Fumio Sasaki is not an enlightened minimalism expert or organizing guru like Marie Kondo―he’s just a regular guy who was stressed out and constantly comparing himself to others, until one day he decided to change his life by saying goodbye to everything he didn’t absolutely need. The effects were remarkable: Sasaki gained true freedom, new focus, and a real sense of gratitude for everything around him.
Diving in to this book as I am recently want to explore minimalism. I always say that, “Simple is the new complex”.
Starting this audio book on July 13th 2023. I finished it the following day, July 14th, 2023, here is my report:
Being a minimalist has always been a desire of mine, but, like the book explains, I have my excuses. Some valid, some not. I think it would be extremely difficult being a minimalist with children, but this book gives me inspiration to minimize some aspects of my life. In my home, I’ve certainly accumulated way too much shit. And I mean shit. Along with my girlfriend’s hoard, it’s a wasteland of stuff I’ll never use again, and she certainly has no clue what are even in those boxes, but for some reason, can’t we let go.
It’s the daunting task of sorting the stuff. I’m at the point where I just want to throw it all away. It’s been sitting in the shadows for so long, will we even miss it? Most likely not. The scary part is, something may be hiding in there that is valuable, yet we had misplaced it. This book covers concepts on how to deal with fears like this. Here are some key points I took away from the book:
- The concept of having more things, which cost more money, gives the illusion of a social status of wealth. More stuff = more money. More money = this person must be wealthy.
- Feel Good: The lifechanging magic of tidying up. Nobody feels bad in a clean space.
- Being a Maximalist is the opposite of a Minimalist.
- Take pictures of things before you get rid of them. Any memories can be held in photos, and you’ll know where something went, should you question it.
- Our homes aren’t museums, they don’t need collections.
- ONE IN, ONE OUT.
Here is a concept that I found really interesting. Keep the tags on all of the clothes that you buy and put them in a bag for safe keeping. Revisit this bag after a year, with the idea that you will re-tag your clothes, and sell them. Sometimes they are more valuable than when you bought them. This allows you to swap out your wardrobe, without breaking the bank.
On the other hand, many famous people wore the same thing, day in and day out. Steve Jobs always wore the same turtleneck, Levi’s, and New Balance sneakers. This allows him to not waste valuable time, getting dressed, or picking out his outfit. BRILLIANT. Einstein wore the same coat. It makes sense, really.
Overall, the book was a great listen, however, the original is in Japanese, and caters to the lifestyle of living in Japan, so “being able to pack everything you need to survive in 20 seconds” is a little unrealistic for our livestyles in the US, but, still, in the end there are many great concepts, and the book inspired me to get rid of my shit!
“Don’t buy it because it’s cheap”. “Don’t take it because it’s free”. And, I will most certainly be purchasing a Tenugui.. (it’s a towel).
- By: Fumio Sasaki, Eriko Sugita – translator
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
