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Spark Joy: You don’t have to get rid of all your books

Barb and Wendy at Simply Spark Joy help you to create a clutter free home on the Black Press Media
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After decluttering your clothing category, the KonMari Method of tidying suggests that you focus on all of the books in your home. From our experience, books can be a sensitive topic to discuss. The attachment that we each have to our books is strong and it can be challenging to let them go.

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We have found the following KonMari Method tips helpful to remember when you are ready to tackle your book collection.

If your books aren’t going anywhere, consider referring back to this article at another time. For this category you need to feel ready.

  1. Gather all of your books together in one place. Yes, that means bringing them down from bookshelves and out of boxes. Bringing them out into your home will help them “wake up”.
  2. Depending on the size of your personal collection, you may decide to divide your books into categories. This will allow you to do a joy check for each category. You might find that your books fall into the following categories: fiction, non-fiction, practical, technical, and magazines.
  3. Take each book in your hands and ask yourself if it sparks joy. “Does it give you a thrill of pleasure when you touch it?” (Marie Kondo) During this step it’s important NOT to begin to read each book as you hold it. Reading might interrupt the joy check and cause you to focus on if you may need the book in the future rather then how it makes you feel as an item in your house.
  4. Don’t fall into the trap of telling yourself that you might read a book or study a topic some day. Books come into our lives at a particular time for a particular reason and if you missed that opportunity now is the time to say good-bye.
  5. Living a joyful life will be easier if you surround yourself with books that have titles and words that empower you. Having these types of books around may even make it possible for you to create positive life changes.
  6. Your books want to be touched, read and showcased. Your collection should reflect who you are today and your hopes for the future. Imagine looking at your collection of books all together and knowing that you love them all.

So how many books should you have? You can have as many as you like.

Let us know what your favourite book is and how it has affected your life.

“The moment you first encounter a particular book is the right time to read it.” (Marie Kondo)

About Barb and Wendy

Barb Haymour: barb@simplysparkjoy.com

Wendy Chamberlain: wendy@simplysparkjoy.com

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Who are Wendy and Barb?

After assisting each other with complete home tidies, they jumped at the opportunity to attend the San Francisco KonMari training seminars in December 2016. They spent three days with amazing like minded participants sharing the same tidying passion and feel so fortunate to have been in the presence of Marie Kondo. This inspiration motivated them to complete the KonMari Certification Process over the next ten months.

They currently both live in the sunny Okanagan in beautiful British Columbia, Canada otherwise known as “wine country”. Their families support them in this tidying craze and are excited to see them be their true selves.

READ MORE: Spark Joy: Declutter and organize your home forever

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