Mi viaje a la lectura / My Journey into Reading

Today, a WordPress prompt reminded me of a book that has had a profound impact on my life: The Magic of Tidying Up. There’s a line in it that I’ve never been able to forget—one I try to live by every day, although sometimes, for a while, I lose sight of it: “The true purpose of both discarding and keeping things is to be happy.”

The Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo

Drawing from her personal experience, Marie Kondo shares in The Magic of Tidying Up a series of insights on how to bring harmony into our homes. She shows that tidying is not just about organizing spaces—it also shapes our lives, our decisions, and ultimately, our future.

The book is built on two simple yet powerful ideas: keep only what truly makes you happy, and make sure everything has its place. From there, she introduces a clear method to achieve this—the KonMari method. She has applied it with hundreds of clients and brought it to a global audience through her book and a Netflix series (see link here). Its impact has been so significant that it has become a worldwide reference in organization.

What makes it especially interesting is that it’s not about tidying at random, but about following a very specific order: first clothes, then books, followed by documents, then komono (miscellaneous items), and finally, the hardest category to let go of—items with sentimental value.

The idea is simple: ask yourself, “Does this make me happy?”
If the answer is yes, keep it. If not, let it go.

These words from The Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing have become a guide I try to follow—one that returns to me, especially in difficult moments.

This book changed my life

I read it a few years ago, and I keep coming back to it. I don’t remember exactly how it found me, but I do know it’s one of the books that has shaped me the most.

It starts with the basics—with clothes. But in reality, it’s not just about objects. It’s about decisions.

As I began with my clothes, I realized how many things I kept that I didn’t want to wear, yet couldn’t let go of.

What We Hold On To

There was one piece I loved. The day I wore it for the first time, everything went wrong. It ended up stained, and that day became tied to a difficult memory.

I washed it. It was clean again.
But I didn’t want to wear it anymore.

I tried a couple more times. It didn’t feel right.
Still, it kept taking up space in my closet… and in my mind.

It had been expensive. I liked it.
But it had become something else.

After reading the book, I gave it away.
I thought someone else might wear it—someone who wouldn’t associate it with that day.

And I understood something.

Sometimes we don’t keep things because they make us happy,
but because we don’t know how to let go of what they represent.

Since then, I started applying that idea to other areas of my life—my routines, my decisions, even my relationships. I stopped tolerating what wasn’t good for me. I began to say what I wanted, and more importantly, what I didn’t want.

It’s not always easy.

Sometimes I know exactly what doesn’t make me happy… and still, it’s hard to let it go.

But once I understood this, I couldn’t unsee it.

It stayed in my closet for years, like a scar.
Until I decided that not everything that leaves a mark deserves to stay.

Where I am now

After many years, I found myself going through a difficult stage in my life. And almost without realizing it, I returned to The Magic of Tidying Up, this time as an audiobook.

I listened to it on my way home from work, as if each chapter were a necessary pause in the noise of the day. Little by little, without pressure, I decided to start again. And I also wanted to share this process (if you’re interested, you can click here).

📘 Technical sheet

✨ Notable Quote

“When you put your house in order, you also put your affairs and your past in order.”

About the author

You can explore more reviews in the Books section of the blog or return to the homepage of My Journey into Reading to discover new literary journeys.