found this such a good way of deciding whether or not I wanted to keep something, and I haven't found myself needing or regretting anything that I got rid of. 

Have you read Marie's books, or are you planning to have a clearout soon?

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

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