The Life Changing Magic of Decluttering your Space
and all that ensues with books
If 2024 has one assignment, it’s this- declutter declutter declutter. That’s what I have told myself since the beginning of December 2023. At almost 40, I know better, no more resolutions etc, keep it simple, just make your life sorted and of course a decluttered mind begins with a decluttered home. I have been trying to invoke the Marie Kondo in my husband without much success but after 10 years of marriage I know the game better, a gradual nudge and forget for few days, again a gentle push and go back to sleep. Finally, the elephant moved and major part was done, that is the clothes (without making the clothes mountain this time as advised by Ms Kondo in her book like I did last time, I know better now, with 2 kid and a droning around hubby) and the kitchen (labels and all, still can’t believe I pulled this off). The biggest sudoku of a puzzle of tidying will be the kids’ room always, the Legos and the cars with one wheel missing and the 5-year gap between my kids which means I have to keep the “useful” ones for another 4 years before the younger one grows up to use them (yes I am thrifty and conscious momma).
In the middle of this project which has spilled now over to January 2024 came the message on the Whatsapp group, someone looking to buy some books. This interrupted my plans of sorting night stands as per my night routine (to be figured out yet) but the fact that I can get ‘meaningfully’ rid of few Agatha’s and Sidney’s from spouse’s collection and of course that means a few of mine too (it’s a joint deal else no one declutters) was too good to pass.
Out came the books, which had been moved from the book shelf to the lower most closet space during my last tidying up session two years ago to make space for the toys. Each book bought with such an emotion and untouched still, how to describe the feeling, let me go book by book:
*One Thousand years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (giving away). Yes, that means I wouldn’t have experienced the greatest novel in any language of last 50 years as per Salman Rushdie. I open the book, my eyes hurt at the small letters. I am reading everything online now (enlarged).
*Six Suspects from the Author who wrote Q & A (the book on which Slumdog millionaire was based; feeling: yeah whatever).
* Selected Short Stories by Franz Kafka (it’s a hard pass. The last time I was tidying up few years ago, I brutally decluttered giving away books for free and needless to say I had quite a few hoarders come over to take (it takes one to know one) and based on the popularity of Kafka (everyone wanted this book) I got greedy and decided to keep it thinking like let me read this one. I meant it’s just short stories only and now the book is staring at me and I am feeling, another greatest author of all time I won’t be having the pleasure of knowing (giving it).
*Then of course is the To Kill a Mocking Bird book, so beautiful, the feeling while reading this still echoes and the film was also too close to the book, this one is a difficult choice (holding on to it).
*And then comes this epic of a 2.5 kg type dumbbell of a book called War and Peace. I purchased it nine years ago, as per Ms Kondo the best time to read the book is withing first 6 months of purchasing it and if you don’t read it then, chances are you won’t because the feeling has passed. Will I never read the greatest work of Leo Tolstoy? The idea of reading this is so endearing, to be lost in the Russian scene yet I know my limitations well by now.
I had this phase in between where I questioned if the reader in me was lost forever only to get the answer that it’s there, it just isn’t interested in fiction anymore. Which then takes me to the non-fiction plethora I have , all the books by India’s top nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar like an avid follower I have purchased, from the weight loss to pregnancy to kids nutrition. Some read, some browsed some referred to and while Rujuta is there can Luke Coutinho (the guy popularising Intermittent Fasting) be behind so yes, I have the ones of Intermittent fasting, The Lifestyle Pill etc. Am I getting any healthier in 2024 with these stacked in my bottom most shelf of a closet? No, but still holding on to these for now because for now maybe I have decluttered enough to put the weight on hubby to let go a few from his collection too.
Then the other books are the self-motivation, self-help lot including the likes of 5 am Club by Robin Sharma and Yoga Books and somewhere between motivation, fiction and new-age spiritualism category called Paulo Coelho. Should I attempt to read Aleph in 2024 since this category is my thing now?
The answer to the question as to where is the reader in me is as follows:
1. The reader is raising 2 young kids
2. The reader has moved on from fiction to the world of finding herself in the mid-life crisis
3. The reader is also busy scrolling reels and has damaged her attention span beyond 30 seconds
4. The idea of reading physical books is no longer endearing, once just the smell and the feel of holding a book was a turn on
5. The reader is also busy decluttering her life with help of a Clear Quartz crystal and Marie Kondo inspiration. No pun intended but I found my copy of Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up while decluttering the books and I am in the dilemma to whether to honour my decluttering guru or follow her advice and give this away (ha ha Marie Kondo the joke is on you now)
The Instagram pic with a hook bait on how to turn your kids into readers with read caption below has taught me to keep my kids surrounded by books as visual cues to invoke the reader in them. Wait, so do I keep my copy of War and Peace so that my daughter may read it one day on her daily commute like her mom did? The idea of this is too good to pass but for now I am just keeping Julia Donaldson for her.
