I toyed with the idea of starting a thread about the KonMari method and this is something I might consider in the future, but for now I thought it would be nice to blog about my own experiences of the process. I like to blog here because it's not too public; usually only a select few click on blog posts and fewer still read to the end (waves at Anu ^^). So it feels a bit like a private journal that only those who give a few nano f*cks about me, or the subject matter will read. that's kinda cool.

In May Joanna DeVoe of the podcast Hippy Witch, was talking a lot about this book 'The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up' by Marie Kondo. I listened to those shows but honestly, I already felt I'd sorted my belongings as best as I can. All my problems now were just a lack of storage. Even when Joanna mentioned that Marie was Shinto and spoke to her home and her belongings, it only raised a momentary smile. I did add the book to my 'maybe some day' pile, alongside with other DeVoe recommendations such as 'Eastern Body, Western Mind' by Anodea Judith. If I ran out of other books I fancied, I might pick it up.

Then a few weeks ago I decided to give up eggs. I'd given up most dairy back in September but was having eggs to avoid the vit B12 issue I experienced when I was vegan. 6 months later, I discovered I HAD developed a B12 deficiency despite the eggs and despite the occasional milk (mostly in the form of chai latte from Costa). I started to supplement and felt AMAZING. I think I'd been low on b12 even before the diet switch. Talking to others, I discovered loads of meat loving milk glugging egg munching folk with a b12 deficiency, so I thought, you know what? If I have to supplement anyway, why am I eating something I only vaguely enjoy?

Que watching vegan vlogs on youtube for recipe ideas (and discovering that there is a realy nasty breed of vegan on the Internet these days that I'd kinda like to send to an abattoir themselves just so they can stop sucking the joy out of life for the rest of us). I found some nice, non-preachy and chirpy vloggers. One of these happened to also be a minimalist, so soon Youtube had decided I must like minimalism too, and started sending me recommendations. The vlogger in question along with a few others, actually seemed to speak sense. She was saying that it isn't about having white walls and only a handful of essentials, it's about only owning things that make you happy. Whether that's 50 items, or 10,000 so long as you can honestly say each one brings you joy, that's fine.

I liked that. It sounded a lot like me. I posted about it here on PF because sometimes if I keep a brain fart in too long I explode.

It's 'Ma-ri-e'!!
After watching a few videos on minimalism, the complete audio book of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up' appeared in my recommendations on YT. Free? And can listen to while cleaning the flat? Hell yeah! You wanna bet I started listening to that. A few chapters in something struck me. Why was one of the categories of items 'komori'? I know this word. It's Japanese. Is this some author who is so into Shinto that she is using Japanese words for things? I googled the author and face palmed. she is Japanese. He name is 麻理恵 3 syllables Ma-Ri-E. It just so happens that when you write this in romaji it looks like the English name 'Marie'. So all along I thought she was a Western author.