rant starts here….

Bloody Marie Kondo.

I’ve read her books, folded  t-shirts so I can’t tell which ones they are and I’ve tried, really tried to watch her recent series on Netflix but it upsets me. Not even 60 seconds in there are people sobbing and bags and bags of memories and treasures banished after a twee little thank you.

If you are crying at the thought of getting rid of something, then simply don’t get rid of it.

Decluttering is not rocket science, it is very simple. If it is useless, broken, nasty or bad, get rid of it. If you like it, then keep the bloody thing. Even if Marie bloody Kondo tells you to get rid of it.

Repeat after me “It is ok to have stuff”.

If it makes you happy, keep your stuff. Even if it doesn’t fit, doesn’t work and takes up valuable space. If it genuinely makes you happy then it is serving a useful purpose.

Our stuff is important. It links us to our past, places us in the present and reminds us where we want to be in the future. Please don’t throw all that away because of Marie bloody Kondo.

If you feel that you have too much stuff you can go through it gently, taking time to make the right decisions instead of dragging everything out and getting totally overwhelmed and upset. Before I discovered that just as much can be accomplished slowly I threw out all sorts of things decluttering – my birth certificate, a jumper I still miss and some more sentimental things that were a mistake to ditch, but I got carried away in the moment.

Less-stuff is full of gentle walkthroughs that will help you get rid of thousands of things you really, genuinely do not need and will not miss. Start here or join the best Facebook group in the world to join in.

There are also reminders all over less-stuff to stop buying so much crap for ourselves and as gifts for others! Again, not rocket science but we are so bombarded with advertising it is hard to resist sometimes.

And Marie bloody Kondo doesn’t need your money as much as I do. If you want to buy a book about decluttering, please buy one of mine.

Bloody Marie Kondo!

end rant

Want to talk about it?

I'm Lisa Cole. I'm a designer and writer who lives in Bristol. Less-stuff is about my journey to live a more organised life. I document little things I can change to live more sustainably. I'm not a minimalist!

If you found this post interesting and want to discuss it you can find me in the less-stuff Facebook group or you can Tweet me here.

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