Other Commentary

Interesting thoughts today. Youtube brought up a video with some psychological commentary on Marie Kondo’s method, so I thought fine, I’ll bite. It wasn’t saying that it was horrible across the board, but that it did tend to focus on material items, and that may not be the best source of joy, and that it can be a catalyst for people who already have, or a tendency for psychological issues. No arguments there. One could even argue, gee, the book is about organizing and evaluating possessions, and that’s the whole point, so yeah, it talks about material possessions. Kind of like critiquing a financial advise book for being too centered on money.

From there, somehow I got listening to a presentation by Gabrielle Bernstein. I’ve vaguely heard of her before, didn’t get completely sucked in, but moderately intrigued. Lots of nice little ideas. But then where to start? She has several books out already. Guess that emphasizes that I need to get a library card. There are lots of good books out there, but I don’t want to buy every single one in order to read it. I admit I bought the Kondo books, but I had already decided I would need to re-read more than once. And why read all of Gabby’s books when you could go straight to the source and read the 1300+ page book A Course in Miracles? Ok, maybe she is more like the Cliff Notes version. I don’t know, as I haven’t read either.

I guess it just brings up that I do feel lacking in lots of areas. There are so many self-help books and ideas and classes out there . . . I just end up feeling easily overwhelmed. Where to start? What is the absolute best resource so you can get right to it and not waste time and effort with mediocre ones? I could use a pick-me-up as evaluating and clearing things out has been a bit draining lately. It feels like I’m not making progress, and the front room is so cluttered, I can’t locate things I once could. Bringing things home from work sucked too, even though I’ve brought quite a bit back. Apparently I need 3 different types of lotion. Maybe not all on the same day, but for various days/dryness during the week, I had to bring one back in. I admit I’m high maintenance. I don’t like trucking everything like that back and forth on a daily basis.

Well, in any case, I guess I’m feeling a little bummed, and I probably am looking in all the wrong places for relief. And as long as we’re looking for enlightenment, the classically trained church-goer in me scolds me for considering any other reading material outside classic scripture. How could you beat that, right? Yet . . . let me steep myself in sacrilege by comparing to exercising. I’ve heard the ideal is say, an hour, first thing in the morning, before eating anything. But if you’re not a morning person, or have to eat before you exercise, does that mean you’re doomed? Is it really all or nothing? Would you tell a person to not exercise in the afternoon at all because it deviates from the ideal? Maybe I do need cliff notes versions once in a while.