Tips for decluttering your mind & boosting your creative genius
Consumption is blocking your creativity — give your brain a break
“To truly cherish the things that are important to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose. To throw away what you no longer need is neither wasteful nor shameful.”
That advice comes from Marie Kondo, the Japanese author and decluttering expert who has become perhaps the biggest contemporary challenge to mass consumption. A big part of her minimalist ethos — her book is titled The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up — is the idea that we’re buying way too much stuff, most of which does nothing to enhance our lives.
For the most part, Kondo focuses on mindless material things — the plastic crap, cheap clothing and general tchotchkes that clutter up our homes. She asks people to hold individual items in their hands to see whether they “spark joy.” If they don’t, she recommends that they get rid of them immediately.
But we can also use Kondo’s example to explore the idea of clutter much more broadly.
Think of it this way:
Before you declutter your…
