“Does it Spark Joy?”

I still remember the profound impact these words had on me the first time I heard them. They were said by a sweet, softly spoken Japanese women who starred in her own show on Netflix called “Tidying up with Marie Kondo”. Kondo's basic philosophy is that living the life of a minimalist by decluttering your home by only keeping things that "spark joy", you would in fact be happier. As Kondo trolled through the home of an American couple with a lounge room that could only be described as a hot mess, I understood the deeper wisdom applies to many areas of life and not just with your possessions.

My father was full of fantastic sayings that were perhaps lost on me as a teenage boy, but nevertheless these saying have started to shape my life as I have become a little older (ok maybe a lot older) and a little wiser. My dad would say;

“If you don’t like your life (your circumstances) change them!”

We as people are so full of fear, we create prisons of convenience. We make do with the unfulfilling certainty of what we have and that in turn robs us of life and joy. Decluttering your possessions is hard but not as hard as decluttering your relationships, work and life…but by using this simple rule “Does it spark Joy” can help you to see if you are really living up to the life you want to live. What is holding you back? Fear, comfort, nostalgia??Are you happy? If not, as far as it depends upon you, change it?