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Spark Joy Review


This may be an odd post to go here since I have a blog for books, however, Minding the Middle is a blog for books that will appeal to the middle level reader so that I can keep track of possible book talk novels and graphic novels. This book is not a middle school book unless there is a middle schooler who is really into tidying up or becoming a clutter consultant.

So why here? 

When I am at my most creative, I am messy. My office space reflects the multiple strands I have going on in my brain, but as this book relates, my mess is a temporary mess and easily tidied up in 5 minutes. 

So why here?

When I talk about self care to my incoming student teachers, and the importance of self care in the last semester when even for the strongest teachers, life comes crashing down all at once, the lessons from this book are what I want them to learn.

Perhaps in the semester before student teaching, we need to focus on tidying up and finding what sparks joy and releasing those things that don't. What this then does is declutters their living spaces in order to bring in a safe space for calm, serenity and creativity. Innovation cannot happen when there is the white noise of clutter. 

I have an assignment in my methods class, which is to curate 10 teacherly items that sparks joy for them.  When I am at my most creative, which for me is writing or creating curriculum, I have lots of clutter on my computer and in my office. I have multiple tabs open, I have books open, I start doodling, etc. but for this assignment, it is a challenge in tidying up. How do you tidy for an unknown future? I think Ms. Kondo gets it right. The item must spark that inexplicable joy, even if it is just a graphic organizer.
Is it a joyous graphic organizer? Then keep it. Curate it. Maybe even create a note to self for this item. Put it somewhere where you will not lose it. 
The important thing in tidying is not deciding what to discard but rather what you want to keep in your life. 

                                        --Marie Kondo, Spark Joy: an illustrated master class on the art of organizing and tidying up 

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