Where Kondo is all about retaining what sparks joy, seems with Sasaki even the need for joy is something to be dispensed with. Perhaps most sobering is the argument that regardless of the price/quality of said item, be it a $100 or $10000 ring, your joy derived from it is equally fleeting. So the quantity of stuff diminishes your ability to decide and act. It seems when you're given more of something you fail to act in the hopes that a better one will come your way. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is real in this. Apparently when two groups of shoppers are given the choice between 6 varieties and 24 varieties, the group presented with less options bought more. Sasaki quotes an interesting 'Jam Study'. It's still taking up space at home and now no one wants it. So I paid zero for it but wanted to get a fair price. (I made this mistake during negotiations to resell a TV I had won in a raffle. When reselling items: Don't fixate on how much you paid for it originally.Quick tip: If you lost this item, would you be willing to buy this item again at full price or more?.So other than emergency supplies in disaster zones, there are very few things we need to keep 'just in case'. When the time comes and you need something, it would be easier to get than you think. Don't wash dishes that aren't dirty yet.Holding on to your past prevents you from building towards your future.Stores are like public warehouses for your stuff and the entire city is your living room. You don't always have to own something.If something is that important (obscure USB dongle for e.g) you would have looked a lot harder for it.If a memory is important enough, you would not need something to help you remember it.

Discarding things is different from discarding the memories that come with them.I understand the irony of accumulating books on minimalism, but if I had to recommend one, this would be. Life has simultaneously become simpler yet richer because now I feel a strange sense of abundance. My Mom came by recently and observed there's also no food in the house. I persist with the same pair of white Vans sneakers I've been wearing (at work, at church, during travel) even though its reached the limits of its life expectancy (and decency) and I pretty much have'nt bought any new clothes, devices, knick-knacks, travel memorabilia etc for almost a year. In the months that followed completing his book (digital version, no physical clutter), I've been on a spree to resell old items (often for free or at very low cost), getting rid of that box of cables from 10 years ago (you know, in case of the apocalypse and a VCR is all that's left) and a lot of expensive, partially used stuff. His latest claim to fame is moving out of his old home in 20 minutes flat. And so with much creative procrastination I came across another author from the Japanese minimalist movement, Fumio Sasaki.

Goodbye things by fumio sasaki