Sublime

Our relationships with other people are reflected in our relationships with our things, and likewise our relationships with things show up in our relationships with people.

Are you happy wearing clothes that don’t give you pleasure? Do you feel joy when surrounded by piles of unread books that don’t touch your heart? Do you think that owning accessories you know you’ll never use will ever bring you happiness?

The real waste is insisting that it would be a waste to use beautiful gift sets. So make up your mind, once and for all: either use those dishes proudly or get rid of them.

You can keep categories to a minimum by following those used for sorting. Start with clothes, then books, documents, komono and finally keepsakes or sentimental items.

Start with clothes then move on to books, papers, miscellaneous items (komono) and finally things with sentimental value.

focus instead on cherishing

divide them into two categories: papers to be saved and papers that need to be dealt with.

A simple design that puts you at ease, a high degree of functionality that makes life simpler, a sense of rightness, or the recognition that a possession is useful in our daily lives – these, too, indicate joy.

Keep only those for which there is a clear purpose – those you are currently using, those you will need for a limited period and those that you need to keep indefinitely.