Dear Marie,
Confession – I’ve never read your book.
But I need you to know it’s nothing personal. Actually, it’s your message of “sparking joy” as to why I gave your book away.
Let me backtrack.
Two years ago I was given a gift at Christmas. I was told by the person giving the gift it was a very special gift, just for me.
You see, the months prior to Christmas I had been spending a lot of time helping this person through a personal issue. When I was told about this special gift, I thought“How sweet, a thank you gift for the past few months I’ve given.” While I was not expecting anything, my mind did jump to a sentimental, meaningful gift.
Nope. That’s not what I got.
What I opened was your book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I’d never heard of you or your book prior to this moment and so, as I said before, it’s nothing personal, but my heart dropped. I wanted to run in the bathroom and cry. This was not the sentimental thank you I was privately anticipating.
Being that the gift was given in front of others, I did my best rendition of a fake a smile, laugh and a big thank you. But on the inside, I hurt, opening this gift and reading the title stung.
As a working mom, I thought I was doing a pretty decent job of managing my businesses, raising kids, being a supportive wife, preparing meals for my family, keeping a tidy enough home, finding time to helping others and still being overall happy with life.
I let that book sit on my nightstand for a few months. Then I moved it to a bookshelf. I always said I would read it one day because by this point you were receiving rave reviews. I even bought the audible version thinking I might be able to listen to it better than read it.
But the truth is, every time I saw this book, I felt the hurt from the day it was given.
Over time, through memes on social media and other headlines, I learned that a big message in your book was to only keep things that brought joy to your life.
I LOVED this idea. As a dietitian, it is an approach I use both personally and professionally with food and nutrition, so applying this idea to “stuff” made sense.
I realized I had to give your book away because, no matter how small it was, how little space it took up, or how life-changing the content could be, the experience associated with it simply did not spark joy.
And so, while I never read your book, you have given me permission to give away things that bring up no so joyful feelings … even when it was a “special” gift.
